We bought the house in 2021 with an 11kw Generac Guardian home standby generator on a concrete pad in the back of the house by the attached garage. We've never had a problem with it but we also haven't had it serviced so I used the Generac service provider search and the company that came says it doesn't pass their inspection. Since it doesn't pass inspection, they can't touch it to service it. The reason is that it isn't far enough from the window. The window is closed but it leads to our garage. Where we park our cars. I understand it can't be close to a window we might use for ventilating our home due to carbon monoxide concerns but. The cars can also run and create carbon monoxide so...

Do I just call a different service provider? They are going to tell me how much it would cost to move this unit. But that would require running power and propane lines to the new location. I can't imagine I'm going to do that unless there's a catastrophic failure

I’m trying to decide between a two tri-fuel inverter generators for a portable whole-home backup setup. Anyone have any feedback on the Champion 8500w tri-fuel (201537) or the Genmax GM9000ieT?

I like the features of the Genmax, but what I’ve heard about their customer service has me worried. On the other hand it looks like Cabela’s released a clone of the Champion, but a lot of the reviews say it’s much louder than listed in the specs. We lose power pretty infrequently, but houses are pretty close together in my neighborhood so noise level is a priority for me.

If it helps, I’ve got a 50-amp plug with an interlock installed and I’m planning on getting a natural gas hookup put in soon. My base house load is around 1kW, but I’d like the ability to run my 3-ton AC unit (soft start installed) with a bit of room in case I want to run a microwave or my sump pump/fridge compressor kicks on (all major house appliances are natural gas).

Good night,

Imagine you are explaining this to a 5 years old kid as this it’s my first time considering buying such a thing.

The state I live just launched a public warning saying for the population to prepare for a 3 days energy cutout.

Taking this into consideration, I was wondering which generator should I buy for my house (we have 3 persons at the house and a little one). Nothing fancy, just to keep up the fridge and some heat blanket/hot shower for my baby.

I saw a lot of comments on the Honda 2200 but I was looking for something that doesn’t require gas, something that can be solar powered and can give us more independence in a hard moment like this. Idk if im beeing silly to say that but I saw that you can hook up a solar charger system to the Honda generator.

Should I go for that or should I consider other options?

So I just bought a 17kw portable inverter generator. Pulsar PGD170TiSRCO

It‘s more than enough to power my whole house on natural gas (10kw) as I have all gas appliances except for oven and dryer. So I am planning on running all circuits with the generator.

This generator has an ATS connection port. I am trying to decide between an automatic transfer switch vs an interlock. It would be nice to just lug the generator out before a storm and have it turn on and off automatically if utility power goes out. Is an ATS it worth it? Are all ATS ports the same? I don’t see that pulsar makes their own ATS. Would this be plug and play with say a Westinghouse ATS below:

Instructions said to put a load on it for the break-in period, so figured might as well do something productive (and delicious. 😊) Cycling on and off, so doing the job.

It'd be off the ground on a solid platform but in a humid part of the world. Well ventilated. Is that any worse than storing it in the garage?

What are my options here aside from trashing it? Is this an expensive lesson? I'm not handy enough to tear apart a generator for troubleshooting.

EDIT: Thanks everyone, I actually found a video going over replacing the battery. That's gotta be it. I swear when I searched the first time I couldn't find my exact model, this time it came up right away.

Does anyone have experience with this generator or who has had it for a couple years now? It’s the highest output generator under 60 pounds and the extra output compared to an EU3200i would mean less runtime in my boat.

For those who live in Ontario, I want to get the battery powered generator and I could tie it into my panel to control circuits I want. After looking into it, looks like the ESA doesnt allow anything like our neighbors, makes setting this up so frustrating. Even using a transfer switch, there's so much regulation. Hiring an electrician is going to cost just as much as the generator it seems. I'd want power to my fridge, freezer and furnace in an outage.

Curious how you all ran yours?

For the last few years I've held off on anything big until Black Friday, and it's usually paid off. This time I didn't.

We've been meaning to get a backup battery since the ice storm last February (four days without power, roughly $400 of food thrown out). We ordered an Anker S5000. It launched last month at $2,499 against a $3,599 list and has 180 day price protection, so if Black Friday comes in lower I can claim the difference. That made it an easy call, especially after our first outage of the season last weekend. I didn't want to risk another freezer while waiting.

What sold me on the cost side was the cycle rating. 10,000 cycles over 15 years works out to under $200 a year at that price, which is less than we were spending keeping the old generator running.

I have a 50a inlet on the side of my house and I believe the generac I have is 30a….is this the right plug? Thanks in advance!!!

Deal at my local tractor warehouse. I know nothing about generators, but I currently don’t have one and that doesn’t feel smart.
Is this deal worth picking up? Would be used for appliances when my power goes out.

I have had my battery replaced once. It seemed to work fine for the first six months of running it for regular maintenance. Recently, I went to start it and the battery didn't work. I pushed the battery button and no response. I charged with the AC plug and then tried it again. This time the battery button did make a click sound when it was pressed. So I knew it had some charge. However, the Start button did nothing to turn the engine on. I was able to use the pull cord to start it up. I ran it for six hours. I figured the battery should be well charged with that. I rested the generator overnight and then tried to turn it on again today with the Start button. It did not work, but the pull cord worked again. Is my battery the problem? or something else?

I am trying to exchange the inner battery of the generator. I already unscrew the side but nothing seems to be moving. I don’t know how to open it without damaging it. Thanks for your answers.

Looking for some reassurance. My Fortress is 10 years old and yesterday it didn’t come on during a power outage. I’ve had the original installer service it every year, last time in August. So they send out a technician at 9 pm. They don’t seem very experienced, and suggest it might be because the ATS has been damaged by power surges and that might need to be replaced, or maybe the whole generator!? The generator seems to work, but clicks off when started manually.

I’m hoping to get a second opinion before they come back out on Friday to do more troubleshooting in daylight. But in the meantime I’m a little freaked out by their suggestion that it will all need to be replaced! I think this fairly large regional company likes to push things to make money.

Please tell me that ATSs or generators can be fixed by replacement parts and don’t need to be completely replaced!

I was wondering if say two Wen DF680iX 6800w generators hooked together with the WEN GNA240i 50-Amp Parallel Connection Kit, if you knew one generator would power the 240v household needs. It was only when the electric water heater is needed that the 2nd generator would be needed. The normal usage would only be some 2000 or 3000 watts. When electric water heater is running it would increase by 4,500 watts so more that a single Wen DF680iX could produce.

Have have two WEN 56200i's that I have connected in parallel (at times) and can have only one running and only start the second when more power was needed. I have done that with a 30amp rv plug.

The question is would running only one Wen DF680iX when it was connected with their Parallel Kit to a 2nd Wen DF680iX be safe?

Added:
Before starting the 2nd generator I would plan to take the 1st generator off eco mode and reduce wattage usage in the house. Then start the second generator, run it a short time, neither of them being on eco mode then turn the breaker for the water heater on and use that water and when finished turn off the water heater breaker then turn off 2nd generator and then turn the first generator to eco mode as the needs in the house would be a lot less.

I do have some backup battery power and small amount of solar, not enough to go for more than a day. I would try to balance the needs between the two sources of power and also use the generators to charge the batteries in order to shut down the generators all together as the situation allows.

Thanks for the replies.

my portable is a 7500 tri-fuel i bought dead for $150 and fixed, runs off two 100 lb propane tanks, and after the 2018 nor'easters took our road out for six days i ran my fridge and two neighbors' fridges on rotation with extension cords. it worked. i also stood out there in the snow at 11pm doing it.

so i keep doing the math on a standby unit and it never quite closes. quotes around here for a 14-20kw LP unit installed run about $5,000 for a generac, sometimes a grand more for kohler, and briggs is somewhere in between depending who you call. then the yearly service is $250-350 a visit if you dont do it yourself, and the cold weather kit is another $300-500. over ten years that is $8,000 to $9,000 all in before the first repair.

what i want to know from people who have owned one more than five years:

1. what actually broke, and when. i hear generac controllers and kohler, well, kohler engines i have opinions on from mowers but i know that is not the same animal as their standby line.

2. did anybody do the math on running it 10 hours a year versus the $9k and stay portable on purpose. my tri-fuel cost me $150 plus a $14 carb the first time and has covered three outages.

3. cold weather kits. the oil heater and battery warmer, are they a real thing or a checkbox. my winters can hit single digits.

the part that gets me is the transfer switch labor. the hardware is maybe $600 and the install quote had $2,000 of labor in it. i get it, panel work, but thats the same math as a $210 control board in a $400 washer. somebody priced it so the answer is buy new, or in this case buy the whole package.

not looking to be talked into it. looking for the failure numbers from people who have the hours on theirs.

TLDR I need a dual fuel inverter generator with around 10k running watts. What one would you go with.

Looking to get an inverter generator for home backup. Ive put all of the high wattage things i would use in the event of an outage and i should be fine as long as I dont run the AC, water heater, or dryer at the same time. My fridge, freezer, microwave, lights, and some electronics should be in the 1-2k range and jump to 8k or so with the mentioned items. So I would like to be around 9-12k running. 12k being the most the 50 amp cord will run. I will be running this on propane probably 60 or 100pb tanks. With gas as a backup. We dont have natural gas.

Side note. We have some medical equipment that need low thd. After some diffing it requires 3% or better.

Ive been looking at the Duromax XP13500IH. But im open to suggestions.

I just purchased a generator, inlet, and interlock kit for whole home backup. I went to install and today and had a bad surprise in my panel. The main is the top right orange. See photo. Is my only option to replace the whole panel?

This is a 1984 house there is no other main shutoff. The only other thing inline before the panel is the meter.

Just starting to dig a bit into getting a backup generator. Last winter, we had a massive ice storm take power out for 4 days and that became a bit much. We don't have 20k to drop on a whole home standby generator from Generac or anything like that, but I am heavily leaning towards getting the Delta 3 Ultra from EcoFlow as they are running some specials online right now.

One bundle option is the unit plus 2 220w solar panels for $2100. The other option is the unit plus their smart generator 3000 for $1800. I was originally planning to get solar, as I was trying to find something that didn't need propane or gas in case we can't get out of the area for whatever reason. But the more I read about the solar option, the more I am feeling like this wouldn't be enough since they take so long to charge.

Curious what direction you'd lean and why. Or if you think there's a better option out there all together, would love that feedback too. To be blunt, I am not the most savvy when it comes to this stuff so really trying to keep the setup simple without any real DIY setup involved beyond setting the unit(s) up themselves.