2 MIN. |
By kylesmith in
Food trucks and portable generators go together like peanut butter and jelly. Below we’ll go through how to pick the best portable generator for your food truck.
Portable generators are absolutely necessary to run a food truck. The nature of the food truck business is to operate in many locations and often times, locations do not offer easily available, sufficiently powerful electric outlets. When you loose power you will be loosing money. Even with permanent access to the power grid, there’s still a probability the grind will go down leaving your food truck business non-operational. That why’s it’s critical to invest in a portable generator.
Selecting The Best Portable Generator For Your Food Truck
First let’s address how much power your food truck needs. This is the first and most important step in buying your portable generator. Below are some general guidelines on power requirements:
COMMON F&B APPLIANCES
- Fridge – 120V / 200W
- Undercounter freezer – 120V / 900W
- Espresso machine – 240V / 5000W
- Panini press – 120V / 1500W
- Microwave oven – 120V / 1000W
- Hot food holding cabinet – 120V / 1000W
- Food processor – 120V / 600W
- Electric deep fryer – 240V / 3000W
COMMON MISC APPLIANCES
- POS system/Card reader – 120V / 100W
- A/C – 120V / 600W
- Speakers – 120V / 50W
- Laptop – 120V / 150W
- TV (LED screen) – 120V / 150W
- Your phone charger – 120V / 20W
- Lights – 120V / 50W
As a general rule of thumb, opt for 20% more power than you might need. There is a difference between running and starting watts – each appliance is unique but in general it takes more power to start up the appliance than keeping an appliance running. Feel free to use our sizing calculator as a resource in picking the right portable generator.
Sound Decibel Rating (noise)
It’s important to pay attention to your portable generator’s noise level’s. Fellow campers in an RV park or customers coming up to your food truck don’t want to be inundated with louse noises during their experience. A portable generator will make noise. It’s not possible to create electricity without an engine running which implies noise. Thus, a smart portable generator owner should be cognizant of the decibel rating on their unit. As a general rule of thumb, aim for a generator below 80 dB.
Fuel Tank’s Operational Run Time
A typically food truck shift may last 8-16 hours. That means your generator is going to be guzzling fuel throughout your businesses operation entailing the need to refuel the fuel tank to remain in business. For these reasons it’s important to consider how often you want to refuel your food truck’s portable generator.
Are Inverter Generator’s Worth The Added Cost?
Portable inverter generators are a unique type of generator which produce a current whose phase has a clean sine wave. This means the unit has an extremely low total harmonic distortion resulting in a quieter decibel rating.
Inverter generator’s typically power sensitive electronics with microchips. Examples include mobile phones, tablets, computers, LED screens. Portable inverter generator’s are still great options for non-sensitive electronic applications such as camping, RV’s, homes, and construction sites.
Additional, portable inverter generators are generally more compact, easy to carry, less noisy, packing inside an enclosed design.
Portable Generator Outlets
Many appliances require a 240V outlet. If that is the case, ensure your portable generator can actually provide this voltage. The two most common outlets to pay attention to are 120/240V 30A and 120/240V 50A. If you’re unsure which outlet your appliance requires, it’s best to buy a portable generator which features all options.
Budget For Your Portable Generator Investment
Most food trucks rely on a portable generator as the backbone of their business. Thus it’s wise to invest a significant portion of your capital into a reliable portable generator to serve your business needs. This investment will have a positive downstream affect on your business since the generator is going to be involved in every aspect of your food truck business.
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