Tested: Yamaha EF2000iS

No matter whether your politics are green or brown, there are times when you really need to power 230-240 volt appliances.

From years of camping and caravanning, I can think of some straight up:

• Trying to write a story in 40 plus degrees while in a caravan on the banks of Cooper Creek near the famous ‘Dig Tree’ at Innamincka.
It wasn’t so much the heat, but the flies I couldn’t keep off my perspiring face. I needed the door open for ventilation but I would have loved to have fired up the air conditioner.

• When you’ve finally exhausted the last of your secondary battery and solar power to keep your fridge working in searing temperatures and the meat is going off and the beer is getting warm.

• On those roadside free-camp stops on a big road-trip when you’d love to use that microwave to heat pre-prepared food or enjoy a decent cup of coffee from your 230-volt capsule machine

• When your partner starts questioning why you’re suffering the discomfort of remote area camping versus a mains-powered site because it’s (a) too cold (b) too hot (c) too remote to use his/her favourite appliances – take your pick.

Frequent travellers will think of many more...

It’s for all of us, at some time in our life, that Yamaha has made its EF2000iS Inverter (power generator).

Smart in its rounded bright blue and black retro livery and weighing only 20kg – light for a 2.0 kVA output generator and about the same as a good-sized, quality deep cycle battery – the EF2000iS has enough power to run a microwave oven, a camping fridge, a blender, kettle, toaster, an air compressor, electric chain saw, disc grinder, vacuum cleaner, space heater and television.

It will even run a number of wall and roof-mounted air-conditioners typically fitted to caravans and motorhomes.

In fact one forward-thinking caravan manufacturer I know questions why you would fit a second deep cycle battery to your caravan or 4WD when a light, efficient generator like this is more efficient.

Most importantly for those concerned about neighbourhood complaints in roadside free camps or National Parks, where generators are normally verboten, the Yamaha is also claimed to set the benchmark for quiet operation.

Powered by an overhead valve four-stroke petrol motor with cast iron cylinders for added silence, the EF2000iS is also fitted with a newly designed muffler and air filter, while its noise block sound reduction system means you can have a conversation without raising your voice even when it’s running in the Economy mode only a few metres away.

Rubber vibration isolation feet further reduce noise and vibration.

Call on it for something more and not surprisingly, the sound level increases. However with a claimed noise level of just 51.5 dba on one quarter load measured at a distance of seven metres, it’s still one of the quietest machines of its size and output we have ever (not) heard.

When located on the other side of our caravan, using the van as a sound shield, its noise was not too obtrusive. But you’d need to check with the neighbours too.

Like most of its ilk, the Yahama EF2000iS will also charge batteries, making it a handy lifeline to have when travelling in remote areas. It can also be used at home as a standby generator, or to provide power for anywhere from markets, to running outdoor sound systems.

The EF2000iS is also equipped with a parallel use function that allows you to connect two generators when additional power is needed to accommodate a wider range of uses, such as running a combination of appliances in a motorhome or caravan.

Other useful features are Auto Warm-up, which increases engine speed during cold starts to handle high power demand appliances right away, Auto-Decompression, which reduces engine compression for easier starting and Petcock, a very handy function that lets you shut off the fuel to run the carburettor dry for storage – very necessary if that storage space happens to be inside your caravan or in the back of your 4WD.

Finally, the EF2000iS like all Yamaha portable generators now comes with a four-year factory warranty covering the entire generator for defects in parts and workmanship.

Yamaha also recently reduced the RRP to $1899 but shop around and you should be able to get an even sharper deal.

Visit the Yamaha generator website for more details.