# Home Backup - Generator Options



## GQC13 (Feb 23, 2021)

Hi All, after surviving the great Texas snow storm and looking ahead to hurricane season, we are looking to get a portable generator and have the house wired with a generator plug-in so we can run things from the panel during an outage. At a minimum we'd like to run some lights, 2 fridges, microwave, TV, computer, wifi router, charge phones and ipads, and 2 gas furnaces or a portable AC, depending on weather. Options we're considering are: 1) Westinghouse WGen7500DF - really like that it can run off of propane as an option and is 6750 running watts on propane, but concerned about reliability and noise. 2) Honda EU7000 - steep price however like that it's quiet, but worried it won't give us quite the power we need during an outage that could last a few days as it's only 5500W sustained, plus only runs on gas. Which would you choose? Or any other recommendations for 10,000W and below that are dual-fuel, reliable, and not the loudest of the bunch?


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## JohnWhicker (Feb 21, 2021)

Hey Texas partner, Houston here. Looking for same. Here same good options:

DuroMax XP15000EH

DuroMax XP13000EH


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## Browse Deweb (Jan 16, 2021)

I have the Honda and wouldn't buy any other portable model. Low noise and reliability were two huge priorities. Clean inverter output was a must. Cost was a secondary consideration, but resale on Hondas is great. I've seen conversion kits for these but not sure how well they work.

If noise isn't a big deal and where/how it's made doesn't bother you, there are plenty of other lower cost solutions out there to choose from. You could get two of the larger Champion units for half the price of a Honda EU7000is, and keep one as a backup. They're louder, but they could meet your requirements.


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## GQC13 (Feb 23, 2021)

Thanks!!! We're also now looking at the Champion 8570W Inverter. I know it's not going to be as quiet as the Honda, but I like that it's an inverter and also 7000W running, so a bit more than the Honda.


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## Airstreamer67 (Oct 3, 2020)

Don't forget: the more power a genset puts out, the more fuel it takes. That is one of the things that has restricted me to 4000W or so. I've got to haul gasoline and diesel home since I've got two gensets, one for each type of fuel. But, I can get by on a half-gallon-per-hour fuel usage on my serviced load. Larger loads are proportionally greedier. This becomes an issue with wide-area outages for days on end.

Propane has the same problem of having to haul it home unless you have large tanks on-site can get it delivered via truck. But then, you need the large tank in the yard. However, propane the big advantage of possessing an unlimited shelf life with no need to "freshen" the supply every so often. 

Natural gas would be the ultimate solution, but I don't have that service available. And, of course, natural gas service has been known to have its stoppages too, which might dictate the need for have an alternative on site; probably propane.


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## GQC13 (Feb 23, 2021)

Airstreamer67 said:


> Don't forget: the more power a genset puts out, the more fuel it takes. That is one of the things that has restricted me to 4000W or so. I've got to haul gasoline and diesel home since I've got two gensets, one for each type of fuel. But, I can get by on a half-gallon-per-hour fuel usage on my serviced load. Larger loads are proportionally greedier. This becomes an issue with wide-area outages for days on end.
> 
> Propane has the same problem of having to haul it home unless you have large tanks on-site can get it delivered via truck. But then, you need the large tank in the yard. However, propane the big advantage of possessing an unlimited shelf life with no need to "freshen" the supply every so often.
> 
> Natural gas would be the ultimate solution, but I don't have that service available. And, of course, natural gas service has been known to have its stoppages too, which might dictate the need for have an alternative on site; probably propane.


A contractor recommended a tri-fuel generator from Costco, so we're going to look at that one as well. This is quite the rabbit hole we've got ourselves going down, so many pluses and minuses to each brand and model.


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## Airstreamer67 (Oct 3, 2020)

Yep, no matter what you choose, it will be a compromise. Even the ultimate-in-convenience "whole-house" generator option fueled with natural gas has its compromises. I read sad stories of some not running when needed the most, problematic circuit control boards that are sensitive to the elements, the difficulty and expense of maintenance and getting on-site repairs, and expensive units becoming obsolete after a few years in regards to getting parts for repairs. That must be a tough pill to swallow when you look back and see the few hours a generator is used and it becomes throw-away obsolete in a few years. Ugg.


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

GQC13 said:


> Thanks!!! We're also now looking at the Champion 8570W Inverter. I know it's not going to be as quiet as the Honda, but I like that it's an inverter and also 7000W running, so a bit more than the Honda.


I can say Champion generators are very reliable generators. This is from my experience and others as well.


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## Bluwolf (Nov 8, 2020)

I will second the Champions. I've had mine for a couple years now and used it a few times. It's a dual fuel. I liked it so much I talked my boss into getting one for work. We've used it once to power the building when a transformer blew up. It was great. Now we just keep a tank of propane around and don't have to worry about the gas going bad.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...le-generator-with-electric-start?cm_vc=-10005


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## Ground Fault (Jun 9, 2020)

Howdy from up here in the Big Thicket. Country Boy can survive. To quote the mantra of one of our lot who seems to have gone AWOL the last week or two..."_Buy the Honda. Buy ONLY the Honda._" (Hint: He's usually right.)

Buy once, cry ONLY once...because you bought a Honda. Nobody ever regretted buying quality the first time. Most DO buy quality the SECOND time. It will still be powering your house when other generators will have been recycled into Budweiser cans. Ask me how I know. Most generators will run and put a smile on your face the first 50 hours. Most. But, how 'bout after 1000 hours? Honda.

They'll run on anything too: hurricane debris, septic tank toilet paper, even pine knots...


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

Ground Fault said:


> Howdy from up here in the Big Thicket. Country Boy can survive. To quote the mantra of one of our lot who seems to have gone AWOL the last week or two..."_Buy the Honda. Buy ONLY the Honda._" (Hint: He's usually right.)
> 
> Buy once, cry ONLY once...because you bought a Honda. Nobody ever regretted buying quality the first time. Most DO buy quality the SECOND time. It will still be powering your house when other generators will have been recycled into Budweiser cans. Ask me how I know. Most generators will run and put a smile on your face the first 50 hours. Most. But, how 'bout after 1000 hours? Honda.
> 
> They'll run on anything too: hurricane debris, septic tank toilet paper, even pine knots...


How do you know? You said to ask.


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## Ground Fault (Jun 9, 2020)

How do I know? Let's see:

Since 1983 I have purchased eight generators. Three of them I had to take back and get my money back. Two were Onan's in motorhomes, WONDERFUL gensets, still have one of them. Of the other three standby generators:

1. Generac XP8000E: Has only 58 hours on it. In that short time I've had to reseal the leaking gas tank seams and fix the oil drain port leaks due to loose tolerances, or else live with oil stains on my shop floor. I've had to replace the tank petcock, twice, and its plastic petcock handle to turn it on and off. All in only 58 hours. Had I know then what I know now about Generac, this generator, their customer service being a call center reading from scripts rather than real technicians, their parts support and their lack of critical parts as a sunset sales strategy to drive repeat sales, as witnessed by my own experience and the testimony of others on here, I'd have just bit the bullet and bought a Honda. Or two. I have justified trepidation that this thing won't work when I need it to, or for as long as I need it to, or worse yet, spring another gas leak _while under operation_ and burn this place down. How wide will an eight gallon fireball spread anyway? Does 50 feet of generator power cord place it safely out there far enough? (As I write this there has been two Generac commercials on the tube. THAT's where they choose to place their efforts.)

2. Coleman Powermate 3500: 1988-ish? Over 500 hours on this one, probably closer to 1000. They don't make them like this anymore. Not a single problem: Change oil, air filter, run, repeat. Mankind has never created a louder mechanical device. I just cleaned it up after a decade's storage, but still need to replace the needle bearings in the head and do an overhaul on the old but reliable Briggs engine. This is a backup to the Generac, but truth be told, it probably has more latent reliability left in it than the Generac does.

3. Honda EU2000i: My ace in the hole, so that I can have peace of mind and sleep at night, being the nervous owner of the other two. If all else fails, in the next hurricane, at least my frozen food is safe, and I can run my office equipment to stay open. As I struggle to figure out WTF is wrong with the other two.

That's how I know.

Given the choice to have had this cumulative generator "enlightenment" experience over the last 38 years, or to have purchased a big honking Honda back then, at an exorbitant price, that I couldn't afford, knowing what I know now, _I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT THAT BIG HONKING EXPENSIVE HONDA IN A NEW YORK MINUTE AND NOT LOOKED BACK. Or an Onan. _

*My time is more valuable to me than any amount of money*, and in a lifetime I have wasted too much of it trying to be cute and "smart" about saving money on portable standby generators. As usual, I have been my own worst enemy. Save money on your peanut butter, not your brain surgeon. Get a Honda.

And if you haven't learned anything here, AT LEAST buy a generator that has a spin-on oil filter on it, and an Eco-Mode.


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## agksimon (Jan 25, 2021)

GQC13 said:


> Thanks!!! We're also now looking at the Champion 8570W Inverter. I know it's not going to be as quiet as the Honda, but I like that it's an inverter and also 7000W running, so a bit more than the Honda.


I have this generator; the Champion 100520 generator and it's been great. I gave my daughter (who lives across the street) the 100519 I had so she wouldn't bring her cats over to my house during a power outages. Both are inverter style and if you have a newer style high-efficiency furnace, you may want to spend the extra for an inverter type. I've had several heating contractors tell me of service calls from people whose furnace wouldn't run during an outage, on a standard generator. It turns out it's the circuit board won't work with a generator that doesn't have "clean" power (cycles per second variation). Bad time to find out is when you need it.


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## Airstreamer67 (Oct 3, 2020)

Quote: "...And if you haven't learned anything here, AT LEAST buy a generator that has a spin-on oil filter on it, and an Eco-Mode...."

So all your gensets have spin-on oil filters, including the Honda?

My two gensets don't. But, then, I don't put enough hours on a home stand-by generator to have a spin-on oil filter. The units are too small and the hours are too few to make a difference; in my case, that is.


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## JohnWhicker (Feb 21, 2021)

Man I have a big house with 2 x 5 tons HVAC system. Wish I could pair 2 Champion 100520 as I am interested in clean inverter power. All my HVAC is on high tech Honewell controls and I am sure dirty power will kill it


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## Ground Fault (Jun 9, 2020)

The Generac does. The Coleman doesn't, nor does the Honda. On those I change the oil at 50 hours. The Coleman has been through two extended run post hurricane periods, 13 and 14 days, and quite a few 3-4 day runs with lesser hurricanes over the years. During those periods, every fifty hours in lieu of having a automotive-type spin on filter. I think the Coleman is only still running because it is a vintage Briggs and Stratton engine. Even Briggs doesn't build them like they use to. If it were a Chinese clone it would have given out long before now. These days, if you want one to run for a long time you better plan ahead for that. A spin-on filter obviously will extend the life of the motor, IF you do your part. Otherwise, make use of some magnets, and change the oil at 50. Put some Ring-Free in the gas too.


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## GQC13 (Feb 23, 2021)

agksimon said:


> I have this generator; the Champion 100520 generator and it's been great. I gave my daughter (who lives across the street) the 100519 I had so she wouldn't bring her cats over to my house during a power outages. Both are inverter style and if you have a newer style high-efficiency furnace, you may want to spend the extra for an inverter type. I've had several heating contractors tell me of service calls from people whose furnace wouldn't run during an outage, on a standard generator. It turns out it's the circuit board won't work with a generator that doesn't have "clean" power (cycles per second variation). Bad time to find out is when you need it.


I just wish this one was dual fuel! But it's still a strong contender for us.


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## ToolLover (Jan 13, 2020)

Worth watching: Generac Power Systems Reviews @ Pissed Consumer Interview - YouTube


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## Ground Fault (Jun 9, 2020)

This whole situation with Generac, this WHOLE INDUSTRY having issues with quality as bespoke by this forum, it begs the question: Why has Honda not entered the standby generator market? The world would beat a path to its door.


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## Browse Deweb (Jan 16, 2021)

Ground Fault said:


> This whole situation with Generac, this WHOLE INDUSTRY having issues with quality as bespoke by this forum, it begs the question: Why has Honda not entered the standby generator market? The world would beat a path to its door.


This is a good question, but my guess is that since Honda is a higher end brand, their whole house units with 4 CYL engines, water cooled, 1800 RPM models would price them at or above the already established high end vendors like Kohler, CAT, Cummins, etc. Here is one example of their GX690 engine being used by another vendor:



15,000 Watt Propane/Natural Gas Generator


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## ToolLover (Jan 13, 2020)

@ Browse Deweb:
15,000 Watt Propane/Natural Gas Generator 
This generator is possibly a 3600 RPM generator.
But to tell the truth if my Generac fails and it looks like it will, I will consider the Honda and put it in an enclosure.
I am on my second Generac. Two years old now. No warranty. It is vibrating really bad. I expect it to explode at any time.
This generator has no bells and whistles to give controller problems.
On one added note. I have a Honda ES6500 that was bought in the late 1980's. It is still in perfect condition.


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## Ground Fault (Jun 9, 2020)

The 3600rpm vs 1800rpm would be a deal breaker for me, but not by much: that generator definitely blows my skirt up. The no bells and whistles is a big plus in my mind. One 50 amp plug. That's what I would need it for, that's all I would need. 
As to the idea that Honda's price point would be higher than the competition...probably so. We see that now in their current offerings. Still, many are willing to pay more for less hassle in ownership. The best always costs more, and if Honda had a NG 1800rpm 22-24K stand-by generator, _that they could keep in stock for more than two days_, I'd probably have one now. Probably even if it was a 3600rpm stand-by. One thing is for sure: if they did offer one, and all who espouse Honda now went out and purchased one, participation on this forum would go way down. Generac would probably have to shut their doors for good, or up their game significantly.


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## Power User (Feb 28, 2021)

GQC13 said:


> Hi All, after surviving the great Texas snow storm and looking ahead to hurricane season, we are looking to get a portable generator and have the house wired with a generator plug-in so we can run things from the panel during an outage. At a minimum we'd like to run some lights, 2 fridges, microwave, TV, computer, wifi router, charge phones and ipads, and 2 gas furnaces or a portable AC, depending on weather. Options we're considering are: 1) Westinghouse WGen7500DF - really like that it can run off of propane as an option and is 6750 running watts on propane, but concerned about reliability and noise. 2) Honda EU7000 - steep price however like that it's quiet, but worried it won't give us quite the power we need during an outage that could last a few days as it's only 5500W sustained, plus only runs on gas. Which would you choose? Or any other recommendations for 10,000W and below that are dual-fuel, reliable, and not the loudest of the bunch?


How about 2 Honda EU2200i or 2 EU3000is with propane/natural gas kit running in parallel?


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## GQC13 (Feb 23, 2021)

Power User said:


> How about 2 Honda EU2200i or 2 EU3000is with propane/natural gas kit running in parallel?


I think we've figured out that we need a little more than the combined running watts of the 2 EU3000's to run our 2 fridges and the other essentials during an outage. By my estimation, I think 6500-7000W would allow us to get by without having to be super vigilant about what we turn on and off, other than the big draw items like electric cooktop, microwave, etc.


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## Power User (Feb 28, 2021)

GQC13 said:


> I think we've figured out that we need a little more than the combined running watts of the 2 EU3000's to run our 2 fridges and the other essentials during an outage. By my estimation, I think 6500-7000W would allow us to get by without having to be super vigilant about what we turn on and off, other than the big draw items like electric cooktop, microwave, etc.


Did you use a watt meter for the fridges? Ours uses about 1100W at startup, then 140W when compressor is running, 0 otherwise. Averages about 90 watt hours an hour over 24 hours. Easily handled with our EU2200i running on natural gas.


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## email4eric (Dec 23, 2018)

Another vote for the Honda. I don't know about the EU7000 (fuel injected) but the EU6500 (carbureted) is easily converted to tri-fuel (which I did on mine) and can run my house easily with load management. I do have to isolate to using only the water heater, electric stove/microwave singly at a time. I do run a smaller minisplit unit for heat/AC. I have a 500 gallon LP tank and dedicated line to a quick connect fitting and I use a hose between it and the genset. 

With regard to a spin on filter, I went with magnetic dipstick and drain plug and change oil at the recommended interval.

If I needed to buy again, I wouldn't hesitate to go this route again. Great setup.


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## GQC13 (Feb 23, 2021)

Now to figure out where to put the inlet box. Dumb question - is it possible to run the generator under our carport, or is that a recipe for death? Carport is outside the garage, and open on 2 sides (one side faces the house with an entry door, and the other side is against the (closed) garage door. Attic space is over carport, but no attic doors there (they are inside the house).


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## miloaksrider (Sep 22, 2020)

ToolLover said:


> @ Browse Deweb:
> 15,000 Watt Propane/Natural Gas Generator
> This generator is possibly a 3600 RPM generator.
> But to tell the truth if my Generac fails and it looks like it will, I will consider the Honda and put it in an enclosure.
> ...


Ditto on the Honda es6500. Still good as new. Stored w full tank of pump gas at 6400ft elevation. Fires up every time.


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