20 Best Generator For Emergency Home Use (2023 Updated)

I found this generator in November last year that was a life saver. I have a houseboat on the lake that originally had a 5500-watt Onan generator. The generator had served its purpose and was in need of retirement.

I originally was looking to purchase a Honda 7000-watt generator recommended by a friend, but the price was a turnoff, particularly for a retired person on Social Security. I had made a Westinghouse 2700-watt generator purchase 3 years earlier and was extremely pleased.

Performance and noise level was great. Unfortunately, I had to let it go with my former houseboat sell. So, I went back to Westinghouse to see what they had. I found this iGen 4500 that was a big brother to my 2700.

Price initially caught my eye. Features including electric start local and fob along with paralleling two generators was a huge selling point as well. I was familiar with Westinghouse and felt this find was a big win for us.

My new houseboat was larger than my former. With dual frig and refrigerated air I knew the power draw may be a challenge for a single unit, but paralleling options was huge. I could two units and parallel if I had a desire to run the refrigerated air unit and I could do so a have the price I would have paid to go with the 7000-watt Honda.

Additionally, the noise level with my new unit was at 52db, just slightly higher than the Honda. Extremely impressed with the operation of this unit. Currently, I have one unit on my boat and the other in my shop.

If I have a need at the boat for more wattage the twin unit is very mobile. Until that time, I have the other unit for crazy electrical blackouts.

Just bought this POS brand new from fleet farm as we are expecting big storms tonight. Assembled it and it won’t start. Tried everything. My neighbor bought the same one today as well and his runs fine.

This should not happen with a brand new product. So now Im a sitting duck thanks to generjunks trash quality. This will be returned tomorrow and I expect full reimbursement for the full tank of 93 octane ethanol free gas I put in this heap of scrap metal.

What a waste. I’m beyond POed. I always heard the rumors of their trash products but now I know they cannot be trusted.

Bought this to put on my car walk of my semi to run a 6000 btu portable standup ac I bought for my semi, it runs good when it wants to. 2 weeks into it, It dies on me so much. It’s got oil. It’s got gas , I put a Little gas treatment in it.

Seems to help. But still didn’t fix the issue. I noticed when I take the gas lid off it sputters gas everywhere. Like it runs but the tanks sucks in when it’s hot outside. Like doesn’t it have an air vent somewhere so the metal tank doesn’t suck in from so much pressure.

It’s under a lot of pressure. The gas tank. Can’t seem to keep it running. Brand new bough couple weeks ago.

I’ve owned this generator for 5 months now and have put around 60 hours on it, through 3 power outages. So far it’s been problem-free. Using ethanol-free gas (Rec 90), the engine starts in 3 pulls or less.

Power delivery is fairly consistent, between 120-125V and 58-62 Hz. Right now it’s running a refrigerator, gaming desktop, TV, dehumidifier, and several fans and lights. Every so often I do notice flickering lights or a brief switch to battery power on my uninterruptible power supply.

It uses a full tank of gas (3. 5 gal) approximately every 10-12 hours and seems to run full throttle regardless of load. Pros: Inexpensive, good power delivery, reliable engine Cons: Fuel efficiency, cheap plastic wheels.

I received this generator a few days ago (shipping took nearly 3 weeks and tracking was awful as the item was handled by 3 different shipping companies). However, Setup was easy. When I was finished I found the instructions and actually had done it correctly.

I purchased the generator for standby emergency use so I haven’t had to use it for anything more than connecting to my existing system and checking it out. It started easily and once I got the correct cable connector attached to my Line-In cable, everything worked perfectly.

I really appreciated the inclusion of a variety of plug ends that match the configuration of the receptacles on the generator. That saved me lot of time and some money. I also like the idle feature allows the machine to run all the time or drop to an idle until an appliance turns on and demands power.

It claims a 74 Db rating. I haven’t checked that (don’t know the distance to take a measurement) But it is substantially quieter than my old 5000 watt generator. All of the switches, receptacles etc.

are labeled nicely. It came with all the tools needed to assemble which would be handy if needed. I had my own tools so not an issue for me. It’s all good so far.

It starts easy and ran great until up to June when i had to use it. Prior to that i had used it maybe 4x. It started great in June and then my lights went out. The breaker on the generator would trip with very few lights running in the house.

We turned the A/C off and it tripped again and then 3x more times before we were left in the dark. Tech Support sent me a voltage regulator which didn’t fix the problem. The closest service center is 100 miles from me which cost me $125 dollars in gas to take it to them then i will have a return trip to pick it up.

That will be my full tank of gas, No one here in my town works on portable generators. Everyone wants reliable power when needed and i discussed selling it once fixed and buying another brand, This unit is stored in my garage and covered and the repairman said it looked new when i took it to them.

I am a little disappointed right now. Time will reveal.

I’ve owned smaller generators before (4000 watt Champion) but for the price and features, this DuroMax is hard to beat. Was easy to set up, and the instruction manual was pretty good. Tool kit that was included was a nice help as well.

Started right up, ran for 5 hours under load, and then changed the oil and followed the instructions to put it into long-term storage on the hopes that I’ll never need to use it for extended power outages down here in Florida – after Ida (5 days no power, using the 4000 watt generator for fans, fridge and freezer, and well pump) we were wanting something more powerful to run the AC and a few other items.

This one seems to fit the bill!.

Just bought it today so all I can review is getting started. Generally I found all the included accessories handy. The funnel to fill the oil could have been a little longer filling the oil was a little messy.

The instructions for pairing the remote starter were not very clear. The lights did not react as described but it did pair by going through the steps but the feedback from the lights was not accurate.

I removed the bonding jumper as the intended use is emergency power for the house using a transfer switch. The instructions were clear. The instructions suggested changing the label indicating it was not bonded.

It would be nice if the supplied a label or removable placard that could be seen near the o GFCI outlets as their effectiveness suffers.

After unit was installed and working properly I experienced my first power outage. The unit did not turn on until I manually went out and turned it on. Two weeks later I experience another power outage.

Unit would not come on and appeared to be dead, called electrician and found the battery was dead. Installed new battery and started unit, ran for less than 3 minutes and shut off. Called generac certified contractor, came out to inspect unit.

Unit was not charging the battery properly, and the carburetor needed replacement parts. Im still waiting on the proper parts to fix the h it and the contractor is not sure if that will fix the unit.

It has been nothing but a pile of crap, has never ran properly after Initial install test.

I ordered this generator online and it showed up four days later. The trucker unloaded it and brought it up my 200 driveway on a powered pallet jack. I installed it and four hours I needed it! It ran flawlessly for 7.

2 hours, switched over back to main power at 1:30 am and I barely woke up. It came without the WiFi module, but I called Generac and it showed up three weeks later. Only thing to mention is that its a bit loud, so mind your placement.

I bought the Generac generator to install at my mothers house, as she lives out in the country and regularly loses utility power. The generator arrived exactly when it was supposed to and installation was pretty straight forward.

I did hire an electrician to wire in the transfer switch, and would recommend doing that for anyone who does not possess those skills. Initial start up went smoothly and programming the self test feature was simple to do, just follow the prompts.

Generac customer service was very helpful and easy to work with during initial start setup. Anyone looking for the security of a whole house generator will not be disappointed with a Generac system.

The lead time to ship from order was a whopping three months. But, it actually shipped 5-6 weeks early. The install was by a very experienced Generac electrician, well over 100 in his career. Had two separate automatic transfer switches, so made things more complicated.

When the main power was reestablised by the electric company, it blew multiple fuses in both transfer switches, thus the generator was unable to determine the existence of power from the utility company, and the generator falsely kicked on.

Took the installing electrician about 30 minutes to see what had occurred, and an equal amount of time to find replacement fuses locally. All is now well and we feel protected.

A full and accurate is not possible now as the generator has never been truly put to the test with running a whole house in adverse conditions. It appears solidly built and was tested to run the household when power was shut off.

The transfer switch worked in the testing. The unit ran on its own when set to exercise. Hope that having this generator means we never have another power outage again. PowerView app leaves a lot to be desired.

I purchased this generator to back feed my homes panel using an interlock kit on a 50 amp circuit. Currently I have broken in the unit, changed the oil, and then have done some basic load testing. I ran the unit on propane and have a trifuel conversion coming so that I can run natural gas off my line.

I have extensively load tested this generator while providing power to my home. For reference- I have a 3800 sq ft 2 story with two 4 ton AC units. Without AC, my home draws about 2-3 kW with every light and fan on, and the fridge running, which this generator handled without any problem.

The generator can easily power an AC unit. Starting the generator under minimal load (fridge and a couple lights), the inrush load as the AC compressor kicked on caused a noticeable strain to the generator for a couple seconds, but nothing of concern.

once on-line it powered the AC unit and every light, fridge, appliance I could imagine needing without any problem at all. The generator operated at 61 Hz without load to 60Hz under full load without any adjustments to the governor, and I have no worry about powering more sensitive electronics.

All operation was on normal propane, and based on the multimeter readings I feel pretty confident I could start both AC units on gasoline without issue and probably keep them both running with everything else we need on natural gas.

That said, in an emergency I don’t need two AC units and I plan to run on gasoline only if I lose the other two options. My biggest issue is this might be too powerful. Generators need to be exercised at >50% load from time to time to maintain performance.

It takes everything I have to put a sustained 50% load on this generator. Still, I strongly recommend over sizing to allow extra headroom, not only so that it can handle inrush demand, but also considering the full power is only available on (ethanol free) gasoline.

All dual fuel generators lose about 15-20% of their max output on propane. For oil changes, make sure you have a way to elevate the generator, as the drain plug is very low and it is impossible to get a pan under it otherwise.

Also he sure to break in per manufacture recommendation, it is absolutely necessary.

The generator works awesome. Started instantly with the propane mode. It ran our 5 ton heat pump (on ac, haven’t tried in winter heat mode), 2 full size fridges, and full size stand up freezer. Even ran the well pump with all that, gave a gulp when it kicked on, but still ran it.

This was all on propane! I will say most all of our LED lights in the house flicker when the AC was running, but I don’t care. We will not be super hot and humid if power goes out & fridges & such will be fine.

That’s what I cared about most. I’m sure it would do even better on gas (higher wattage output) but I didn’t try. I really want to fill it with non ethanol and stabilizer before running on gas mode. We have it running to a 50 amp breaker in the main panel.

You turn the main power off & then the 50amp switch on & it works like a charm. Couldn’t be happier considering what you get & reasonable price. Sure a completely automatic generator would be ideal but it’s not in the cards $ wise.

Only complaint is the shippers are rough with it. Box arrived looking like it had fallen off the truck but amazingly is fine and worked.

So yes its a good size machine for the price but I had numerous problems out of the box. Bought on October 9th and received on the 14th had no reason to use the unit until November 13th and it shows no hour meter and the push start will not crank the machine.

I got it crunk from the pull start but still shows nothing on meter and no power output. Checked battery with meter and it shows 12. 3 so enough battery to crank but nothing. I read good reviews on this generator so I have returned and repurchased.

This time I will video from box opening to powering some tool with the unit. 1 star until I get a fully functional generator.

The item listing stated that shipping was in several business days (it says 1-2 now, but I’m pretty sure it was 2-3 when I bought). I ordered on the weekend. Monday I got an email saying that the shipment would be delayed due to transport backlog (whole state of texas was in an ice storm for 5 days) then on Tuesday I have a generator on a pallet in my driveway.

What?!? This is my second Generac, but it is the best of the small generators I have owned by far. This unit comes with an oil pump and spin-on filters, which will give it a long service life. It has an oil drain hose, making CLEAN maintenance possible, so much better than the old style bolt at the bottom of the block, that just makes a mess.

It has an oil cooler, another big plus for long service life and higher oil quality. It has a 30hp engine, most 15kw gensets have an 18-22hp engine, that extra power translates to more headroom for starting loads like compressors, and more stable output when starting loads are being applied.

It is more efficient than most generators this size. It has tremendous headroom, a full 50% over the constant duty rating. This means it can start loads at the same time it is running close to full capacity.

This headroom means less oversizing is required. So many times you must oversize the running capacity to handle starting loads, but that is covered with this headroom factor. It has a 10 hour fuel tank, 16 gallons, for long run times.

It is lighter than other gensets with similar capacity. The only problem I had with my older 18hp Generac was that after it sat outside in the rain for a few years, and gasohol became the dominant fuel in my area, I started seeing the fuel cutoff solenoid start to suffer from corrosion.

I found that I had to remove the solenoid frequently to clean it out as it was becoming jammed from rust deposits that should not be happening in a gasoline environment. This is naturally the outcome of my exposing it to the weather, and the effects of the fuel industry adding alcohol to the fuel.

If you can, run off of non-alcohol fuel. Non-alcohol fuel was only available for aviation applications in my area until recently when one of the quick-stop fuel stations started offering it at a reasonable price.

Non-alcohol fuel provides superior operation in carburetor engines, reduces harmful deposits and water absorption, and increases the lifespan of your small engine applications. I recommend you consider alcohol free fuel if you can find it at the pump in your area.

I am very happy with my new Generac GP15000E, and I will own it with pride for many years to come!.

Item arrived on time ! Box that it was shipped in was in bad condition , But the generator was in perfect condition ! & it was not bolted to the pallet , Directions are bad to put on the wheels ! I just watched the video on You Tube to put it together ,No parts were missing added oil & gas , & the generator started right up no issues ! Over all I’m happy with the purchase , & I’ll be ready if the need arises or as the saying goes , Better to have it , & not need it ! Than need it , & not have it.

Overall this is a well designed generator ! & the engine is easy to do all the annual maintenance that is required.

I had previously ordered a Generac 15000E generator from a different distributor and after 8 weeks of waiting and no generator in sight I ordered one from Factory Pure. The generator arrived on time and in great condition ( not a mark on it).

I assembled the wheels and handle bar, put in the oil and fuel connected the battery and it started with no issues. I hooked it up to my house and ran my house on it with absolutely no problem. The generator is a beast but I will have no worries if and when the power goes out.

I would recommend Factory Pure and the Generac products to everyone. I as m more than satisfied with the company and the product. Joe F.

So far so good. I bought this generator to provide electricity to my house during construction. It has been running 24/7 since I purchased it. My other generator had numerous noise complaints, especially at night.

With this one, it is so quiet that I don’t even hear it from 20 – 25 feet away. The electric start is fantastic. I have 2 minor issues. 1, it doesn’t have wheels. Transportation is difficult. It’s nice for me since it’s stationary, but I had to use a dolly to get it there.

The second issue is the gas gauge. It seems a lot of models come with this gauge. It’s not the best when filling up the generator. At the end of the day, those are not show stoppers and I am very thrilled with my new generator.

I’m really surprised that this is considered reconditioned. When I unpacked it, it looked brand new. Not a scratch on it. At 192 lbs. , it is bigger than I would have expected, but that’s on me for not researching more.

Once I put gas in, it started right up with no trouble at all. As this is a traditional generator as opposed to an inverter style, I had some concerns as to how some of the electronic devices it would be backing up would run, namely a tankless water heater and a pool pump system and control.

They worked like a charm with the Generac. No issues that I could identify. An excellent purchase overall!.

Got from estate sale, owner said was submerged from Sandy. Took a chance & found bent exhaust push rod, rusted frozen flywheel & coil, muddy fuel tank, carb, shut off valve, low oil warning alarm, on/off switch and fouled spark plug.

After on and off downtime working, got it running but no generator output. Found worn brushes, dirty slip rings, and no continuity thru rotor windings. Ended up being a broken wire on opposite end of slip rings.

Resoldered wire & light coating epoxy. Started 1 pull & adjusted governor speed to proper rpm for hertz (61. 5 hz no load says, under load should be right at 60). Began surging & found jet of brand new carb dirty.

Cleaned & now all set. $50 estate sale generator well worth it, about $30 put into it. Every review has good stuff about GENERAC, so think ready for next hurricanes (East Coast gotta be set, especially response from power companys lately).

We are now in a rolling blackout, been without power for 8 hours and counting. Generac is running Central heat, tv, and pumphouse (well). I’ve had this unit about 16 months. Have ran power tools, built a cabin.

and now powering my house due to rolling blackouts, and extremely low temperature, it’s 4 degrees outside tonight, and 6″ of snow on the ground. We are told power will not be restored for at least & more hours.

So this is a test of the best. If this Generac gets me and my family thru this without fail, I’m going to buy another one just for a backup. So for, so good! Thanks Generac~ Jim H 02/15/2021.

Purchased the 13,000 dual fuel to run my house during hurricane season for extended power outages. I choose to run propane since propane can be stored for 30 plus years. Propane burns clean and no worries of gummed up carburetor after ethanol gasoline usage, however you do have the option to use gasoline if that is all you can get.

Easily install a breaker panel interlock to prevent the back feed of power to the main lines. Use 6-3 wire to Install a 50 amp plug from the breaker panel along with 50amp cord to connect generator to outlet plug.

Install a good hardstart kit on your central a/c unit. This setup will allow you to run whole house (1600sqft) only using the breakers which are necessary. Startup is easy with the push of a button, just keep the included battery maintained with a trickle charger throughout the year.

Great product.

I brought the 1300ex duel fuel generator as an upgrade from a older 8500 generator I had for years. I wanted to be able to run my entire home off the generator. So after doing some research I decided to by this duro max.

It has been EVERYTHING I had hoped for. This thing is powerful and It has run my entire house during a recent power outage. It’s much quieter than my previous generator and being able to run it off propane is just absolutely wonderful for me.

The push button start is just the icing on the cake. I’m comfortable knowing my wife can operate this generator if I’m not home due to its easy setup and instructions. I would definitely recommend this generator to anyone looking to get great power, easy operation and reliability from their home generator.

Had a smaller version of the Westinghouse generator prior to this one (3600v). The 5300 is powerful enough to run my dryer, whereas the smaller one was not. The included wheels and pull handle are definitely a plus since it was kind of a pain to move the smaller one without them.

Also the feet and wheels keep the 5300 from having the frame sit directly on the ground, so that keeps it out of the rain/snow. I use this as auxiliary power for an off-grid cabin. It has enough power to run a refrigerator, chest freezer, washer & dryer (LP gas), lights and water pump.

The 3600 only had enough power to run some things – not everything at once (and not the dryer at all). Works great for my application, and I believe it would be a good choice for an RV or emergency power application as well.

Only drawbacks vs the smaller version is that it burns more fuel (approx. one 4. 7 gal. tank to power the above mentioned devices for about 12 hours) and it is a bit louder while running.

I ordered this from Lowe’s and picked it up yesterday. I assembled it yesterday and today placed an order for the proper L14-30 power cord to my Reliance Manual Transfer Switch. I have not yet started the Generator.

The generator includes a small 12V battery for electric starting, a quart of oil and a funnel, a small wrench and a spark plug socket. I purchased a trickle charger and have connected it to the battery.

It took less than an hour to bring the battery to full charge. The only issue I have with the setup of this Generator is one of the wheels is about 6 degrees off vertical. From the best I can tell, the bracket which is welded to the frame and receives the axel is slightly out of alignment.

It is minor as this generator will not frequently be moved and the problem is not worth attempting to correct. Overall this generator seems to be well constructed.

I have this unit hooked up to my 37’er RV. Very easy to use. Reliable. The 2500w not enough to run the AC, but the rest in the RV works great. Fridge, 2 TVs, all outlets, lights, etc. Ill be upgrading to a stronger unit.

I’ve also used it for camping. Out of 15 families around us. eventually everyone was asking for a little electrical juice to charge their cells. their banks had run out. We made new friends. If u got gas.

this unit will keep going.

I bought this to replace a 14 kW Generac Generator that failed after about 14 years. When I bought the first generator, I did the load calcs per Generac’s recommendations and got the 14 kW and 200A transfer switch, with an isolator for the A/C.

On the occasions when the power went out I either didn’t need the A/C or when i did, i just turned off the breakers to the other major electricals (oven and water heater). I found the 14kW produced to much electricity for the above load, and since the Generac’s don’t adjust for demand, it was using up too much fuel.

So I bought the 10kW this time and it is perfect. It produces enough power to meet the above needs and uses substantially less fuel. More importantly, it is significantly quieter than the 14kW unit, which i could hear from inside my house.

I cannot hear the 10kW unit unles i am outside on the side of the house the unit is installed at. My demand is pretty typical for a 3,000 sf house, except I have an auto lift, a 30A 240V air compressor and a 20A 240V mini-split system in my garage.

The installation was basically plug and play since all elements were compatible with those of the 14kW. I strongly recommend Generac, and this unit in particular if your demand is similar to mine.

Just recently had a replacement for an original generator that was a Generac with a guardian 10K. Had it installed with John from Acme Electric in Rhode Island. John was excellent to deal with did a wonderful job in a timely manner and explained all the new features.

Only ran it for a test but Im sure its going to work fine.

After a lengthy back-order, generator arrived in good shape. Limited nearby support, so I installed myself. Instructions were clear, product was well laid out. High quality parts. Wifi connect needed troubleshooting but believe this was on my side due to nearby running heat pumps.

So far, so good!.

I received my new Generac 13kw Guardian Generator and when my installation tech began the install today he found the generator was missing two very important bolts not easy to find: the two lug nuts that screw into the terminal lugs to secure the incoming power lines from the transfer to the terminals in the generator.

Seems someone at Generac forgot to put them in during the manufacturing process. and presumably whoever did the quality control check didn’t notice they had not been installed. I called FactoryPure who I bought the generator from and their answering service (its Saturday) said someone would get back to.

A bit disappointing that my new $4000. 00 generator has been rendered useless for the time being because someone forgot to install those terminal lug nuts. Hoping FactoryPure and/or Generac can correct this by sending those to me because these are not lug nuts you can just go to a Home Depot and buy.

They are very specific to this generator.

13 kW Generac generator Did not come with a battery warmer or oil warmer had to purchase a battery I should’ve read the fine print for what I paid

My previous generator gave up and I needed one quickly. Zoro was the only place were a compatible generator was available. Shipping was quick and it arrived in perfect condition.

Having recently completed the installation process, I’m pleased to report that the product (a Generac 7039) works very well (exceeding expectations) and I am a happy customer. The ordering / procurement process was smooth and straight-forward, and I appreciated the pleasant followup conversations regarding the available shipping options.

The shipment was well-packed, the product arrived within the forecast estimate, and the installation process went smoothly as well. I received a couple of follow-up support messages from FactoryPure, making sure that I was happy with my purchase.

Without question, everybody on the FactoryPure Team performed exceptionally well. I recommend FactoryPure as a supplier source for your next generator project. Glenn G. Titusville, FL.

We’ve been waiting months to buy a standby generator from Canadian Tire because of the great no interest 24 month payment option. The generator works great and the 24 month plan makes it affordable for us.

Generator arrived in very timely manner. Excellent price and with the option of purchasing a 5yr insurance policy, as it was factory refurbished, was less expensive with better coverage than new.