For as long as anyone can remember, reliable, cheap electricity has been taken for granted in the United States – Alex Bereson
Electricity is everything. Without power, the world would stop turning and life as we know it would eventually come to halt. Every single aspect of our daily lives is governed by the grid and the electricity that it generates and stores that we constantly use and take for granted.
While the chances of the grid completely collapsing and society coming to a grinding halt are slim to non-existent, it’s always better to be prepared for every possible eventuality.
Besides we’ve all experienced our fair share of blackouts, and we know just how inconvenient it can be when you’re left at the mercy of the power company, interminably waiting for them to get the juice flowing again.
That’s why we’ve always had a generator on hand, so we’ll never be without power when we need it. And we’re assuming and seeing as you’re here, that you’re also looking for a generator to step in and take over when the lights go out.
Trying to find the right generator can be like walking through a minefield, as even though they all share a common purpose, they’re all designed to do different things and fulfill different roles.
As most of us are only ever going to want a generator to continue to supply electricity to our homes during a blackout, or to take on vacation with us and to help the party get started when we’re miles from anywhere, we need a generator to be portable, efficient and able to slide into any, and all, of those roles without missing a beat.
And that’s why the only type of mobile power source that you’ll almost certainly ever need is an inverter generator.
What Is An Inverter Generator?
An inverter generator is a smaller, more compact generator that’s ideal for home use and for throwing in the back of your car or RV and taking on vacation to provide a source of electricity while you’re out in the wilds and the middle of nowhere.
While they’re reliant on the same fuel source as their bigger, bulkier counterparts, inverter generators work on an entirely different principle to produce electricity.
While normal generators use gasoline (and sometimes diesel) to produce AC (alternating current) electricity to power whatever devices are dependent on them, inverter generators use a two-step process to create their power.
After producing the AC current, they convert it into DC (direct current) before changing it back into AC current. This means that the power that they make is cleaner, stable, and much safer for common household appliances and sensitive electronic equipment like tablets, smartphones, and laptops.
Because the power the electricity they generate is much friendlier to modern devices, inverter generators are ideal for home and everyday use, and sitting at top of the inverter generator food chain at the moment is the Generac iQ200 a power making monster whose popularity is only outshone by its performance.
Generac 6866 iQ2000 Super Quiet
Generac engineered the iQ2000 to cater to and suit the needs of homeowners, tailgaters, RV owners, and those folks who like to just throw a tent in the trunk of their car and get away for the odd weekend.
It’s made to be user-friendly, so you don’t need to be mechanically inclined to set it up and let it power up whatever you need it to.
Made to be straightforward to operate, you just fuel the Generac up, twist the power dial to the appropriate setting and then tug the easy-to-use pull cord and the generator will fire straight up.
The dial and indicators on the front of the iQ2000 are also simple to read and will keep you constantly updated about how much fuel is left in its tank, what the estimated remaining run time of the generator is (so you can add more gasoline as and when you need to) and how much wattage it’s producing at any given moment.
There’s also a set of indicator lights that will make you aware of any problems that the Generac might be about to run into, such as low oil levels.
It was made to make your life easier in every single respect and that’s exactly what it does.
All you have to do is fuel it up, fire it up, plug whatever you want it to run directly into one of its one hundred and twenty-volt outlets, step back and let the Generac do the rest.
Generac IQ 2000 Portable Generator Buying Guide
Powering Up With The Generac
The Super Quiet has a one-gallon fuel tank that will easily produce around eight hours of power while it’s running at twenty-five percent load, which is around five hundred watts.
While it’ll produce a peak load of two thousand watts when you push it to its absolute limit, the Generac usually runs at sixteen hundred watts, and while it’s kicking out that sort of charge, it should return around four hours of power at its standard running load.
Obviously, the more power that you draw from the Super Quiet and the harder you push it, the quicker it’ll run out of fuel, but the handy and easy to read fuel and wattage dials that we’ve previously mentioned will keep you fully informed of just how much electricity the Generac is producing and how much fuel it has left at all times.
Best of all though, the Super Quiet will increase and reduce the amount of power that it’s eighty cc motor is producing according to your demands, so it’ll run at maximum efficiency at all times.
If you’re worried about what it can and can’t power, don’t be. The Super Quiet is more than capable of running everything that you’ll need it to at home, or while you’re hanging out at a campsite or throwing a legendary tailgating party for the ages.
Whatever you need it to do, the Super Quiet will step up to the mark and provide all the power that you need efficiently and quietly.
Keeping It Quiet
Like its name says, the Generac iQ2000 Super Quiet was made to keep the volume down because let’s face it, no-one wants an overly noisy generator to ruin a party, vacation, or the time that you get to spend with your family.
Running under a normal load, it’ll produce around fifty-three decibels of noise and even at peak output, it’ll never exceed sixty decibels.
That means that Generac won’t be any louder than any of the guests at your get together, as regular human conversation registers at around fifty decibels of noise.
It’ll just be another voice in the background, albeit one that’s keeping the party going, your home powered, or your vacation in full swing. Super Quiet by name and super quiet by nature, the Generac won’t spoil your day or throw a spanner in the works of your plans by being unduly loud.
Clean and Portable
As the world has become increasingly aware of the damage that carbon emissions are causing and the ecological damage that’s being wrought by their increasing levels, a lot of states are looking to implement the same pollution controls as California already has.
That means that unless your portable generator is CARB (California Air Resources Board) compliant, it’s not going to be legal in every state which could hamper and put a pretty large dent in any camping or travel plans that you might have.
With the Super Quiet though, you don’t need to worry as it’s fully CARB-compliant, which means that you can take it anywhere and everywhere with you and you don’t have to worry about whether or not you can use it. You can and it’s legal to fire it up everywhere in the United States.
It’s also incredibly light and weighs in at just fifty pounds, so you can throw it in the back of your truck or the trunk of your car without a problem and it won’t take up any more space than another case would.
It’s been built to fit snugly in your garage at home and to be easy to carry and transport to wherever you need it to go.
The Balancing Act
There’s no such thing as perfection and the Super Quiet does have some issues that you’ll need to consider before placing all of your portable power needs in its care.
It’s a gasoline-fueled generator, and just like anything powered by an internal combustion engine, it has trouble operating at altitude. So if you’re heading into the mountains or are Colorado bound, it might work as efficiently as you hope it will.
Some long time users have also reported that the Super Quiet can be prone to suffering from carburetor problems which can manifest themselves as fuel leaks and can also reduce the running wattage that it’ll produce and have a calamitous impact on its fuel efficiency.
However, as all Generac generators are covered by their standard three-year warranty, any and all mechanical or electrical issues that appear during that time period are covered and Generac will either repair or replace your Super Quiet.
The Final Verdict
Whether or not you should invest your hard-earned dollars in a Generac Super Quiet, and use one as your back-up generator and good times power supply, from our point of view at least, is a relatively easy question to answer.
The Super Quiet has been our inverter generator of choice for the last five years, and we’ve never encountered or been slowed by any of the issues that other users have reported.
It’s been everywhere with us and is an incredibly efficient, easy to use way of keeping the power flowing and the juice on whenever you need it.
And in our humble opinion, the Super Quiet is the only inverter generator that you’ll ever need, or want. It really is that simple.
