Page 15 - OPE JULY 2020

and eu70is with fuel-injected, push-button start, with probably 50% of eu70s going into trailer and solar back-up applications.
“We fit a 32A plug to them, so they’re suitable for trailers, coffee carts, food carts and so on. And for solar back-up, we’re fitting a two-wire, auto-start system, so when batteries get down low, the generator automatically starts up.
As they move away from open-frame models, hire businesses are also big on the smaller eu22, says Bruce Wooding: “People just want to run a generator somewhere where it’s nice and quiet, or have it working at night, and it’s suitable for motor homes, camping, and caravanning.
“Builders are even using them for charging their power tool batteries, and a lot of the emergency services use eu22s as well. Rated at 2200W maximum with recoil start, it is light enough to pick up and take out of a locker when required.”
The eu30 is 3000W maximum and offers the opportunity to go to an electric start option. “There are a lot of those going into food carts as well but there is a big step-up in price. Some people, especially the elderly, really favour electric start rather than recoil, and a lot who go for the eu30is have it permanently mounted in a place where it’s more convenient to just turn the key and push the button.”
Over at Yamaha, Scott Kennedy says the trend towards increased inverter enquiry is supported by buyers increasingly wanting supply to delicate electronics, along with silent models for low noise, especially when camping.
He puts a recent increase in generator demand down to Covid-19 and also an awareness campaign/promotion around the sub-5kVa range that Yamaha has been running.
BE Pressure too has been enjoying success with its new commercial open-frame models.
“For commercial use,” Alex King explains, “the large petrol single- and three-phase standby units have been very popular due to their portability, and they are far more cost- effective than equivalent diesel units.
“And for home use, the 8kVA generators have become the most sought-after model as they provide enough power for essential home appliances in a power outage or solar back-up application.”
On the other hand, although Bruce Wooding at Honda reckons that all but 10% of Honda Power Equipment sales would now be inverters, they still sell “quite a few” open-frame generators.
“A customer might be a logging
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Plus there’s a bit of a flight to quality, says Scott: “There has been a significant increase in consumers stepping up from the low-cost Chinese brands to well-known quality brands with strong build quality, good warranty and a nationwide support network.”
Interest still in open-frame at both ends of the market
It’s also worth noting on top of all this that Yamaha for one is quick to acknowledge there’s still a market for open-frame style generators: “These affordably-priced units are ideal for agricultural use, to run pumps and other farming equipment in remote locations,” says Scott Kennedy.
contractor who chucks it on the back of a ute and isn’t so concerned about noise, or a farmer who needs a back-up power supply to a shed and they don’t need the inverter tech and associated cost because it’s not going to be used very often,” he explains.
BE Pressure’s Alex King recognises that inverter generators have their own place in the market, with the caveat that they can “lack features like overload output for starting large electric motors for pumps, air compressors, and air conditioners, for example.”
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“There has been a significant increase in consumers stepping up from the low-cost Chinese brands to well-known quality brands with strong build quality, good warranty and a nationwide support network”
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JULY 2020 NZ OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT 015
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