Mobile food catering- any silent generators?

[sat1983]

I need access to power as I will be selling food on a market. I'd like to avoid the noisy petrol generators and wondered if there was anything on the market which would be silent (for instance something which would charge overnight)and give me power for the whole trading day?

Thanks!

[LivingTheDream]

Depends on how much power you need - what will you be running?

[ApOrbital]

What is the power for?

[Otispunkmeyer]

Have a look at the Honda EU10/20 units. I don't have one myself but a guy we're working with is looking to modify one for a different purpose. However I have heard it running and they are indeed very muted. The EU20i is a 2 kW genny, EU10 is a 1 kW model

http://www.honda.co.uk/industrial/products/generat...

Other than that.... Load of batteries? Yellow topped leisure batts like you get in Caravans?

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Wednesday 20th July 10:23

[sat1983]

I would be using a grill for grilling meats- Grill power is 1800 W and 240 V.

[Otispunkmeyer]

sat1983 said:

I would be using a grill for grilling meats- Grill power is 1800 W and 240 V.

Surely you're going to have to get a petrol genset for that. At 1800 W too that EU20i I mentioned might not do it, its 2kW peak, 1600 W rated... though I will be honest I am not entirely sure of the differences between the two values. I am just guessing that it means it won't pump out 2kW continuously. They do do a 3kW model.

[sidekickdmr]

Ive been looking into these, electric generators, you can charge them up and use them as a battery pack, or connect a solar panel and that keeps it topped up too.

looks like a great product, but not cheap:

http://www.goalzero.com/p/138/goal-zero-yeti-1250-...

(they have smaller ones too)

[Fatboy]

Would a gas grill not be an option? Propane bottles etc.?

[Otispunkmeyer]

sidekickdmr said:

Ive been looking into these, electric generators, you can charge them up and use them as a battery pack, or connect a solar panel and that keeps it topped up too.

looks like a great product, but not cheap:

http://www.goalzero.com/p/138/goal-zero-yeti-1250-...

(they have smaller ones too)

1200 Wh capacity wouldnt even give him an hour of cooking (assuming his grill takes 1800 W all the time). As above, why not a gas grill? Bottle of gas is dirt cheap by comparison and it'd last ages! Even the gensets I posted about will only run about 3-4 hours before needing a refill.

[Shakermaker]

Fatboy said:

Would a gas grill not be an option? Propane bottles etc.?

This would be my suggestion also.

Running an electric grill constantly is going to need a lot of juice. As an example, I have this generator https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-fg3005-2-8k... and if I plug in a kettle to boil, you can really hear the change in engine tone as it uses all of its output, and it is not that quiet - we keep it several meters away when we are camping and hide it behind a van/trailer to muffle the noise. Running a grill, is going to do the same to it. I can imagine you'd need a lot of batteries to do the same job?

[sat1983]

Trouble is I've already been gifted an electric machine...!

[trickywoo]

sat1983 said:

wondered if there was anything on the market which would be silent (for instance something which would charge overnight)and give me power for the whole trading day? I would be using a grill for grilling meats- Grill power is 1800 W and 240 V

Tesla do a 6.4 kW hour battery for $3,000, not sure on UK price.

For a 7 hour day running the grill you'd need two. Not sure how portable it is as its called Powerwall and designed to be mounted on erm a wall in your house.

[longshot]

sat1983 said:

Trouble is I've already been gifted an electric machine...!

Did they hit the same problem/how did they run it?

[21TonyK]

Theres a reason you never see electric grill plates used for mobile catering. As already suggested, gas is the only realistic option.

http://www.catering-appliance.com/parry-pgf600-pro...

Less than half the price of a generator.

[EnglishTony]

Or just rent a gas set up.

Or run a power cable from somewhere with some sort of meter so you can pay for the electricity you use.

[Shakermaker]

EnglishTony said:

Or just rent a gas set up.

Or run a power cable from somewhere with some sort of meter so you can pay for the electricity you use.

That's a point... in Horsham, when the market comes to town the traders can plug into the mains network as they have plugs built into the bollards etc for just that reason

[ColinM50]

Charcoal BBQ?

[sat1983]

NeMiSiS said:

If you can park your can near enough just plug it into the ciggie lighter.

Just for the record there is no such thing as a noisey petrol generator, noise is dependant on the size of your hook up cable.

City centre street= no parking!

[Tom_C76]

The closest you'll get to silent would be a Sterling Engine system. But to get 1800W usable electric output you'd have many times that in heat to dissipate. Small 750W units are sometimes used on boats with the waste heat going into the canal/river. At your power requirement the commercial ones suggest uses like heating greenhouses...

1800W at 12V is 150A, for an 8 hour day you'd be looking for something like 2400AHr of leisure batteries and huge inverter. As suggested, many markets offer power hookup, if your site doesn't your options are the little Honda gensets or swap to gas.

[Rosscow]

Go charcoal - how cool would that be!