Living in Houston, hurricane seasons can vary from a few storms to a full blown Category 4 headed straight for the city.
When Rita came close to hitting Houston a couple of years ago, it became apparent that we needed to be ready to stay and tough out the storm if we could not get out of the city.
I made the decision to start shopping for generators.
There were quite a few things that I found important: 1 - quality, 2 - load watts, 3 - fuel consumption. With a limited budget, I couldn't pick up a nice quiet unit like my buddy's Honda.
Man, that was an awesome generator but for close to $1k, it was too far out of reach. I wanted to spend around $3-400 on something in the 2500-3000 watt range.
After more research, I found what I originally thought was an off-brand but turned out to be quite popular. Going through the Coleman site, I found ProForce generators. As I dug deeper, these ProForce generators were simply just another brand line for Coleman.
After searching through the different sizes, I found it: The ProForce 3000. It was perfect. With a whopping 10 hours of run time on just 3 gallons of gas (@ 50% load), it was one of the most fuel efficient generators on the market for it's size. I pulled the trigger and bought it.
Since then, I've used it for all types of projects. From powering a camp site to helping provide electricity for construction areas, it's never let me down. It's so compact and much more quiet than other generators I've seen used.
It's one that I would highly recommend to anyone looking to purchase a generator in this size. Hurricane season for 2008 has just started here in Houston. With the news stations buzzing about being prepared this season, I know that I'll be safe with my ProForce generator on standby.
Some recommendations that I would have for this unit would be to purchase an hour meter to keep track of maintenance. EG Direct has a nice little Yamaha unit for only $39.
Additionally, it wouldn't be a bad idea to purchase the AmWatt power meter to keep track of how much load is on your generator. This will also help to balance the load between both 120v outlets. I've purchased both for my generator.
EGD RESPONSE: Harold, the ProForce is a very nice generator. You made a wise choice. Unfortunately, Coleman Powermate went bankrupt a few months ago. If you're looking for a similar machine, consider the Briggs & Stratton 3500 Watt Portable Generator. Very similar. Very nice generator.
Living in Houston, hurricane seasons can vary from a few storms to a full blown Category 4 headed straight for the city.
When Rita came close to hitting Houston a couple of years ago, it became apparent that we needed to be ready to stay and tough out the storm if we could not get out of the city.
I made the decision to start shopping for generators.
There were quite a few things that I found important: 1 - quality, 2 - load watts, 3 - fuel consumption. With a limited budget, I couldn't pick up a nice quiet unit like my buddy's Honda.
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