Split - Does this mean your genny is setup 125/250 with 2.5 kw available per side? Or is it 125 VAC only feeding 2 panels?I have an’06 IG 32 with a 5kw split genny. I have to manage the loads to keep from tripping. I wish I had a 6-7 kw. Below is a load test I did with most of my heavy draw stuff:
Sea Neff 110V Amp Loads
House Bank
• Water Heater - 12 Amps
• Microwave Oven - 10.5 Amps
• Kuerig Coffee - 11.7 Amps
• Hair Dryer - 13 Amps
A/C Bank
• A/C Water Pump - 2 Amps
• Both Air Handlers - 3 Amps
• Forward A/C Compressor - 5 Amps
• Salon A/C Compressor - 7 Amps
• Peak Amperage with both A/C's - 31 Amps
Hope this helps.
You might check out Dometic Smart Start unit. My boat has two 16,000 btu heat pumps run by a single 5 kw NL generator. The Smart Start takes 65% out of load start spikes. No problems with generator overloads and my generatorj load is probable 75% or more making for a happy generator.
What size diesel generator is needed to power a 32' trawler with reverse cycle heat / ac, electric stove, lights and other basics while anchored? Has anyone heard of Nexgen they make a 4K genset. I am working on figuring out how much the boat will cost above sale price before making an offer. Thanks Unclematt
Not necessarily good advice. If you add up everything and add 10%, you may end up with a really big machine that ends up spending most of its time running at 20-30% load 90% of the time and that is not good for the engines.
Best to size it modestly and tolerate some load management.
If you absolutely do not want to manage load, then size it as you suggest. Just understand there are downsides to doing that.
This applies especially to a smaller boat (like OP's 32). Not so much to a large boat, as that will usually have plenty of load and the physical size and weight of the machine is a non-issue.
5kw produces about 42amps. I have a 2 pole circuit breaker on the genny, 20 amp each side.
So, I can’t run both ac's under genny, too much amps. Have to manage other heavy load stuff also,
Syjos,The 5.5 Kw generator is perfect in the winter running electric heaters and hot water tank.
In the summer at anchor, the 120 VAC holding plate freezer compressor and the battery charger are the only loads after the 15 amp hot water tank reaches temp. The compressor uses about 5 amps and charger consumption declines as the battery gets charged but starts at around 20 amps when the batteries are down 50%.
So in order to keep the generator loaded after the water heater turns off, I have to run an electric heate outside the boat. When I had the 4.5 Kw generator, did not need to run a heater but sometimes had to manage loads.
Reason to correctly size the generator.
Syjos,
I thought I might be the only one running an electric heater out on deck in the summer (to help load up the generator)
My boat came with a 9KW generator that is way too big for our needs. The boat was originally going to have AC installed (so I am told), but does not have AC. So, I try to load it up to at about 40 to 45 amps, with the odd time having 2 heaters on deck. I do get some strange looks and/or comments from passing kayakers
I've been known to have an A/C unit running with windows open to keep more load on the generator when I have it running only for something fairly small, like warming the hot water tank.