Need to upgrade my generator

[jrd1976]

I purchased it in 1996 or 97 after an ice storm and about 10 days below freezing without power. I was loaned a generator during that 10 days and vowed I'd never be without one. The one I have is a Coleman Powermate 5000 running watts with a Tecumseh 10 HP motor. Tecumseh went out of business a couple of years later, but that engine still starts on the first pull every time.

I'm thinking about upgrading to an electric start with about 7,000 to 8,000 running watts. I need a portable for other purposes and prefer gasoline powered. I only use non-ethanol in my power equipment.

I'm thinking about a Generac 8000 or a DeWalt 8000, but the Black Max 7000 with the quiet Honda engine is also in the running.

Tell me your brand name and model and if you would buy it again.

 

[Igiveup]

I have a smaller Generac, 3500 watts I think. Have had it for five years and use it mostly during deer season and a couple summer trips fishing. It has been a stellar generator for its size and portability. We are seriously considering the purchase of a Generac for the house, when the power goes out. It can also power our water well which my other one is not 220. Living in the mountains can be difficult at times without power for a few days or longer.

 

[BillBond]

After quite a bit of research we purchased a Generac XP8000E.
While the generator itself is fine,
the only authorized dealer in the state that also does repair is a jerk.

After it was several years old I couldn't get it started.
I was going to take it in to them,
but even though I purchased it from them,
they required a $500 deposit before they would even look at it.

 

[dasnake]

I have the onan 5000 and the honda 2000 i, both perform great.

 

[kennethg]

I bought a Champion Model 41532 at Costco 8 years ago. It is rated at
9000 starting Watts / 7000 Running Watts. I run it for 30 minutes every month or 2. I have used twice after an earthquake and it worked great.

 

[Frank46]

Generators here in Louisiana aren't a luxury, they are a neccessity. First one I have is a Sears Craftsman 7000KV and I made up a 4 outlet box so that at least the tree refrigerator/freezers would always have power during an outage. Only problem is that I used to store about 40-50 gallons of gas as you never know how long the outage will be. And I usually have about 15-20 gallons left over. Top off the riding mower,dump some in the truck and still have gas left over. Plus at close to 400 pounds not as easy as it used to be moving it from the garage to the carport. Hurricane Harvey did it for me. Now have a 22KV Generac whole house generator with 600 pound tank of propane. Based on hourly consumption I have enough propane to last 5-6 days running all the time. Longest we were without power was 3 days. Comes on every friday for 5 minutes and charges the battery. Frank

 

[6518John]

I have been a member here since 2014. I know that is a drop in the bucket compared to many here, but I don't recall more than a couple of generator threads in all those years.

This thread I believe is the fourth or fifth in just two or three months. These are genuinely wild times for the weather.

As to the OP's question, I have had two, big whole house Generacs, 12KW AND 21KW and I would not have anything else. I would get their big portable.

This think this thread covers everything generator related from A to Z!
FINAL UPDATED 08/11 - WE GOT SLAMMED BY THE STORM TODAY!

 

[Bugkiller99]

I have a Honda 5000 and Honda 2000, 2004 and 2006 models, respectively. Would not get anything other than a Honda. It IS worth the money.
I borrowed a generator in 2004 for the first of three hurricanes. It crapped out in less than 24 hours. When I took in it for repair, the repair shop had them lined up, row after row. I asked the service guy what he would recommend. "Honda, or a commercial grade Cat" . As he sold neither, I took his advice.

 

[chief38]

Generac Generators are EXCELLENT. Please be aware they make 3 different lines of portable generators!

GP - or general purpose models are made in China and sold at big box stores like Home Depot, Costco, etc. They are OK for ocassional use and fairly reliable. They are designed to run 5,000 hours and are relatively inexpensive.

XG - are contractor grade and much more stout units. They are made in the USA and are designed to run 50,000 hours (10 times longevity)

XP - these are industrial grade, also USA made and usually have hoisting hooks on their heavy duty frames for use in the field or job site and can be properly hoisted with heavy machinery. They too are rated at 50,000 run hours.

Depending on your home, you should probably look at portable units around 7.5 - 10K in size that will run your entire home EXCEPT Central A/C.

Then you obviously have their line of Standby Generators that get permanently hooked up, run on either Propane or Natural Gas, are automatic in that they automatically start and switch over anytime there is a power outage. They also test themselves once a week and provide basically a seamless transition of electricity. If you live in an area that constantly looses power - the Standby Generator is the way to go IMHO. A properly sized Standby Generator will easily run your home's Central A/C as well. The exact output and model must be determined by how much electricity your home uses. Most people in my particular area that have them have units between 17K - 24K. Smaller homes have smaller units of course.

IMHO Generac's portable units are a "best bang for the buck" very well designed and built, and extremely reliable. Honda generators are a bit more quiet, but usually at least double the price for a similar sized unit and Honda units are usually not available in larger sized units. While they are excellent units, they are (IMHO) way to over-priced to justify buying for an ocassional black-out!

 

[wheelgun28]

I had a Chinese little portable, it burned oil after twenty hours or so. I would have to fill it up at every fill up of gas. Then it started leaking oil from the crankcase while sitting. Also despite having a four prong outlet for 208 with a ground and a neutral, it has no neutral. It was limited to 120 volt only. If you were to plug it in expecting a neutral it could burn things up.

After dealing with that (and a storm on the way) I bought a Honda. I bought a EM5000SX, its the commercial machine made for working conditions. I paid a good amount for it around $2500 but its been flawless. Other than a new starting battery and a few oil changes its been a great piece. It has about 750 running hours on it now, burning about 650 gallons of gas.

We lose power for extended periods, Sandy 16 days, last storm 5 days as examples.

Buy one cry once, I dont know?

I am tickled pink when I plug it in in the dark and it fires up and powers the house.

I have considered selling it an buying a new EU7000i but it is expensive$$$

I should have put in a whole house years ago but the cost was high and the locations werent appealing (near the front door)

 

[Stevens]

We recently bought a 22kw Generac, natural gas is popular here we already use it in the house for heat and cooking so we used that. before I had an old gasoline Coleman converted to Nat. gas.
Also a 7800W PTO driven unit run off my 23 hp diesel lawn tractor, worked fine too.
The Generac auto starts for 10-15 min every Wed morning we have only needed it once, when a nearby lightning strike knocked out power for about 6 hrs it started right up and all was well.
The natural gas conversion to the Coleman worked out well too, just hooked it up the the house gas line valve, bled the air out and she cranked right up. No gasoline in a tank to buy, refill, drain, or run out of the carburetor when done.
Steve W

 

[The Big D]

If not too nosy, may I ask...

...what can I expect for the total cost of an automatic whole house generator...installed...with the direct connection to the house breaker box.

If it makes a difference, installation location is within 20 feet of both the breaker box and a manifold connected to an in ground propane tank that powers the furnace. It is a BIG tank.

Asking because I will be soliciting bids for such a system in the near future.

Thank you.

Be safe...be well.

 

[6518John]

I think the national average is $5000. Depending on size of generator—which depends on size of house—I would plan on $7500-$10,000. At my first house it was $6 or 7k.

 

[redlevel]

I have a Black Max set I bought from Sam's Club about 10 years ago. It has been very reliable, but quiet it is not. It has a Honda engine, but isn't a Honda branded generator. It sits under a lean-to shed next to a building I renovated a while back. I use it infrequently, mostly to power a compressor to keep truck/tractor tires up. It is also hooked to lights and a 5K btu air conditioner in the building. I believe the last time it was cranked was 6-8 weeks ago when we serviced it. Two days ago I needed to work in the building, so I decided to start it up. I opened the gas shut-off and turned the key. Battery dead. Uh-oh. But it started on the second pull of the rope. I used it frequently the first couple of years, powering table saws, and even a Dewalt 12" planer. It has been well worth the $1000-plus tax I paid for it. I think it is rated at 8700-starting and 7000 running.

I worked at a pawn shop, so I picked up a couple of smaller Honda branded sets. A 1000i, a 2000, and a 2800. I have used them for various purposes on the farm. All reliable. I only run treated, high test, non-ethanol gasoline in all my power equipment.

Picture is the 2800 unit on trailer, powering table saw, skill saw, etc.

 

[NYlakesider]

I think the national average is $5000. Depending on size of generator—which depends on size of house—I would plan on $7500-$10,000. At my first house it was $6 or 7k.

Right as far as I can see. After I decided to get away from the portable gen I had and get a auto whole house I looked around good.

Went with a sort of big company, that appeared to have a good rep. They did a good job installing and as I'm getting older and live on a mountain I went with a multi year service contract. Our biggest problem electric wise is the winter and it can get bad for a long time up here so to me a service contract was well worth it.

They have a bunch of service trucks so in a problem they can get to you fast.

 

[flagman1776]

This is hard not knowing your needs or uses outside of standby power. If I had propane or NG and didn't need portability, I's go that way like my buddy did. (Propane.) You may need a bigger tank.
I live in the country. I bought my first generator, a Honda, in the aftermath of Hurricane Bob. I stepped up to a 6500 about 1990. It will run all our essential needs. It still runs good. The biggest problem is gasoline gumming up. I had to take it to the dealer once for that. Gas stabilizers no longer seem to work.
We have a dealer we can count on. As much as anything, you need a unit you can get dealer serviced as a last resort.

We can count on a few outages of the 24 hour +/- variety each year. Over the years, we've had long outages to 12 days and 14 days. We fill more gas cans than usual when a storm approaches, and use it up to our standard supply levels in between.

 

[Golddollar]

We recently bought a 22kw Generac, natural gas is popular here we already use it in the house for heat and cooking so we used that. /QUOTE]

This is what I did right from the start. Go to the Generac web site to determine what size generator your house will require.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

We have a 7.5 KW Generac diesel powered in the RV. Parked next to the
house if needed and will run everything in the house including AC but not
all at the same time. Heat is propane furnace and wood burning soap stone stove. If I keep the wood burner going the furnace rarely kicks in.
Keep in mind the house is about 1,900 sq.ft. so yours may vary.
I have had the Generac since 1999 and it has been very reliable. At full
load it will burn about 1 gal./hr. But most of the time it will use about
1/2 gal./hr. RV has a 144 gal. tank so I could run for days if needed by
rationing my power use.
The 3 cyl. diesel should last upwards of 4,000 hours with no major
problems.

 

[jrd1976]

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the Black Max 7500/9375 with the Honda engine at Sam's Club.

In testing it on my workshop, it ran all the lights, a refrigerator, a freezer and a 5000 BTU AC at about 17% of the generator capacity. I plan to do a more complete test tomorrow on the house, minus all the 220 Volt equipment.

Hurricane Laura hit Lake Charles hard. Hurricane winds turn counter-clockwise (like the cylinder on a S&W revolver). Driving down I-10 east to west, you see trees that fell south to north; miles later there are trees that fell east to west; and finally there are trees that fell north to south.
I saw three or four billboards, each supported on three I-beam legs, that were bent over 90 degrees.

I planned to wait a few months, but I'm glad I went ahead and bought it. We are a few miles west of the projected path of Hurricane Delta. It should be a Tropical Storm by the time it gets here.

 

[ggibson511960]

No emergency generator system is perfect, but any generator is better than nothing. I got by for years with a 5kW gasoline portable. It had a Subaru Robin engine that was a real brick. It always started easily with one pull after months of abuse sitting idle. I was always careful to run the evil ethanol gas out of the carb on each shutdown. My goals were limited, to run only a refrigerator, and it worked great. Wanting a whole house system I popped almost $12k for a 22kW Generac with auto transfer switch. The transfer switch is huge, the size of a coffin on the side of my house. The transfer switch relays allow a 22kW unit to start and power more big air conditioning loads. The downside is complexity. Each big load has an interposing relay controlled by the auto transfer switch. My local installer, one of the largest in the nation, cheapens the auto transfer switch with a pile of Chinese sourced control power transformers and interposing relays. I have had one control power transformer and three relays go bad within hours of installation. Cheap Chinese junk. If I had it to do over again I would pop for a larger generator that could start and run the big A/C loads. As it is my A/C units are hung on the emergency generator transfer switch. If a relay fails, my A/C fails even with offsite power available. Live and learn. One could also insist on a 100% General auto transfer switch, not a cobbled up cheap mess to save $$.