We are most-timing in our Seneca and exclusively boondock on a piece of land with no water or power. While we love the Seneca's 8000 watt diesel gen and its ability to run everything in the camper, I just looked at the hour meter and read 193hrs since we purchased new July 1 of this year. At this rate, I would be using about 1200 hours/year of gen time. I am guessing that the components should be good for roughly 5000/6000 hours. I have been very conservative with its use as well. While solar is in the plans for next year, it just cannot be done at this time.
The cost of the 8Kw Cummins Onan is about $8,000 (plus installation), not to mention the expense of oil changes with the filter. While I appreciate all this is simply the cost of the convenience of such a good system, I wanted to get your opinion on offsetting this use. I have found a nice Ryobi 2200 watt (with Bluetooth shut down from a smartphone) inverter gen for $600 at the Orange Box store. It also comes with a 3 year warranty and only needs one quart of oil for a change and no filter.
Does anyone see any problem with, or concur with any possible advantages to using this portable gen to power the Seneca?
I do realize that this is not going to power much, but I still have the diesel if I need the A/C. I am only looking to use this as an inexpensive way to provide power for coach batteries, fridge (may decrease propane usage too!), and a coffee maker (Keurig). I also do not need to worry about storage as I can leave this gen on the property we utilize when we take the Seneca on a trip.
Ryobi Bluetooth 2,300-Watt Super Quiet Gasoline Powered Digital Inverter Generator-RYI2300BTA - The Home Depot