Westinghouse 75,000 runs the house with a transfer switch.
Westinghouse 75,000 runs the house with a transfer switch.
Originally Posted by Condor482
We have a Troy Built 6500. Got us through many hurricanes.
runs multiple refrigerators and a portable AC unit.
we run extension cords. Not interested in hard wiring.
also the portable AC is a must.
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I just bought a Firman to use to run a camper/cargo trailer I did up. Using it to run an electric heater, a fan, a light or 2 (led) and maybe next year a small microwave. Tried it out last weekend with the heater and lights and it was no problem. Read really good reviews on them, they come with a 3 year warranty and the pricing was really good. Here in Canada they are available at cabelas and Home Depot. Not sure if it’s the same in the states but they are a common brand so should be easy to find.
I have 2, one is Troy-Bilt 5500 - starting watt 8000 - 5 gal tank I got for the hunt camp. It runs fridge, freezer, tv, microwave, coffee pots, 4 fans, well pump, 5 outside flood lights, sometimes in unison with no problem. Fill it up around 7:00 PM and runs till about 10:00 the next morning.
Also have a Briggs & Stratton 8500 - starting watts 13550 - 6 gal tank because I put an instant on water heater for the shower, same deal runs everything and a window A/C and actually on less fuel then the smaller one because it's bigger than what's actually needed and it just sits and idles until a fridge or freezer starts then it will just kick up and idle back after the initial start. Fill it up around 7:00 PM and it will go to about 2:00 PM.
Neither were that expensive back a few years ago...
I’ve got a 2000 watt champion from tractor supply and a 3500 watt predator and both are good for me. Both are inverter style and very quiet. Can get you through an emergency situation pretty easy since we don’t run much. Rotate the freezer and fridge and can power a couple lights and tv to keep occupied during outages.
I have a 7k powerbuilt from Lowes. It does a good job when I need it.
Honda 6500.
Northern tool has dual fuel , propane and gasoline. Up to about 7.5k,, more than enough for my needs, I do cycle the hot water heater and freezer. Propane is where it is at. No carbs to clog up, instant start. Typical gas grill style tank will run about 10 hours, or go bigger. I have a 3.5k propane only I use for camping. Its a bit lighter weight.
Whats good about the dual fuel, is you can have the propane hooked up to it forever and not worry about it going bad. THEN if you need power for an extended time, you can run out and buy gasoline..
THIS, if you want dependable, quiet cost more but when you need it , it WILL start.
I've got a permanent mount Generac myself and their great but my 91 year old neighbor has an ancient 5000 watt HONDA that he's had forever and it's never had any kind of maintenance at all, never a tune up, never changed the plug(s), never even an oil change but that darned machine fires up EVERY time it's needed and usually with only a couple pulls.
I keep telling him he has to look after it better but he just laughs at me LOL
I bought a DuraMax 12,000 starting/ 9,500 running dual fuel propane or gas from Lowes and run my entire house off of it including the AC. I also wired a breaker into my main and a receptacle so I can just flip the main and away we go. It is also electric or pull start so the wife can also hook it up if I'm not home.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/DuroMax-120...ine/1000804004
Hope who ever installed the plug knew what they were doing, easy to fry a poor lineman otherwise. Got a buddy who was a lineman with no hands, from getting fried.
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If you have natural gas I would suggest you really consider a whole house unit especially if you plan on staying in that house for a long time. I had a portable for several years and got tired of having to store gas "just in case" i needed it, having to get the generator out, dragging extension cords, this gets old. Putting in the whole house was one of the best things i've done. If you do go portable i'd recommend Generac with electric start.
Gas goes bad. Propane does not. Do you want it to start when you need it?
I been living in this area for 20 yrs....in those 20 yrs. we had 3 instances where a hurricane knocked out power.....all three times had been an average of 3 days of no power......on the first one, we bought a portable generator and ran a few things in the house and survived. The last two this year didnt have anything, went to her mom's house. Now she wants to spend $10k on a whole house generator and i cant convince her otherwise.....
After the dust settles this winter, i'll be shopping for one.....we will be going with a Generac setup.
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I bought a Champion 9500 Electric start on eBay and it was delivered right to my house with free shipping. Tractor Supply sells them but they didn't have any of the 9500's at that time. Champion has great reviews and that sucker started so quick, it scared me. Just a touch of the button! I put it on a 4 wheeled cart instead of using the wheels and it rolls around real easy. Neighbor bought a Westinghouse from Sam's an he has already had to use it. It ran everything. He didn't try to use his AC so don't know if it'll handle that or not. I checked out so many generators on line that it was driving me crazy with all the choices. I think they are all made by one company, most copy Honda's !
I've got an old Yamaha 6500 or 6800W that has had a hot supper every day of its life. Currently parked at my mom's for emergency whole-house power. Typically gets run once/year - never any issues whatsoever other than a little oil use. Carbs haven't needed cleaning in 10 years+. The collapsible handlebars are the weak point - I'm sure they've addressed that in the current models.
My brother's got a couple Honda of similar size, and had great service from them as well.
We rarely ever loose power either, but 8 years ago during an early fall snow storm we lost power for a week. We bought natural gas Generac and, although we've only had to use it twice, we do not regret the purcahase. Everything in our house, the heat, the gas stove, all rely on the electric. Also it's nice to have the a/c running in the summer. We thought about just getting a small gas one, but when the powers out, the gas stations can't pump.
not to be Debbie downer,if you can find one don't hesitate,get it as soon as you see it, ive got 50 on order my eariest order placed was mid august. ship dates on those are in the first week of December,evereything else is after the first of the year.
I went with a Yamaha 2000 watt inverter, and last year also got their 3000 watt inverter. The first one was $800 from Amazon. Got it because the Honda at that time had a plastic cam.
The 3000 watt unit uses the battery for the first few seconds of load, to increase current for hard-starting devices. I used it in anger last week for about 4 hours. I run it into a 100' 10 gauge extension cord that plugs into a 6-circuit transfer switch. It powered my sump pump (1500 watt startup indicated on the transfer switches power meter) and my living room Directv, 65" tv and 2.1 speakers.
Both Yamahas are very quiet and fuel efficient. They allow the carb to be drained (unlike Honda). Honda has better support, though.
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