That's a significant discount. I'm assuming the warranty and everything else stays the same?

Yes. It comes with a full warranty. This sale comes up from time-to-time. When I purchased mine it came with an all-weather cover and wheel kit. I believe this sale just comes with a wheel kit.

I looked into this manufacturer. The company is based in China, although they have a large presence in the U.S. Firman Power Equipment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinomach (a $108 Billion dollar per year company). They have produced over 10 million portable generators over the past 17 years for the world market.

That looks like a really good deal. Have you had to order parts for this generator before? I’m just curious because I’ve had problems in the past where getting the spare parts cost almost as much as the equipment.

I haven't had the need to replace anything. The thing runs like a clock. Their U.S. office is in Peoria, AZ and have an 800 number. Give them a call, as I'm sure they would be happy to answer any questions you might have. For me the price of $345 taxes in, delivered was too good to pass up.

Wayne, I am going to hi jack your post. I have recommended generators in the past on this board. I like the 1000 to 2500 watt size myself, and with the unregulated gen heads, as its been my experience that if you build the damn thing right you don't need a regulator.
In fact I just picked up (last month ) a cute as a button used but like new 1000 watt honda with the non electronic gen head. I have new in the box generators, propane generators, diesel generators but time has moved on, and as much as I love the old style, simple easy to fix and keep running type I have to say that with fuel costs going north of 1.30 a liter. I am going to have to move on to the inverter types. I have crunched the numbers and by the time you start moving north of 600hrs run time you could save enough on fuel to pay for a lower end unit. The fuel savings is that dramatic.

Back in the nineties I was in a situation where power was out (maybe 5 days), I was grinning ear to ear because I had a 5000 watt generator. by the end of day one I was not grinning because that thing was sucking back something like 3/4 of a gallon of gas a hour, and I only needed 1300 watts tops to run my furnace, fridge, freezer, lights but the fuel use to spin the extra (unused) capacity of the gen head was killing me in fuel.I learned then the smallest generator you can use is the best one. With the 1200/1500 watt types I recommend they sip a long at less than a liter a hour consuming 2 thirds less fuel consumption, than the large 4,5,6 thousand watt generators, but now the inverter types, despite greater comlexity can save you from a third to half again in fuel use. I just dont see a end in sight for fuel costs. So I am going switch new generator purchases to inverter types.

Hondas command a premiem. I think worth the cost, a eu 2000 was someting like 1300.00 but that has now been discontinued and replaced by the eu 2200, and the current price is 1500.00 in alberta+5% so 1575. 1600 is a lot of coin.

Costco has this unit for sale at 649.00 https://www.costco.ca/Firman-W01781-2%2c100W-Gas-Powered-Inverter-Generator.product.100323512.html

I am temted to try it at a third the price. I am heading to the big city Thursday...I will be returning with something, dont know what yet....

...Back in the nineties I was in a situation where power was out (maybe 5 days), I was grinning ear to ear because I had a 5000 watt generator. by the end of day one I was not grinning because that thing was sucking back something like 3/4 of a gallon of gas a hour...

That's more fuel (3.3 L/hr) than my 10,000 watt unit uses (2.2 litres/hour) or the 4450 watt (subject of this thread) at 1.6 L/hr at 50% load. No wonder you're concerned. Quiet a gas guzzler. 🙂

I only needed 1300 watts tops to run my furnace, fridge, freezer, lights but the fuel use to spin the extra (unused) capacity of the gen head was killing me in fuel.

I don't think that this inverter generator would fit the bill. Freezers and the like shut-down and start-up periodically, The start-up wattage of the freezer alone is approximately 2100 watts (the maximum output for this unit) any further draw wouldn't work. A furnace fan blower is more than what a freezer requires.

https://www.lowes.com/projects/pdfs/portable-generator-wattage-chart.pdf

Costco has this unit for sale at 649.00 https://www.costco.ca/Firman-W01781-2%2c100W-Gas-Powered-Inverter-Generator.product.100323512.html

This looks great and seems ideal for single unit power. It only consumes .4 litres/hr which is much less than the 4450. It will however only deliver this consumption rate at a power output of 425 watts (25% load). In comparison to the 4450 which will deliver approx. 1800 watts at half load (4 times the fuel consumption at more than 4 times the delivered power). Surpringly, it would seem that the 4450 is more efficient than the inverter unit,

I guess it definately comes down to what's needed. I certainly can see the benefit of the operational cost savings. It may well be worth spending more than twice the initial cost for just under 1/2 the available maximum wattage. It certainly would be if you had no use for the extra power. You've got me wondering if I should pick one of these up as well...

I'd be interested in knowing what the fuel consumption rate would be at maximum wattage (1700 watts) and compare the fuel consumption rate to the 4450 at half load (1800 watts/1.6 L/Hr) to see how it really stacks-up. The other thing is that the fuel tank on the inverter generator is small (.9 gallons), compared to 5 gallons. At a high load chances are you will have to fill the unit much more often. To me that's another consideration. The 4450 requires 5 gallons every 14 hours at half load.

Have a safe trip to the big city and let us know how you've fared.

Update

After some reading, I've found a couple of references regarding generator load / fuel consumption. It seems that at 25% output, most generators consume 250% less fuel that they do at full load. This is dependent on each particular model. But using this as a guideline, the following would be a fair estimate:

1/ Firman W01781 2,100W Gas Powered Inverter Generator, 1700 Running Watts, 54 decibels
.44 litres/hr at 25% load (425 watts), 1.11 L/Hr at 100% load (1700 watts)

2/ Firman P03501 Gas-Powered 4,450 Watt Portable Generator, 3550 Running watts, 67 decibels
.64 litres/hr at 25% load (887 watts), 1.59 L/Hr at 50% load (1775 watts)

Clearly there is a cost benefit by way of fuel consumption for the inverter generator. If this would meet your needs, it may well be worth the added cost. At full load however, the fuel tank would have to be replenished every 3.6 hours, as opposed to 14 hours in the case of the larger generator (50% load).

The fuel operating cost savings from unit one to unit two are .48 liters per hour (maximum) at a 1700 watt output (approximately $0.62 per hour). Given that the cost of item one is approximately $385 more than unit two (GST included), the break-even point occurs at 621 hours of operation (as you've pointed out, the cost of fuel could increase). Still, that's a lot of hours on a small engine to run to break even.

As fuel saving isn't the only benefit, it may be well worth it to extend the fuel you have on-hand. In a grid-down situation, gasoline is at a premium and in short supply.

It really comes down to which unit will provide you with the power you need. I'm looking forward to hearing what you found out...

Considering that I would like to drive multiple electric devices and considering the start-up wattage requirements, I think I'm better off with the added power that the 4450 produces as a supplement to my 10Kw unit. The 30 amp capability is also an added plus.

The added gasoline requirements seem manageable. For $299, it's hard to see the 4450 as anything other than a great deal... 😉

Well I made up my mind...I am going to get the Firman. Turns out its not stocked you have to order it on line and shipping is included in the price. I just ordered it. Reason is saying get the Honda but my wallet is saying Firman, wallet one out, it was a knife fight, injuries all around.

"That's more fuel (3.3 L/hr) than my 10,000 watt unit uses (2.2 litres/hour) or the 4450 watt (subject of this thread) at 1.6 L/hr at 50% load. No wonder you're concerned. Quiet a gas guzzler."

Thats what america produced back then..Briggs and crapton engines, they were called that for a reason, much more choice now days, and I know better now..you couldnt give me one of those now. America is back to reducing fuel economy under trump...go merica!!

"or the 4450 watt (subject of this thread) at 1.6 L/hr at 50% load"

Maybe, maybe....have you measured that? I suspect thats from your owners manual. That would be 2225 watts continous on a 3600rpm engine(208 cc)...that would be very good for that type, im am not saying its not, just I would have guessed a minimum of 2 liters (considering alternator inefficencies)..then again my experience with generators is at roughly 2300 ft elevation so maybe 8% or so difference from your location at sea level, though I would love to compare the difference if your up for it?. I think I have a champion 3000/4000with the same engine size, we could compare measured consumption with the same size load, just for funzies? let me know.

"I don't think that this inverter generator would fit the bill. Freezers and the like shut-down and start-up periodically, The start-up wattage of the freezer alone is approximately 2100 watts (the maximum output for this unit) any further draw wouldn't work. A furnace fan blower is more than what a freezer requires."

You bring up a great point.. A furnace motor, like a microwave is a ugly animal,just ugly... I will get to that last, first, fridge and freezer no problem at all (standard residental size) both running at the same time the inverter will handle that fine(honda 2000), so will that 1200/1500 watt unit I recomended in the past (champion model, with breaker jumpered as I suggested to do on it, previous posts). There are people on this board who have 2000 watt inverters who can tell you so..but with that said I agree with you, and what you said is absolutely correct ( but wrong in practice, sorry) in the since that if your a manufacturer of a generator, or distributor they have charts to go by, and I do not disagree with them (often listing 10 X, 12 X the steady state draw) that you need to size a generator for but think about this for a minute...They do not want returns, do not want call backs, do not want bad reviews, are selling to a market covering a temperature range of +35C to -40 (alaska), and from sea level to 10000 ft (town of leadville Colorado). A naturally asperated engine losses something like 35% power at 10000 ft (from memory), and if at -40 I can only imagine how thick the engine oil is.....What I am saying is, they have covered their ass and i would do the exact same thing. So if your not leaving your generators to sit out side at -40 at 10 000 ft or -25C at 3000 ft and then trying to start a fridge then you are going to be fine 99.9 % of the time. and for that .1% that does have trouble...its still not likely the generator thats the problem, likely a start cap in the fridge (if it has that) thats leaking like a sieve (or motor failure). So anyone here Using a 2000 watt inverter thats not starting your fridge please speak up and say so I have not met anyone haveing a problem, in fact if your in central Alberta (Red Deer to Leduc) I will come over just to investigate this myself!! I will go further but you must buy the gas then!!!

Wayne, I am glad you mentioned A furnace motor. I often forget about this as i heat with wood. Besides temperature, elevation considerations, a manufacturer/ disstributer must also think of the worst load their product might have to power and a furance motor must be the worst thing i can think of in a home.Its not the motor by itself thats bad, but if you have investigated your furnace, and if its a typical one... then that motor is belted up to a huge squirle cage likely 4 or more times the diameter of the motor, and its this squirle cage that as it comes up to speed, blows the air into each room through the ducting. The problem with this system is the HUGE start up currents needed to get both the large mass of the squirle cage rotating and the collum of air moving that is opposing the rotation of the squirle cage. For practicle purposes the motor is drawing locked rotor currents for X amount of seconds until motor rpm is reached and drops down to a steady state.

Now the good news, you are smarter than the furnace system, first problem is getting the system up to speed with a small generator (lets just say the champion unit i recommend (cause I suspect the honda may fault out). Any elechiken can tell you how to do this.....it called bump starting, takes a little practice, but simply put you briefly apply power to start rotating the large mass then remove power before the breaker blows (or fuse) let engine rpms come up ...bump again, repeat until the motor is at running rpms and the start current has dropped. Now to solve the second problem..every furnace I have been in has a manual switch that you can set to "continous" this means the motor will not shut off, meaning you dont have to bump start it again, just let it run continous, the burner will now just fire on and off as needed.

I got to get to bed.

"That's more fuel (3.3 L/hr) than my 10,000 watt unit uses (2.2 litres/hour) or the 4450 watt (subject of this thread) at 1.6 L/hr at 50% load. No wonder you're concerned. Quiet a gas guzzler." Thats what america produced back then..

Yes, great improvements have been made with engine fuel efficiency over the past few years.

"or the 4450 watt (subject of this thread) at 1.6 L/hr at 50% load"

Maybe, maybe....have you measured that? I suspect thats from your owners manual.

Yes, the figures I used are those provided by Firman as the manufacturer of both generators I compared. I haven't personally tested the 4450. I had occasion to test my Honda 10Kw at 2.2 L/Hr. This was done by measuring exactly 5 gallons of fuel and running it until it stopped. The time was just over 10 hours during one Saturday in October. Over this time period, the load on the unit varied. There was some residual fuel left in the tank which wasn't deducted from the 5 gallons that it started with. The test was not meant to be scientific, but accomplished to give me some idea of how long it would last to power a normal day at home. I felt that this was a higher consumption rate than I'd be comfortable with for any period of time (for obvious reasons). It did however power the whole house without any noticeable difference than if we were on the grid. Ok for a power-out of a few days.

"I don't think that this inverter generator would fit the bill. Freezers and the like shut-down and start-up periodically, The start-up wattage of the freezer alone is approximately 2100 watts (the maximum output for this unit) any further draw wouldn't work. A furnace fan blower is more than what a freezer requires."

You bring up a great point.. A furnace motor...

Thanks for the insight. I guess the point I was attempting to make is that if you have several electrical devices switching on and off at different times, the total wattage might exceed the maximum of the inverter generator under discussion. I do appreciate the great difference temperature and elevation can make. This is especially the case for alternate fuels such as propane, which really change a lot.

The added gasoline requirements seem manageable. For $299, it's hard to see the 4450 as anything other than a great deal... 😉

I agree that is a good deal and if I didnt have one in that size range, I would order it for that price.

This new one I ordered is going to be dedicated for one prurpose and one only, battery charging. I have stayed away (mostly) from adding much of this new inverter stuff to my generator stock, just because these are much more electronic in nature than electrical, and thus more likely to have failures that a joe blow out in the field cant fix, or could fix but parts are proprietary, or overly costly, or as is often common, no longer available.
Now I say that from speculation, because I have seen lots of honda inverter units for sale on the used market, where the seller states the engine works fine, but there is no power output.
It looks like a may get to check one of these units out, I just bought a honda eu2000 for a hundred dollars...seller says straight up that there is no AC output. Engine runs fine. So once I get my hands on it I will tear it down and see what I can learn! Who knows if I can repair it, I may cancell my new unit.

When I first thought of purchasing a Firman, I had my doubts about buying a generator made in China. After some research however, I realized that this was a real deal company, part of a billion dollar business. I thought I'd take the chance for $299. 🙂 I'm pleased to say that I've been impressed. The unit has always started on an easy first pull and is relatively quiet. For the money, an excellent deal.

If you go through with the purchase, I think you will be content. For a single application like recharging your battery bank, it would seem ideal. With the ever increasing cost of gasoline, it would seem a wise move. For me, Gasoline storage is problematic (numerous 5 gallon containers), Propane may be better option, but I'd have to replace both generators...

Wayne,

Convert your current genny to propane.

https://www.motorsnorkel.com/

I'm trying to get away from gasoline or propane. The other day, I ordered a Goal Zero Yeti 1250, solar generator. I ordered it from Total Prepare Inc. in Victoria, B.C.
I can hook it up to my existing panels and store the panels that come with it. It's light enough that I can throw it in the back of my truck and take it with me when I go camping. The downside is that it's a specialty item and it may take awhile to get here.

Thanks Scrounger; I'll look into this. I've done a bit of research. Currently Propane costs about $0.90 per litre. From what I can tell, it isn't as efficient as gasoline. It does however answer the problem of storage. A 420 pound propane tank is roughly equivalent to 100 gallons of gasoline. It can be stored safely and refilled as required, to-the-door. That's mighty convenient.

I'm trying to get away from gasoline or propane. The other day, I ordered a Goal Zero Yeti 1250, solar generator. I ordered it from Total Prepare Inc. in Victoria, B.C.
I can hook it up to my existing panels and store the panels that come with it. It's light enough that I can throw it in the back of my truck and take it with me when I go camping. The downside is that it's a specialty item and it may take awhile to get here.

This looks like a great unit. It's however very expensive for 1250 peak watts. It certainly has a use for computers, a TV, or other electronic device requiring a pure-sine wave. It may however fall short in powering other devices that have a higher start-up wattage than it can handle (especially if more than one device is being used). I suppose it really depends on how it's intended to be used, the availability of sunshine and the ratio of diminishing returns (40 hours of sunshine to power a fridge for 12-24 hours). In Nova Scotia, at times we can see a week go by without that much sunshine...

This obviously will meet your needs, so that's great! I don't think that it could fit the bill for me.

Clearly solar is one area that I have yet to get into. I need to learn much more than I know now. I guess it depends on where you live, how deep your pockets are and if you possess the requisite skills to jury rig a good workable system for the right price (like peppercorn seems to have done). 🙂