hi guys,
just wondered if you think this is a decent buy?
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/petrol-generator-850w-2-stroke
i'm only going to be using it in the garage where i have no power, probably just for lights and maybe a heater....
That will NOT power a heater!
It will just about be OK for lights.
hah, thought that might be the case..... looks like i'm putting all my coats on instead...
if it's 850w, surely it'll be fine with a few 60w bulbs hooked up?
Also I'd use it outside the garage unless you're found a way of making your metabolism run on carbon monoxide.
planning on building some kind of box type thing for it with an exhaust pipe vent thing, need it to be as quiet as poss to avoid getting thrown out of the flat by angry neighbours
I used to run my camper on a 900 watt generator - I found a 500 watt heater (fine for a small camper , might struggle a bit in a garage though)
You could run four single 4 foot tubes off it (36W each) then get a 500W oil filled radiator, it would be brighter than bulbs for less power and it
would take the chill off.
You'd need cordless tools though...... 
Alternatively, Aldi (I think, could have been LIDL though) had a special on 3.2KW gennys last month at £79.99 each, 240/110 on pneumatic tyres etc.
Last time I looked a fortnight ago and there were a few left so may be worth going to your local store and asking them to ring around for stock.
is a hacksaw, hammer, and a few screwdrivers and sockets cordless enough?!
tube lighting is probably the way forward.... are they particularly pricey?
Those cheapy two stroke gennys are often in Macro for £39. Likewise, the likes of LIDL, Netto etc often have them.
The main problem for your application will be the noise. The air cooled 2 strokes are very noisey! If you put it in a box to kill the sound, it will
soon overheat. I have a 550w four stroke and it uses very little petrol, has a fairly clean output (stable voltage etc) and is a quiet as a happy cat.
I also have a 2.3kva Diesel one. It also uses not much fuel but is so noisey, it is reall unpleasant to be anywhere near it. I had it running in a
barn next to the barn where I was working and even then it was horrid! It was air cooled. The 2.2kva petrol one I bought for £79.99 at Macro was so
noisey I sold it on. The power output was also erratic. Anything from 190v up to 290!
Just buy an inverter and forget the gennys!
Run the exhaust through a matrix of pipes to the outside of the garage, this will kill the noise, Then put a fan on one side to blow air across to
warm the garage, making best use of heat generated from the suck, squeeze, bang, blow machine.
RD 
quote:
Originally posted by rallyingden
Run the exhaust through a matrix of pipes to the outside of the garage, this will kill the noise, Then put a fan on one side to blow air across to warm the garage, making best use of heat generated from the suck, squeeze, bang, blow machine.
RD
If you want heat, I would think gas (or just wrap up!). If you use just florescent lights you might be better off with an inverter and leisure
battery (no noise) no good for high power tools... But I would invest in a good rechargeable drill and a couple of batteries.
Dan
this kind of thing?
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/numax-75ah-sealed-leisure-caravanning-battery-p96547
Looks like a car battery to me..... how long would one of those run some lights for? i was never too bothered about a heater really...