Coleman Powermate Is Easy To Use!We bought our Coleman Powermate after an ice storm that we suffered through this last season. We vowed and declared we would not be caught unawares again. At that time we lost our power for five days and it really hit home how totally unprepared we were. Admittedly it was a bad storm but that is still no excuse for not having a back-up plan because we have had storms before and the longest we were without power was 24 hours and that was bad enough. Three weeks after buying the Coleman Powermate it happened again, this time it wasn't quite as bad, but we still had to use the generator over a a two day period. We chose the Coleman Powermate because a lot of folks around here have this make and they all seem to be very happy with them. We knew that there must have been quite a few different models, because of the different uses they are put to. For instance our neighbor Jim is a building contractor and he has a fairly big one that sits on the back of his truck. The fellow over the road takes a small one when he goes away camping. As we discovered, Coleman have their generators divided into four categories:
1. Back-up system - This is the generator we chose as it is designed for home standby, and to run for extended periods of time. 2. Premium - This generator is for recreational users such as campers who require a lightweight unit which is easy to carry. 3. Premium Plus - For frequent use for the serious home handyman. 4. Professional - Coleman's top of the line generator which is designed for commercial tradesmen. During our second outage, our new Coleman Powermate thankfully ran the gas furnace as well as our refrigerator, some lights and we also used our TV around news times to find out what was happening. Nobody ever wants to go through these experiences, but this time was a breeze compared to the time before when we survived all those days with a portable gas burner, as well as candles and kerosene lamps. By the time next winter comes, we will have a transfer switch instaled. This is going to be a major expense for us but it is far better than operating it the way we did. Which was OK, we were advised by an electrical engineer just what to do, but I don't think it is the ideal way to operate them. We also bought a bigger Coleman Powermate unit than we strictly needed, but in my book it is far better to have more than enough than not enough. We were also happy to pay more for a larger fuel tank so that we could run it for extended times. The Coleman Powermate comes with a long list of safety tips and instructions. No doubt they are universal for all generator operation, but many of them we knew nothing about. We did know that you are never to use a generator in a confined space because of the lethal carbon monoxide fumes. We didn't know about grounding it which reduces the chance of an electrical shock. |
