7000 watts is almost 60 amps of house power (120v). Your breakers are typically 15 or 20 amps. This has plenty of power to run the basics of a house (refrig, freezer, furnace and a few lights), but you have to get a transfer switch and panel installed. The transfer switch isolates the generator from the power company so you don’t electrocute someone and the panel contains the circuits you want powered by the generator. Should run you about $500 to have an electrician do the work.
These cheap Chinese engines tend to be pretty good deals for the money. I have them in my (non-WEN) 3500 watt generator, and my Craftsman snow thrower. It’s true, they lack the starting ease and incredible quietness of a modern Honda engine…but they’re still pretty good. I would encourage anyone who’s in the market for a backup generator like this to GET ONE WITH WHEELS as you will quickly get sick of lifting/dragging/cursing your generator around your yard/farm/cabin where you are, and the power isn’t.
GM did it too (not in a trailer, however, and not diesel) and it went very well. Well enough that I got one. Which is why I poke at Nissan; I couldn’t visit my favored relatives with the Leaf’s range.
So was the 9000W model actually $699.99 last three times it was for sale here? A $50 increase for this time?
EDIT: It appears to be the same model #56877. I was about to purchase until I noticed the previous prices.
Sometimes if we run items again, our cost with the vendor goes up, causing a price bump when we offer the item again.
I gave the appropriate disclaimers.
The Woot community purchasing advantage to me is about saving money, and learning what is a real cost for a real item.
To do everything absolutely correct would likely mean rewiring your house panel with a separate panel for the emergency loads, a new switch, and using an electrician with insurance and proper permits.
That is the right, proper, and legal way to look at the problem.
But my polite suggestion works, if you use the big genset, and learn how to properly execute the plan.
If you are going to operate in this way on and off frequently, you should do it the expensive and proper way.
If you live in an urban area where you only lose power once in five or ten years for 8-12 hours, my method is a simple, effective whole house backup. And you still have a big generator for other uses, like camping or a construction site for your camp cabin.