RV Propane Generators Are They Worth It? Dual Fuel Generators.

I love my champion duel fuel. I only use propane and mine runs 20 hours on a 20 pound tank and no more messy gas cans.

A Propane Genny is well suited for home backup (power outage) use when your home also runs on propane. A 375 gallon home propane tank could run your generator for weeks even if you have only half a tank. You could never store 150+ gallons of gas for very long without it going bad.

My Champion Dual-fuel (same size as yours) just got us through a 1 week power outage caused by Tropical Storm Zeta. Not a single hiccup while running two refrigerators, a freezer and a collection of random lights in the house. All on propane, too. Filling the propane tanks, like you said, isn't complicated, just find a truck stop (Loves, TSA, Pilot, Etc cater to truckers and RV-ers.) nearby and they will be happy to do it. I also recommend upgrading to 30 pound tanks instead of using the partially filled 20 pound tanks from the propane exchange services.

I love watching videos that were pre-covid, our poor souls had no idea what was coming

In emergencies, gas pumps don't work nor do they get deliveries so gas is much harder to get. We've had gas shortages but I don't remember a propane shortage. You can exchange propane tanks almost anywhere

Everything you asked for is already built into the Westinghouse iGen4500df - including larger gas tank (3.4gl), digital fuel level, time to empty at current load, total runtime hours, total load in watts(no need for a separate tester) and it has a remote start with an automatic choke (this doesn’t work well when below 40 degrees needing multiple start attempts) and it can start your 15k btu a/c without turning everything else off (within reason) 3300 running watts on propane. I bought mine at home depot for $1050. I still recommend the micro-air - I installed one in both of my 15K a/c so I can run them both at the same time - even from just 30amp shore power service.

I have this exact generator... Bought last April. Used several times last year with no issues. Only once I ran on gas to test how long gas would run my ac vs propane. Have run on propane since and no issues. 13.5k one unit ac... NP. Would highly reccomend this generator. Don't have to lug gas around... Major plus. Great review... Thanks Jared.

one of the biggest pro’s To running propane is the engine can last up to three times longer because it burns so much cleaner.

I've had a similar, but slightly lower wattage, Champion dual fuel generator with electric start for a couple of years. I only run it on propane and it starts my 13.5K BTU A/C in temperatures over 100 degrees without a problem. At those high temperatures it uses about 4.5 gallons of propane in about 9 hours. In my opinion it is much safer to use than gasoline and safer to store. A very high percentage of RV parks sell propane so I've never had a problem refilling tanks. I pretty much agree with all of your observations.

One of the things I love about my dual fuel generator is, I got a hose set up that runs off of my trailer propane system. After several days of boondocking, I went through the generator gas tank and my spare 2 gallon gas tank. And simply hooked into my three 30 pound propane bottle system on my RV. The reason for the fuel tank being so small is so that it can fit under a tunnel cover on the bed of a pick up truck that has a 19 inch high rails.

Jared, great video. I have had that exact generator for some time now. It also starts my 15k AC everytime on propane. Don't forget the safety aspects of having to carry gasoline with you. For the average Joe, propane is much safer. I've owned many generators over the years, this is the best ever, hands down. Price and especially customer support are the best. They will go out of their way to fix any issue you may have. No warranty needed in my opinion. Their customer service is that good. Unsurpassed.

I have one of these generators and it’s a game changer for me. I run it from an auxiliary lp port on the exterior of the trailer. You have to change your RV regulator to hi high flow btu one, and then you don’t use the one supplied with the generator. Just put quick disconnects on both ends. I know a little more about AC ‘s than the average guy, working on them for several years, and would like to point out a few caveats. First install a soft start capacitor. Second, as someone pointed out, the higher you go, the less output you will have. Thirdly, the hotter it is, the more power it takes to start the AC, because the head pressure in the compressor is much higher. I’m glad to report that I have successfully started my 13500 btu AC on a 110 degree day here in Hot Vegas. It did draw to just about the max the generator had, but it did it. Although it’s rated at about 3000 watts on propane mine surged to 3200 watts long enough to fire up the AC. Hope this helps someone.

Jared, I have the exact same generator and love it. I always use it with gas because I think it's cheaper to run it that way, but love knowing that I can use one of my propane bottles in a pinch. I'm not as strong as I used to be (that's my excuse anyway) so, I avoid the heavy lifting by wheeling the generator up a ramp to my pickup bed.

My generator never would run my 3 ton AC unit on my house. I installed a $30 hard start kit and now it works! The start kits are totally worth it no matter if your AC is home or RV!!

The biggest thing for me in using the Champion on the propane setting is that, driving a diesel truck and hauling propane, I don't have to carry a third source of fuel in the truck. I have 2 additional propane bottles in the truck, so, I am propane rich. Also, I have what is called a HARD START COMPASITOR or something close to the name that does what your unit showed in starting the AC. Years ago, I had to go buy gasoline for my mowers. It was messy and leaked all over the bed of the truck. Propane...no problems! Thank you for this video because to me, I did the right thing!

I’m just so glad Ed Helms is into RV’ing

I live on the Gulf Coast. I bought this generator because after a hurricane gasoline is sometimes hard to buy. Propane is available and around the same price.

I just upgraded to the Champion 4500w dual fuel. Many improvements over this one (although I loved this one too). Nice job. -Ed

I bought one of these two years ago, works like a champ. My generator has worked very well and I couldn't be happier. I did have a problem when we first bought it, it wouldn't start our AC however the customer service was super sent me the new mother board which was easy to change. I did add a starting capacitor to the AC just to make it easier and the cost was just over $10. Excellent video. Thanks

Great review ; however , there is one thing your missing : propane does not leave as much carbon buildup on the cylinder heads as gasoline. Onan has for decades offered a kit to remove the cylinder heads and clean the piston tops. Reason is that there is almost no change in RPM's of a generator, they run on a single speed. Generators have come along way :)