What generators/brands to avoid?

[dieselrealtor]

I appreciate the input.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I have a Briggs and Stratton and a Generac both 8500 max. Either one will run my entire house, I know because I have done it. Now I can not run the dryer and microwave at the same time, there are a couple different combos like that I need to watch.

Had my uncle come over and he wired in a transfer switch, works great.

Next house I will get a natural gas or propane unit. But for now, one of these will work just fine.

2 or more times (tornado, flood) when there were weather related extended outages, power & natural gas were turned off. People that had back up generators on NG were out of luck.

Propane seems to use a lot of fuel compared to gasoline or diesel, I will probably use something with a fuel source I can have on hand.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I and my family and friends have all had great luck with the Harbor Freight Predator generators, I myself have 2 of the 2000 watt ones with a parralell kit for camping and racing. I went with them for mobility, i usually only need 1 at the race tracks, but can bring both if I want to run AC on the camper.

My BBQ team uses the 9500 watt quiet generator, and it is my team mates back up for his house. It has run flawlessly for 4 years now. I would like to get one for my house, but my power rarely goes out for more than a few minutes, and I can live with my small generators running just my fridge and freezer.

I know lots of people with the 3500 watt Predators and all of them have been great as well.

A friend of mine in CA does barn construction, he used the Honda EU3000is for years, when they failed he scrapped them. Tried the HF Predator equivelant+ & said they have lasted as long as the Hondas did.

 

[laf]

I've had good luck with Champion. The last house was in the city with city water and sewer. I had a 3500w propane/gasoline and only ran off propane. I put in a 6 circuit Reliance manual transfer switch to run all the major circuits but was cooking on a coleman white gas stove and/or charcoal grill since it was an all electric kitchen. Furnace, tvs, router, all the lights, fridges, garage door, all on that and it didn't give me any trouble. It did not run the stove, dryer, or AC because it didn't have 240v. I did have to buy a 240v/120v twist lock adapter to mate with that generator inlet.

Since then I sold the smaller generator when we moved and now I have a Champion 8kw tri fuel. Probably had 10 outages in the 3 years I've lived at this home with a couple being a day, a couple more a 3-5 hours, and the rest under an hour. We are on well & septic but with natural gas appliances (furnace, water heater, dryer, stove). We also have a forced exhaust gas hot water system. In the several outages that we've experienced the 8kw has been more than enough to run the whole 3300 sqft house now and do it in total comfort. Internet router, all the lights, fans, furnace fan, well pump, fridge and chest freezer, computers, tvs, and air conditioning. I have a Siemens whole house transfer switch that's UL listed into a 240v 30a outside twist lock generator inlet that's away from any air intakes. The generator is 12v or manual recoil start and fires right up. With natural gas supply it'll run until it needs an oil change however on propane I can get about 10-14 hours per 20# tank that is fully filled at the store not 2/3rd's full $15 tank swap. I'm probably $2000 or so into that setup with the transfer switch wiring, generator, cord, and plumbing for natural gas operation.

 

[xwing]

That $5,700 is including the Menards rebate, add in the install costs and you're much higher. The quote I received from a Generac dealers were $11k or more.

But, if you're like me with no natural gas or propane on site, MUCH higher. Then you're only looking at 4-5 days run time on a 500 gallon propane tank, when you'll be at the mercy of the propane company to refill it.

Far from cobbled together here. If you read my other post, I have a 50a inlet on the side of my house, which goes direct to my panel. There you'll find an interlock switch so it can't backfeed to the utility, far from a male-male cord.

Take a look at soft start kits for your A/C, I have zero issues running my entire house here on the generator I have, including the A/C and the electric range or electric dryer. It'd pop the breaker occasionally with multiple big loads running and something else (like the well pump) kicking on, but entirely doable. Two 60+ hour outages and the house was like normal.

Over Prime Day I bought a 13kw unit and during a few test runs, haven't been able to kill it.

Your experience is far from mine, hell the 13kw generator is push button start!

If we were on natural gas or my research showed a Generac would run longer on propane, I would have bought one vs the 13kw....

I had no problems with the Menards rebates; for anyone who does DIY, they're the same as cash. And I installed my generator for $0; it wasn't very hard. (Although I got a fantastic price on wire, I probably had another $200 of wire & conduit in it. And it was another $50 in materials for the propane hookup, but my tank installer did not charge any additional for labor, since he was installing the tank and lines anyway.) All the rest I already was doing regardless. I put in a 1000 gallon underground propane tank for my 1st-floor furnace, stove & primary tankless water heater. So total overall price for me (installed) was still $5500 inc. tax, far from $11000. (I looked it back up and I actually only paid $5200 inc. tax in 2021 for the generator itself.) Of course a "dealer" will charge an outrageous fee.

Glad to hear you wired it safely. So many people don't when it comes to gas-powered generators. But still it's manual effort each time you want to use it.

I'm still shocked you ran a whole-house central AC on a 31A generator. Even with soft-start, you're really pushing it unless you have a very small AC unit. What size A/C compressor do you have? There's no way my 5-ton 1st-floor unit could run, but maybe my 3-ton 2nd-floor unit could if nothing else in the house was turned on.

Regardless, I am extremely happy with Generac 24kW standby generator which turns on automatically whenever there's an outage and powers all my important loads without any manual effort by me. (My pool pump, pool heater, 2 electric tankless water heaters, garage outlets, most exterior outlets, some interior outlets, some less-used rooms lights, exterior lights, electric car charger, vending machine, electric dryer, automotive lift, & whirlpool are on a separate service panel and are not powered by the generator. But since I have 400A electric service, I had to make some sacrifices unless I wanted a $20k commercial unit.)

 

[firecadet613]

I had no problems with the Menards rebates; for anyone who does DIY, they're the same as cash. And I installed my generator for $0; it wasn't very hard. (Although I got a fantastic price on wire, I probably had another $200 of wire & conduit in it. And it was another $50 in materials for the propane hookup, but my tank installer did not charge any additional for labor, since he was installing the tank and lines anyway.) All the rest I already was doing regardless. I put in a 1000 gallon underground propane tank for my 1st-floor furnace, stove & primary tankless water heater. So total overall price for me (installed) was still $5500 inc. tax, far from $11000. (I looked it back up and I actually only paid $5200 inc. tax in 2021 for the generator itself.) Of course a "dealer" will charge an outrageous fee.

Glad to hear you wired it safely. So many people don't when it comes to gas-powered generators. But still it's manual effort each time you want to use it.

I'm still shocked you ran a whole-house central AC on a 31A generator. Even with soft-start, you're really pushing it unless you have a very small AC unit. What size A/C compressor do you have? There's no way my 5-ton 1st-floor unit could run, but maybe my 3-ton 2nd-floor unit could if nothing else in the house was turned on.

Regardless, I am extremely happy with Generac 24kW standby generator which turns on automatically whenever there's an outage and powers all my important loads without any manual effort by me. (My pool pump, pool heater, 2 electric tankless water heaters, garage outlets, most exterior outlets, some interior outlets, some less-used rooms lights, exterior lights, electric car charger, vending machine, electric dryer, automotive lift, & whirlpool are on a separate service panel and are not powered by the generator. But since I have 400A electric service, I had to make some sacrifices unless I wanted a $20k commercial unit.)

You've got a great setup and damn, 400A service! The Menards deals are great and likely the route I'd go if we went Generac. Not knowing everyone's ability level, the price of a dealer quote is relevant to this discussion.

Only 200A service here (and my last house). I didn't look up the size of my A/C unit, but for a 3,000 sq ft house the Harbor Freight 9500 had zero issues running the A/C (or anything at that house). That house had natural gas heat and water heater, and I could run it all on the 9500 (again, soft start kits are amazing).

The new place is all electric. The last outage was 66 hours on the generator, and I used less than 30 gallons of gas through it, running nonstop. It'll run everything, and if I'm careful with the larger loads, it won't trip the breaker. The larger 13kw unit will take care of the breaker tripping issue.

Good to see you have a 1,000 gallon propane tank. Have you had an extended outages with the storms this year? Curious to hear how much propane yours goes through.

I joined a few Generac Facebook groups while I was researching it and the general consensus (from dealers as well), was a 500 gallon propane tank would be gone in under a week.

If the frequency of outages keeps up, I may change my tune, but in the 9 months we had this place before moving in, it lost power once for a few hours (aside from the few day outage after the tornadoes hit just south of us). It just takes a few minutes to setup and plug in. It's so easy the wife can do it.

 

[armalitesheepdog]

Good-2-Know on the 'use Honda parts' side of things...
I've always run a Briggs-n-Stratton engine because I am comfortable with them and can work on them easily.
I currently have a 4500 with 4 x 110 outlets with no issues...I can alternate appliances and run 2 window AC units or heat + keep refrigerator / freezers running and keep a cord available for lights / TV / movies...
I would love a Generac gas unit, but not in the budget at this time.

Oh yea.
Lights go out generator kicks in automatically. I would love that too. Just to spendy for me

 

[dieselrealtor]

I am getting a temporary setup, planning to sell this house in next year or 2 so not dumping a ton of $ into an auto transfer setup.

 

[TheGhostRider]

I picked up a Generac Centurion 5k years ago for a song. I’ve got it set up in my detached garage. My home is 100a service with a standard breaker panel. The garage has a 50a (sub panel).
I’ve got a generator interface in the garage tied to the sub panel with its own breaker.
Power goes out; shut off main in house… fuel up generator, plug in to interface and it back feeds the whole house.
The only thing it won’t run is central air or clothes dryer.
Who cares… hang the clothes to dry and if necessary throw a window unit in the bedroom to sleep.
Can leave the genny running inside the detached garage with the man door open, screen door closed and the 24” ceiling mounted “whole house fan” running. Carbon monoxide detector hasn’t gone off unless I leave the fan off. I test this setup monthly.
Where I live the power used to go out a lot. Sometimes a day or more. The longest was ~6 days.
The only complaint I have… this generator is a friggin gas hog.
Looking to downsize to a Honda Eu3000is for powering only the necessities.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I picked up a Generac Centurion 5k years ago for a song. I’ve got it set up in my detached garage. My home is 100a service with a standard breaker panel. The garage has a 50a (sub panel).
I’ve got a generator interface in the garage tied to the sub panel with its own breaker.
Power goes out; shut off main in house… fuel up generator, plug in to interface and it back feeds the whole house.
The only thing it won’t run is central air or clothes dryer.
Who cares… hang the clothes to dry and if necessary throw a window unit in the bedroom to sleep.
Can leave the genny running inside the detached garage with the man door open, screen door closed and the 24” ceiling mounted “whole house fan” running. Carbon monoxide detector hasn’t gone off unless I leave the fan off. I test this setup monthly.
Where I live the power used to go out a lot. Sometimes a day or more. The longest was ~6 days.
The only complaint I have… this generator is a friggin gas hog.
Looking to downsize to a Honda Eu3000is for powering only the necessities.

I love my Honda EU3000is, great for relatively small loads (fifth wheel). Been a while since I have used it, but if memory serves me correctly a tank will last about 24 hours if not running ac. 12+ hours when running ac.

With that said, if the time comes I need to replace the Honda and can't find a deal on a used one, I will buy a Predator.

 

[TheGhostRider]

I used to run a repair shop and Honda generators were a favorite of mine. A lot of them were diagnosed improperly to have something seriously wrong.
Wouldn’t run good… fail to maintain rpm, bog down or wouldn’t start at all.
The most common problem was carbon buildup in the muffler. A plugged up muffler can be cleaned.
Once cleaned the things ran good again. The extra quiet muffler comes at a cost. Eu3000’s don’t like to be enclosed when running for long.

 

[xwing]

Good to see you have a 1,000 gallon propane tank. Have you had an extended outages with the storms this year? Curious to hear how much propane yours goes through.

I joined a few Generac Facebook groups while I was researching it and the general consensus (from dealers as well), was a 500 gallon propane tank would be gone in under a week.

Longest outage we had was about 8 hours earlier this summer. In that time, we used somewhere between 5 and 15 gallons of propane. (My tank monitor rounds to the nearest percent.) This was with both A/Cs running as needed as well as other normal / somewhat reduced loads. Based both on that number and on my other estimations, I would expect to get 15-45 days if my propane tank was full* (They will only fill to 80%, so 800 gallons.) But realistically, it would most likely be closer to the lower number than the higher one. This is based on actual usage. If the generator was running full-out all the time, I recall it would only last a little over one week.

So my experience agrees with the general consensus that you found. I think they were a little on the pessimistic side, but in the ballpark.