Choosing The Right Generator for Mobile Detailing

Okay so, you want to start a mobile detailing business, and you are wondering what type of equipment you should buy. Specifically you are considering what type of generator you need to run your vacuum cleaner, and perhaps your pressure washer. Maybe you are also in need of power to run a carpet extractor, and a buffer or an orbital buffer. If you work at night you may also need to run a couple of 1 million candle watt lights, floodlights so you can see what you're doing.

Well, that's a lot of electricity that you'll be needing, if you plan to do all those things at once. Of course, you have to ask yourself if you will need all that electricity at once, and how much electricity that will actually be. If you buy a generator that's too large, it will use too much fuel, and could use 2.5 gallons of gasoline for every hour you use it. Remember that's an additional cost at four dollars per gallon, so you are talking about $10 per hour just to run your generator.

If you get a smaller generator with less capacity it may only use 1 gallon or 1.5 gallons per hour. That means it really costs you $4-$5 per hour. Of course, if you are running floodlights, and your vacuum cleaner it may barely be enough, and when you turn on your vacuum cleaner the power will spike, and burn up the motor, or cause it to burn out quicker lessening the life of your vacuum cleaner. If you run your pressure washer which happens to be electric then you need a generator that will be powerful to allow you to use your vacuum at the same time.

If you're running a crew of two or three in your mobile detail business, then while you are spraying, one worker is sitting idle and can't use the vacuum, or can't run the orbital buffer on another vehicle. This will cause you to start and stop, breaking the momentum of your production, and you lose any money you saved in buying a smaller generator that uses less energy and less fuel per hour - you instead will pay more in labor. You see, someone asked me the other day; what size generator they should get, as they were starting their detailing business.

The reality is it depends, and if you are just getting started you may not want a big generator, unless you're going to be very busy, otherwise it will just use up all your cash flow. Of course later on you will have to get a bigger generator as you get busier, or if you decide to work after dark. Why not determine everything you need in advance, and add up the amount of amps that each piece of equipment will need before you decide what type of generator to buy.