Costco CPE 2000W Inverter Generator

[Tom Bray]

I noticed the other day that Costco now has a "quiet" inverter generator. It is a CPE (Champion Power Equipment) 1600W continuous 2KW peak generator that is rated around 53 dBA (which according to Champion's website is at a distance of 23 feet). The company claims a fairly pure sinewave output waveform.

At $499 it is tempting (good old Chinese pricing). There is also available a parallel cable to run 2 of them together. I am figuring that parts may be an issue with these.

Does anyone have any experience with them?

Tom

[overlander63]

What is Costco's return policy for them? I know it's fairly liberal for other items, even computers. If it blows up in 6 months or a year, will they allow you to return it for exchange or refund? If they will, you could try it, though my own opinion would be to save my pennies and get a Honda or Yamaha, and you won't have to worry about the return policy.

[dkottum]

My experience is you can't carry on a conversation anywhere near these "inexpensive" generators. Probably good if you don't like your neighbors.

You have the Airstream, stay a step above and get the Honda or Yamaha.

doug k

[eleighj]

Originally Posted by dkottum

My experience is you can't carry on a conversation anywhere near these "inexpensive" generators. Probably good if you don't like your neighbors.

You have the Airstream, stay a step above and get the Honda or Yamaha.

doug k

Ditto buy a Honda or Yamaha. Also, buy from a local dealer that has repair facilities; makes any warranty repairs a snap.

Ed

[68 TWind]

My son bought a 3500W Champion from Tractor Supply. We both did a lot of research and reading on the brand and found mostly great postings on them. The 3500Kw has a honda clone engine but a really big muffler. It is extremely quiet compared to my 6hp honda on my pressure washer. He has been very happy with the unit. Sam's has them too. You can buy 2 of these for the price of a Honda. If money is no object it would be a Honda, but looking at the amount of time I will use it I am going to buy a Champion.

[TerryC]

Honda dealers are pretty good about repairs on Honda Products. Take 'em in, the dealer gets paid the same from the factory if they sold it to you or not.

I remember when American car dealers didn't like to work on your/their brand of car if the hadn't sold it to you! Then Toyota and Honda moved in down the street and things began to change.

[Wingeezer]

I saw the Chinese units at Costco and was very tempted. In the end, I opted for the Honda, mainly becasue I have had such a good experience with all manner of Honda products in the past, their generators got such great reports from everyone, and if ever I should need parts, I figured they would be a whole lot easier to find.

Can't say I regret it, even though we will use the generator very little. I know too
(from experience trying buy one) that they are a good resale item if/when the time comes.


Brian

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

I saw the Chinese units at Costco and was very tempted. In the end, I opted for the Honda, mainly becasue I have had such a good experience with all manner of Honda products in the past, their generators got such great reports from everyone, and if ever I should need parts, I figured they would be a whole lot easier to find.

Can't say I regret it, even though we will use the generator very little. I know too
(from experience trying buy one) that they are a good resale item if/when the time comes.


Brian

They seem to hold up to neglect, too. I didn't even start mine for a year when I was laid up. I filled it with fresh gas and it started on the third pull of the cord.

[MontanaAIR]

Originally Posted by Tom Bray

I noticed the other day that Costco now has a "quiet" inverter generator. It is a CPE (Champion Power Equipment) 1600W continuous 2KW peak generator that is rated around 53 dBA (which according to Champion's website is at a distance of 23 feet). The company claims a fairly pure sinewave output waveform.

At $499 it is tempting (good old Chinese pricing). There is also available a parallel cable to run 2 of them together. I am figuring that parts may be an issue with these.

Does anyone have any experience with them?

Tom

I don't have any personal experience with CPE but my brother-in-law bought this generator from Costco recently. He is a dry-waller / painter by trade and loves it. Compared to some of the old rusty generators he has had he said this one is very quiet and serves it's purpose well. He also uses it for his RV and its been great the last few weeks keeping his batteries charged.

Now on the other hand, Costco has another generator for sale online that is a more familiar brand and is close to a Honda. It's a Honeywell 2,000 watt generator and looks just like the Honda. For about $30 more you can get this one delivered to your door and still have the Costco return policy in affect.

Here is the link to it at Costco.com - Costco - Honeywell 2000 Watts Running / 2200 Watts Peak Inverter Generator

[Tom Bray]

I looked at the Honeywell and it porks out around 62dBA at 25% load compared to the 53 of the CPE. It does appear to be a Genelec for whatever that is worth but the CPE is a lot quieter, it doesn't get up to 62dBA until almost full load.

Of course the Yamaha 2KW generator is another 2 dB quieter than the CPE and where I really care about the noise level, I doubt I will be using even 25% of the generator power.

Right now I think I will sit on my wallet. I have access to a very nice Onan generator that will power the entire camper, including the AC, which will get me through running on emergency power for the Ham Radio Field Day contest at the end of June. Here in Alabama, the AC is probably the most important feature of the camper.

After that, I will decide what I want to do next.

Tom

[Gringo]

FWIW, we bought one of the Honeywell branded, more industrial looking, open frame 3.5 kW gas generators as an emergency house backup where we live. We lose power fairly frequently, and have used this generator at least a couple dozen times. No complaints. A lot of the components are Chinese.