Generators for the impending storm

There is a thread that was posted here yesterday with good info.

Champion at tractor supply

Dad has a cheapo 4kW champion that has been fantastic since gustav. Never fails to start and it actually step loads well for a little cheap generator.

I have a 7kW generac that I'm not overly impressed with. It's extremely loud and I don't find it step loads well at all for its size.

If you don't mind running on propane, Jet.com haas the 4kw which includes a 30amp RV plug for $269 shipped...and you get 15% off your first three orders(max $30ea)which brings it down to $239 shipped

edit: I ordered one Tuesday and it will be here tomorrow

mainly bought for using with the camper since it has 2 big LP bottles

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Dad has a cheapo 4kW champion that has been fantastic since gustav. Never fails to start and it actually step loads well for a little cheap generator.

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My no-name from Sutherland's always starts, and ran way more stuff than I thought it ever would. I was able to keep freezer stuff frozen, the fridge running 24/7 and move a little 110 A/C unit from living room to bedroom as we changed rooms for day/night. I just wish I had bought one of those special cords. I still don't understand the best way to use the outlets.

Those Wens are great. I should have bought one for $379 when I had a chance yesterday.

We recently lost power for ~10 hours in the neighborhood when someone dug where they weren't supposed to dig. I have a Honda EU1000 which I got 10+ years ago for tailgating which doesn't have enough peak wattage to handle my fridge kicking with all the other stuff I wanted to run. I pulled the battery out of my Tahoe stuck my 1000W/2400W peak inverter on it and used that to power the fridge. Our large dual ise maker samsung fridge needs 300W to run but 1500W when it kicks on so my EU1000 couldn't handle it by itself. Ran a battery charger at 2amps that kept that battery topped off. Because the fridge isn't running continuously the inverter/battery setup could cover those large spikes when the compressor kicks on and the charger at 2 amps was enough to keep the battery charged the whole time. I ran a 47" TV (100W), Dish network Hopper (40W), my laptop and external monitor (180W), and cable modem and router(maybe 20W?), a fan (80W) the whole time and the little EU1000. If you have a spare battery, a ~$80-90 inverter you can squeak out another 1000+ watts of capacity from your system by moving your refrigerator to the battery/inverter/charger setup.

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I have a 7kW generac that I'm not overly impressed with.

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I apologize for the hijack.

Do you have any experience with Generac standby (NG) generators (18-25 KW) ? A friend of mine in Houston is ready to take the plunge, and is comparing brands.

For years I have been told that Kohlers are far better than Generacs. But my Kohler (air cooled), my son's Kohler (air cooled) and the Kohler at my office (water cooled) sure have had a lot of service calls (3-4 each) in the last 5-7 years.

I'm really hesitant to recommend a Kohler to my friend. But Generacs have had a poor reputation for a long time.

Onan are the only ones I have experience with. I believe the small ones have Kubota engines and the big ones have Cummins. 18kW probably gets you a Kubota.

I don't have any experience with the generac standbys but I am unimpressed with my portable.

ETA: it has been reliable, but I find it excessively loud and it doesn't have good step load characteristics. I feel like the engine is not well matched for the generator.

Damn, my Generac 5500 has been perfect for me (except for being loud). It'll even let me run my welding machine on smaller stuff

In that case it doesn't really matter how you do it. The generator won't care.

Does it have a 220 plug? There are some really sweet cords available that have a 220 male plug on one side and 4 110v plugs on the other. They're really handy for letting you have one spot in the house to plug everything in, rather than stretching a bunch of extension cords all over the house/yard.