Last summer I experimented with a Champion 2000 watt generator to see if it would run a 15k AC unit if I installed a Microair Easystart. The Honda 2000 will do it, but the Champion 2000 won't.

This year there is a new crop of 2200 and 2300 watt generators that I've been watching and wondering if they'll run an AC. I found a couple of reviews on the Ryobi 2300 that said it would run a 13k AC, but no one has mentioned if it will run a 15k unit.

Of course, my Reflection 337RLS has one of each, a 13k AC in the bedroom and a 15k AC in the living room and they are ducted together so I can live with just the 13k. But it gets hot in South Texas and I'd sure like to be able to run either unit, if just for redundancy.

So when someone mentioned that Texas has a sales tax holiday next weekend for emergency prep equipment, I knew that the Ryobi 2300 watt generator was in my future - I can't pass up a sale. And then, last evening we decided to go to the beach next week and I started thinking about loading my two ton LP gennie, the purchase got moved up by a week.

Like all the little generators, this one is designed so half the oil goes in the crankcase and half in the bottom of the case so plan to have a little extra oil on hand and some paper towels. Other than that, it was add gas and it started on the first pull.

In econo mode, basically at idle, it was remarkably quiet. I plugged in my RV with the converter and fridge on AC and I couldn't tell that it speeded up any. The power meter has 8 bars to full scale and 3 of them showed.

I let it run for a couple of hours for breakin before I put it to the AC test. With the converter off and fridge on LP, it started the 15k AC with barely a stumble - in econo mode. I was pretty impressed so I let the AC run for about ten minutes then shut it down for ten minutes and tried again and the generator overloaded in econo mode. I reset the gen and turned the econo mode off and it will start the 15k AC all day.

FWIW, running wide open, it wasn't real quiet, but no worse than any of the other little generators I've seen.

The power meter showed 7 of 8 bars running the 15k AC and 6 of 8 running the 13k AC.

This generator also has a bluetooth smartphone interface that I thought was kind of gimmicky, but after using it I kind of like it. It won't start the gen, of course, but it will shut it down and turn the econo mode off and on and allows you to track the fuel usage.

I don't think this is going to replace the iron monster during the hot part of the summer when even two AC's aren't really enough, but it is perfect for this time of year when the need for AC is minimal. I may add the Microaire Easystart at some point - perhaps it will allow me to run in econo mode between AC cyles - but there is no urgency to add it.