Food Truck Generator Buyer's Guide
- By Cameron Green
- Jan 16, 2022
For entrepreneurs with small traveling restaurants, what you serve and who you're serving it to usually top the list of business concerns. But inside your food truck are necessary tools for running the day-to-day operations, like ovens, grills, and other appliances that require reliable and portable power. The key to success? Selecting the best food truck generator for your needs. A portable generator is ideal, but what type? While many chefs are savvy with the ins and outs of restauranteering, we're here to lend a hand in helping you select the right power option with our Food Truck Generator Buyer's Guide.
Having a brick and mortar location hooked up to the municipal power grid might leave you taking electricity for granted, and it's all to easy to underestimate the importance of your food truck generator once you decide to make your operation mobile. Serving up tasty entrees and beverages is simple when you're hooked up up to the convenient wall-mounted outlets of limitless 120V, 240V, or 3-phase power, but that convenience disappears on the road. As a mobile restaurant, you'll have to provide your own electricity.
Absolute Generators is a trusted source for mobile restaurants, food trailers, and other four-wheeled refreshement catering destinations who are in need of power for their refrigerators, ovens, stoves, coffee makers, toasters, cash registers – you name it, and Absolute Generators has the backup power solution to keep your appliances up and running.
Food Truck Generator Buyer's Guide
When talking with our mobile restaurant and catering clients, we begin with a few questions:
- What appliances will you be powering?
- What’s the total typical simultaneous wattage you expect to use throughout a given day?
- What’s the peak total typical simultaneous wattage you expect to use on a given day?
Divide each of those wattages (questions 2 & 3) by 120 Volt or 240 Volt, and you'll find the amperage you need to successfully power your day-to-day mobile operation. Remember that during the start up of your appliances, the amperage requirement may be upwards of 3-5 times that of your continuous amperage requirements. If you’re confused about start-up wattage vs. continuous wattage, our Absolute specialists are happy to lend a hand.
When calculating your necessary amperage, review the fine print located on your appliances. You can also call the manufacturer to find out by what factor (usually 3, 4, or 5 times the amperage) they advise users to assume when calculating the starting amps for their equipment.
Selecting a Fuel Type
Do you want to burn gasoline, diesel, or propane? Each fuel has its own benefits:
- Availability
Many people already burn propane for their operations, and purchasing a new propane generator keeps things simple. - Convenience
Gasoline generators are great because of the availability of fuel. Gas generators are typically the most used type of generator for backup power. - Fuel Economy
Diesel generators tend to provide the greatest fuel economy and value per hour of use. - Durability
Professional diesel generators tend to provide the longest operating life of any generator pedigree.
Other Considerations When Buying Your Food Truck Generator
- What power receptacles will your operation require? What are the voltage requirements for your appliances?
Generators can offer the standard 120V 20 Amp receptacles, or 30 Amp, 50 Amp, and even 60 Amp receptacles. - How are you going to connect the generator to the power appliances?
Options here include connecting to the central power panel, transferring power to distribute electricity throughout your trailer, or relying solely on the generator's receptacles with the use of extension cords. - Will the generator be running in a covered environment, or will you require a generator tent?
A generator tent will protect your generator investment in case you're running your operation through inclement weather. - Will there be sound restrictions where you’re catering?
A "quiet" generator that operates under 60 or 70 dB will be a bit more of an investment, but with that increased investment comes improved strength and durability, as well as the quality of power offered by your generator. Silent diesel generators or inverter generators are ideal choices if sound production is a key factor in your decision process.
- Do you need a commercial warranty?
Less expensive generators offer 1-6 month commercial grade warranties which offer little assurance for a commercial user. Generators equipped to run daily in a professional, commercial money-making venture, like mobile catering, offer commercial warranties of 2 years up to 5 years. - What’s your budget?
Prices typically run in proportion to the quality, expected operating life, duration of commercial warranty, engine quality, and fuel type of your chosen generator.
Top Food Truck Generators
Multiquip Portable Silent Diesel Generators
Most recently, we received the following reply from a customer we helped find the perfect Multiquip silent diesel generator for her operation. Like others, Karen had a pretty good grasp on what she was looking for prior to calling us. She did her homework. We answered a few questions, and to some degree, offered our perspective so she was well-enough informed to move forward. She had this to say in response to her experience with Absolute Generators:
“With the help of the salesman, I was able to find the right generator for my food truck, and also purchase one used only one hour and considered a demo for reduced cost. While I have not used the generator yet, it arrived very quickly and my experience having the same person who sold me the generator help me track it was really nice. With any luck I will be building more trucks and ordering more generators in the future.” -Karen Z., Utah
Kubota Lowboy II Compact & Quiet Diesel Generator Series
GL7000 Generator, GL7000TM Generator, GL11000 Generator, GL11000TM Generator
Kubota has changed the game when it comes to compact, quiet diesel generators. If a compact design, quiet operation, high power, and a liquid cooled diesel engine are your goal, then look no further than the Kubota Lowboy II Series of diesel generators. It is nearly impossible to find a liquid cooled diesel unit in such a compact design. Inexpensive, quiet, low operating costs, and long term durability – it's hard to beat the Kubota Lowboy diesel generator.
With the ability to operate on gasoline, cleaner burning LP (propane), or natural gas fuels to meet a variety of power generation needs, the Winco Tri-Fuel generator offers the ultimate in flexibility while maintaining an environmentally friendly design. Operating on propane or natural gas increases your run time, and provides quick, reliable starts without gumming up the carburetor. Easily convert from regular gasoline to propane, and then to natural gas. You can even operate on vapor fuels by turning off the gasoline fuel line, connecting the proper t-valve fitting for the selected fuel, and connecting to the main fuel supply. After starting, the engine is capable of providing hours of uninterrupted power from an adequate fuel supply. Another positive: unlike gasoline, propane can be stored for years without going bad.
At Absolute Generators, we like to call this the "Cookie Sheet Generator" because of its tray, which is helpful for Emergency Vehicle or Truck Diesel (hence, EVTD) mounting. In fact, this generator provides oil and fuel spill containment with the drip pan, and has pre-mounted vibration isolating pads. Ready-to-go control panel wiring upon delivery makes this generator a solution for permanent power needs on emergency municipal, medivac, or paramedic vehicles. Plus, we love this versatile electrical power source for its compact size, low weight, and Phase/Voltage versatility options. Be aware of proper and necessary exhaust venting and air flow, since this is an air-cooled diesel generator, and will overheat in a tightly enclosed space. This unit should not be installed in the open elements-only on a slide out tray or in a well-ventilated area.
Review all of our professional grade generators ideal for mobile restaurants or food trailers, and find your perfect fit. You can also give us a call at 888-264-2189 and we’ll walk you through finding the best food truck generator for your application.
