Westinghouse Portable Generator Price: $749.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard Shipping Estimates: Ships in 3-5 business days. (Monday, Mar 09 to Thursday, Mar 12) + transit Condition: New
This is one of the models I almost bought. It will run most of your home. Look at the wattage calculator to get an idea of what you may need Wattage Calculator
We had a power outage a few weeks ago - and my old Wheelhouse wouldn’t fire up for some reason. I bought this generator at Home Depot and used it for a few days - the windings on the stator are for crap and the thing is laggy and the current is filthy, returned it and got my 15 year old Generac serviced at Home depot and am back in business (easy $20 fix). I’m sticking with Generac - they last a hell of a lot longer. Plus, Westinghouse just whores out the name to the highest bidder - it is a licensing mill. They don’t make anything anymore.
Katrina victim here, too. Lived in our camper in the driveway for 2 weeks waiting for power to be restored, while my employee, his wife, two kids, and two dogs lived with us, slept in our bedroom…while we slept in camper. Our Generac (7550, 13,500 surge) ran our entire camper, lights and window AC for their bedroom in the house, AND two neighbors’s houses; i.e., lights, fans, washer/dryer (would throw fuse when she started dryer…but that’s with everything else running…and I simply flipped the switch and it was running again)
Can’t say enough about it, electric start, runs smooth.
I don’t trust ANYTHING with the Westinghouse name.
FWIW:
I have no knowledge of this Westinghouse generator… but… I did months worth of research before ending up buying a Harbor Freight 7000W unit (rated best by Consumer Reports; even compared to units 4x the price). They are essentially a Honda clone engine (Honda being top notch). Like any small gas engine, pay close attention to recommendations on the break-in process (ex: run 3hrs then change oil). I have not had the need to test w/ heavy load (yet), but have run it on w/ light load for a full day w/ no concerns.
Definitely do your own research before buying any generator. I found that Generac had an EXTREMELY bad rap for service/support.
Why do you say that? Is it because it’s a better brand? The one at costco is a champion that costs 100 dollars more. The only reason I can think to get a dual fuel generator is if you already have a large propane tank at your house or you plan on converting the generator to natural gas since it’s an easier conversion with propane regulators already attached. A standard 5 pound cylinder gives 5 hours at half load according to the specs. So it’s going to be a pain in the butt no matter which fuel you use if you don’t have a large reserve of fuel already on hand. After having no electricity after Rita for 4 weeks, I know that propane can be equally hard to obtain during emergencies.
The main advantage of being able to use propane is that it doesn’t go bad in storage like gas can so you are able to stockpile propane over time and don’t have to worry about rotating it out like you would with gas.
I’ve got the Costco Champion dual-fuel and have been casually watching Craigslist for propane tanks - you’d be surprised how many big tanks (like the ones leased by propane companies) pop up there, but there are also a gazillion of the little BBQ sized 20lb tanks.
The only thing better would be a tri-fuel that I could plumb into our natural gas line, which would mean never running out of fuel (unless the gas main got shut off).
The Generac mentioned below your post is the one at the Costcos near me have on sale. The price right now is exactly the same as this deal, but with tax it might put you $100 more depending on your location and taxes. Base price and specs being equal, why not get a dual fuel over this?
It’s like those condom packs that include a penis ring for the same price and qty as the regular pack. Why would you not get the bonus toy pack?
I have a similar model (same minus digital hour counter) I bought 2yrs ago from a local warehousing retailer for basically the same price. I haven’t had to use it to power the home yet but I have ran it every 3-6months(drain carbs/treated gas) having it push two 1500watt heaters in the driveway. Always starts up and runs without an issue. I keep my battery on a TenderJr and empty of fuel. Nice yellow parts on the important to check areas. So far I have no reason to not recommend it. I bought this because I didn’t have enough money to buy a Honda/Yamaha generator. If you don’t need to power multiple appliances or the entire home consider a Honda 2000watt inverter. Quiet and better on fuel usage. last the build quality seems good, nothing sticks out as super cheap. I knew it was made in China when I bought it, hard to get around that these days. At this price it is nothing special but again I do like mine even though we have not had any power issues in the last 2yrs in Seattle area.
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