Honda EU3000iS - 2800 Watt Portable Inverter Generator

Jim Baugher,
Product Expert
Electric Generators Direct

First of all I want to point out out how great this website and company is. It is probably the best source of information for these types of products. The best place to buy them too! My experience ordering with them is 5 stars. Very fast shipping too. OK now for my review...

I bought this after a long term power outage. I had to frantically hunt down this generator at a local store otherwise I would have ordered it from this website. It was the LAST one in a 200 mile radius due to a devastating storm. We brought a newborn home to a house with no power and NO HEAT so had no choice but to buy one.

Everyone around us had generators running but when I turned the EU3000 on I couldn't even hear it running when I was about 15 feet from it. All the other really loud generators drowned out the barely noticeable noise from this high end generator. It isn't the most powerful that Honda offers, but it was good enough for me. It ran the refrigerator, hot water gas furnace (powered water pump to circulate hot water through radiators), complete house alarm system, entire cable tv & entertainment system, wireless modem, printer for computer and two lamps. With all these running at once the generators "ECO" setting was running at only half RPM judging by the sound of the motor. AMAZING!

I plan on installing a switch with the circuit breaker to make things easier and quicker during a power outage or disaster. I cannot put into words how awesome this machine is. It's super quiet and puts out enough power to survive comfortably forever if need be.

I bought the Honda EU3000 Telescoping Handle 2-Wheel Kit from this site (see my review on that one!). The wheel kit is an absolute must. Don't hesitate to buy it. I can lift this generator from the trunk to the ground but can't carry it long distance. If you are in a disaster type situation you need wheels to make this more portable (moving generator away from falling trees and flooding). It's an added cost but worth every penny. Imagine throwing your back out during an emergency disaster type situation. You are useless if you are injured.

To me, this generator is good enough to power my home's essential needs. You can run a lot more more lights then in the past with the new CFL and better yet, the LED light bulbs on the market. I ran LED lights so basically two LED lights equals 20 watts of power use vs. two 60 watt incandescent bulbs equaling 120 watts. You need to squeeze every capable watt out of a generator. I ran only two lights because I had limited extension cords. The inverter technology makes the electricity "pure" for running sensitive equipment such as computers and other sensitive equipment. It is claimed the electricity produced by this generator is better than actual power service from the utilities. Not once did I see any lights "flicker".

Bottom line is BE PREPARED. NOW! Don't wait for a power outage or a disaster to only go to local stores to find everything SOLD OUT. I just happened to luck out finding one. I would have ordered this generator from this store but due to emergency had no choice but to buy locally. Have a generator ready to run, make it more portable by adding a wheel kit and don't stress what mother nature throws your way!

First of all I want to point out out how great this website and company is. It is probably the best source of information for these types of products. The best place to buy them too! My experience ordering with them is 5 stars. Very fast shipping too. OK now for my review...

I bought this after a long term power outage. I had to frantically hunt down this generator at a local store otherwise I would have ordered it from this website. It was the LAST one in a 200 mile radius due to a devastating storm. We brought a newborn home to a house with no power and NO HEAT so had... more

EGD has one of the best consumer education site I've seen. They get 5 stars for their excellence right there! The Honda gen got shipped on time, tracking # and delivery after a confirmation call and ET of delivery from their shipper... perfect. Box was a little dented and frazzled, I covered my butt with "Box Damaged" notation on signature pad, but the product was perfect inside. Of course the hurricane had passed and I didn't need it anyway.....isn't that always the way!

Honda's units are very pricey and despite my thoughts on selling it for cheaper, I hung onto it only to have to use it in the recent Halloween snow storm in the northeast. Had to hook up the internal battery for electric start, it started up easy enough with the pull cord though. Battery hook up requires removing front cover which is easy, but it should have been noted on product box by either Honda or EGD. The cart that is a Honda accessory requires minor disassembly of the rubber feet-vibration dampeners and increases it's overall size. I'm sure will work nicely however you have to get out the wrench to take it off if your going to try to squeeze it in the trunk of a car like I will to get it where I need it be.

It runs super quiet and gas seemed to never run out despite my loads of a full size refrigerator, 50" tv and DVD player sound system to keep 82 yo. mom entertained, I jumped it into the furnace disconnect switches and had 2-9 amp blower lead-lagged for gas hot air heat in house, occasionally had to swap the gen cord to use the 1'2 (one half) hp sump pump. Of course then the real important things got tested....sis vacuumed, then hooked up her industrial size hair dryer and curling iron, all separately of course and I think the refrig was in rest mode btw. cycles. We never saw the overload light blink once. We were fairly prudent in our electric use and probably could have pushed it further, but this unit absorbed any start up amperage we threw at it with ease.

Despite this magnificent performance I would take more time to educate myself before the purchase on EGD and purchase a larger unit for less money than this IS Honda. I probably will keep it because it runs so damn flawlessly and I'm a sucker for "The Best", but if I had to purchase again, I'd look at the larger non-inverter type or just go with the House Standby Natural Gas Unit and transfer switch to power most of the house with possibly one central ac unit in summer blackouts. EGD's price was great and gets a 5 stars performance across the board, however Honda despite flawless performance only gets 3 stars due to prima donna pricing on this inverter unit.

EGD has one of the best consumer education site I've seen. They get 5 stars for their excellence right there! The Honda gen got shipped on time, tracking # and delivery after a confirmation call and ET of delivery from their shipper... perfect. Box was a little dented and frazzled, I covered my butt with "Box Damaged" notation on signature pad, but the product was perfect inside. Of course the hurricane had passed and I didn't need it anyway.....isn't that always the way!

Honda's units are very pricey and despite my thoughts on selling it for cheaper, I hung onto it on... more

Lost power for almost 6 days after hurricane Irene and with 2 kids, boy was that hard. Been meaning to purchase a generator and after hearing the loud, cheap, no frills home dep-- specials, that were keeping the neighborhood up after Irene, I decided the quieter the better. I do realize the no frills brands are very inexpensive however you get what you pay for!

Did my research on both Honda and Yamaha which were neck and neck but Honda won out. My Honda 3000 was ordered on Friday and was delivered on a Thursday via ups in a beat up torn box. Yes there was some minor damage to the exhaust vents but I could live with that.

My problem is that maybe ups could have been a little more careful with my $2,000 generator. My friend also ordered same model from EGD and his was also damaged. When EGD was contacted they did offer to send me another one which was a nice gesture but not needed. After adding oil and gas it started right up and wow was it quiet on both full throttle and econo. I'm extremely happy with my Honda choice and look forward to using it one day.

Lost power for almost 6 days after hurricane Irene and with 2 kids, boy was that hard. Been meaning to purchase a generator and after hearing the loud, cheap, no frills home dep-- specials, that were keeping the neighborhood up after Irene, I decided the quieter the better. I do realize the no frills brands are very inexpensive however you get what you pay for!

Did my research on both Honda and Yamaha which were neck and neck but Honda won out. My Honda 3000 was ordered on Friday and was delivered on a Thursday via ups in a beat up torn box. Yes there was some minor damage to t... more