Posted: 9/24/2014 12:59:14 PM EDT
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I'm looking for a semi portable backup generator. I'm looking at more budget generators and I'm wondering if there's a golden deal out there or one brand that's better than another. I'm looking for ~7.5kw-10kw and less than $1k or so. Costco has a Champion 7.5kw for $649 and I though I'd research a bit before I pulled the trigger.
Champion 7500W |
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Champion has a good following. What kind of loads do you have for it? The bigger the genset, the more gas it will take <waste> unless you NEED the capacity. Costco had the duel (or tri?) fuel champion on sale not long ago, reports of it seem to be favorable. Of course, your Honda, yamaha, etc inverter generator crowd will pop in soon to tell you that life sucks w/o an inverter generator. ETA: Unless you NEED that big of a generator, I would look at 2 smaller generators. Redundancy, part swapping, loaner if warranted, 2 is 1 kind of thinking. If you "need" that big of a generator for your central A/C, consider buying smaller generators and a small window A/C for the bedroom. Runs on MUCH less power = less fuel used, less fuel to store/gather when you need it. |
| Thanks for the input. I have 2 refrigerators and 2 chest freezers that I want to keep running during extended power outages, plus the pump for the boiler. I really think 7.5kw is my minimum. Inverter generators are awesome, but I'm not looking to make this a $7k project. Also, I already have an older 3.5kw generator that isn't quite big enough for this need, but I will be keeping for other things. |
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LOL
A good generator between 7 and 10 kW for under a $1000. What ever you find will be a joke of a generator. What you will find are what I call 100 hour generators. They run about 100 to 200 hours and give trouble. Good luck. I know though that someone is going to chime in and tell me about their fantastic generator that has been wonderful and is still going strong and they only paid x amount for it. Buy once and cry once, get a good Northern tool generator with a Honda engine and be done. My .02 |
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Probably once every 2-3 years for an outage long enough to desire a generator. Quoted:
Quoted:
How often does the power go out in "your neck of the woods?" Probably once every 2-3 years for an outage long enough to desire a generator. Then you may want to keep the battery in the generator on a small battery tender. As they crap out after that long. I assume it has a pull cable starter as a backup? Matt |
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I'm looking for ~7.5kw-10kw That's a lot of generator - and a lot of fuel to store. Can you live comfortably with something smaller? The sweet spot for purchase price, fuel consumption, noise and weight seems to be around 3-4 KW - which is still big enough to run most appliances, with a little bit of load-juggling. |
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im about to buy a generator / generators to replace for the one i traded off this summer. i need a couple of different ones this time. i traded off a generac 10000 watt, which was a very good generator...
this time i will probably get a 5500 and a 800-1000 watt inverter type. probably a 5500 generac... which should run most of my stuff... i had VERY, VERY good results with a 5500 before. should be able to buy something decent for under $500.00. and i need a really lightweight / portable one.. something like a 800-1000 watt inverter type. i saw a generac 800 listed for around $300 at lowes. i want a small one for portable power, while camping, and working at my farm, running power tools like circular saws, power drills, etc, and things like that. |
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Quoted: im about to buy a generator / generators to replace for the one i traded off this summer. i need a couple of different ones this time. i traded off a generac 10000 watt, which was a very good generator... this time i will probably get a 5500 and a 800-1000 watt inverter type. probably a 5500 generac... which should run most of my stuff... i had VERY, VERY good results with a 5500 before. should be able to buy something decent for under $500.00. and i need a really lightweight / portable one.. something like a 800-1000 watt inverter type. i saw a generac 800 listed for around $300 at lowes. i want a small one for portable power, while camping, and working at my farm, running power tools like circular saws, power drills, etc, and things like that. |
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Quoted:
LOL A good generator between 7 and 10 kW for under a $1000. What ever you find will be a joke of a generator. What you will find are what I call 100 hour generators. They run about 100 to 200 hours and give trouble. Good luck. I know though that someone is going to chime in and tell me about their fantastic generator that has been wonderful and is still going strong and they only paid x amount for it. Buy once and cry once, get a good Northern tool generator with a Honda engine and be done. My .02 I did exactly that. My Kohler 12kW has been going strong for eight years. I've had to replace a starter solenoid, and the control board was fried by lightning once... but that's it. Still works... great peace of mind. 
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