I am looking to buy a decent generator, preferably petrol engine, output somewhere between 2.3 and 3.0 KW

It is only for occassional use during power cuts. I plan to have it sitting on standby for when the power cut happens and then disconnect the mains and connect the generator via a changeover switch.

Might seem a bit excessive to some, but we get a good few power cuts throughout the winter and with a young family i think it would be a worthwhile investment.

I was after one of the ones Makro advertised recently 2.2 KW for £99.99 + Vat, but they are sold out throughout Scotland.

Do you know of any other decent deals or can you recommend good suppliers? any links or general recommendations would be appreciated.

PS my budget extends to about £200

Thanks

Try this one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-3-Kva-OHV-Petr ol-Generator_W0QQitemZ7560508391QQcategoryZ46412QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Gives you an idea what you might pay on there.

I think you'll find that what you are planning to do is infact illegal.
It is also very dangerous unless the correct isolation equipment is used.
I would check with you elictricity supplier
and consult with an engineer qualified to carry out these installations first.

cant see why it would be illegal, disconnecting you consumer unit from the supply is legal (if qualified) and theres no reason why you could not then power it from a generator. You would have to think about the fuses etc though

I bought a generator from the Aberdeen Makro last week, 'Budget' brand 2.3 kVa petrol for £139 + VAT. There were 20+ left.
On the subject of connecting it to the domestic supply, I had planned to isolate the house from the mains using the trips and then plug the generator into one of the rings.
Is there a reason not to do this that I havn't thought of?

Cheers Mick

[Edited on 15/11/05 by Mix]

My Dad is a qualified electrician and knows quite a bit about this type of thing due to a previous job.

I dont really know the ins and outs of the law regarding this but my Dad would be doing the work and he assures me the way he plans to do it is perfectly legal.

Obviously i dont intend backfeeding the national grid and electrocuting the poor man up the pole trying to fix the original problem.

He mentioned something about a changeover switch or something. Like i say i am not clued up on this and will not be doing the work myself.

Regarding the generator linked above, thats the sort of thing i am looking for and the price is quite good, however the postage is extortionate It says £35, but when you read further down my postcode gives a postage cost of £71 (or £125 for next day delivery). I suppose thats my fault for living at the edge of civilisation.

I'll make further enquiries with Makro, but when i phoned Aberdeen they were sold out....or so i was told at least.

Thanks for your help so far.

simple solution is use a double pole isolator to seperate from mains (ie your main switch or rcd, but not the MCBs as these are only single pole switches), use the same earth set up (generators probably dont have earths do they?) and then simply connect the tails to the generator. Obviously the generator would have no chance of powering the full house, but avoiding kettles and leccy showers would leave it working nicely!

if your dad is qualified, id have no doubts at all that it can be done safely and well.