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Best and Worst Generators for Your Home: Honda, Predator, Champion, Westinghouse, Wen, Generac
Jul 5, 2023
Are you seeking alternative energy power such as generators? What type and brand of generator would be best for your home? Or, is it safe to use it at home? In this video, PissedConsumer and @denoftools help you to choose the right generator for your use.
00:00 - Introduction
00:25 - About the @denoftools
01:27 - Types of generators
03:11 - Pros and cons of generators
04:36 - How to choose the right generator for the home?
07:49 - Prices of generators
09:16 - Generac generators
09:39 - Generac review
11:23 - Best generators for the home
13:56 - Generator maintenance
16:10 - Is it safe to use the generator?
17:51 - Is it eco-conscious to use a generator?
19:01 - Generator: is it a necessity?
20:25 - Conclusion
Check the consumers' feedback before purchasing generator: https://www.pissedconsumer.com/browse-reviews.html?redirect=1&query=generator
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0:00
Hi guys, this is Eiler and welcome to Peace Consumer Channel
0:04
Today we're going to talk about a very important topic, generators. That's why we have a very special guest with us tonight
0:15
Jeff, more known by the name The Deaf of Tools. Hi Jeff, thank you so much for taking part in this talk
0:28
Let me start real quick by asking about yourself and your experience as a home tool expert, if I may say so
0:39
I started off in the trades when I was still a teenager
0:43
I spent about 15 years working in the trades before moving into a management position
0:47
And then got burned out and decided to retire and took on some housing projects, personal housing projects, stuff like that, and started a YouTube channel
0:58
where I would go and review hand tools and power tools and stuff like that
1:05
It's grown over the years. I work with lots of different companies. I get to see a lot of different products
1:11
And also on the road, we travel a good bit. So we do a lot of home power, mobile power in the RV kind of stuff
1:19
So we've got a lot of different topics that we cover. So let's get closer to the topic
1:24
what type of generator is best for home use and why every tool has it the right job there's a
1:33
right uh right job for the right tool right tool for the right job and with generators specifically
1:37
we're talking let's say gas generators what you want to look at is what do you are you looking
1:43
for home whole home power are you looking for emergency power are you looking for accessory
1:48
power so uh there's basically three kinds of generators that is your old school kind of what
1:53
we call an open frame generator it's basically a gas engine uh in a box with a power converter there
2:00
that takes the gas power like converts into electric and then we have what's called an
2:04
inverter style which has a more sophisticated type of electronics i'm oversimplifying here but that
2:09
allows a better smoother flow of electronics electrical signal to come out and it's better
2:14
on more delicate kind of instruments and stuff like that say computer stuff and and such and then
2:19
we have what's called an enclosed inverter generator. And one of the side benefits of all
2:24
these three is the big open one cage generator is really loud. An inverter generator, well
2:30
it'll also moderate the power of the generator so that it's only running as hard as it needs to
2:36
which helps it not be quite as loud unless you're running it full scheme. And a fully enclosed or
2:41
AKA super quiet generator is enclosed in a plastic box. It's got an inverter, so it only
2:47
runs as much as it needs for home use, what that means is it means you're not going to be
2:51
disturbing the neighbors. Unfortunately, another aspect of generators, especially when there's big
2:55
power outages and stuff, is theft. And if you have a super quiet inverter generator enclosed
3:00
fully enclosed, then those bad guys driving by your house can't hear it quite as easily
3:05
and it's less likely to disappear in the middle of the night. What are the pros and cons of each type of those generators
3:13
Well, you know, there's the old adage of you get what you pay for, but in some cases you might end up overpaying. You could buy a super high-end generator. You could spend tens of thousands of dollars if you want. But the question is, are you going to get that much use out of it
3:27
You could buy a dump truck to drive to the grocery store, but if you're not carrying that much back, then what's the point
3:35
You need to buy a level of generator that's appropriate to what your needs are currently and what you think they will be in the future
3:43
One of the things you have to look at is how much power do I need? And to oversimplify it, it's volts times amps equals watts
3:53
So you need to take how much power you're drawing and then figure out what the peak power is going to be
3:58
And then you have to match it to the appropriate level generator. There's inexpensive generators that you'll only run every so often that you could buy for a couple hundred dollars
4:06
You can get a whole home generator, the one we use. We have a fairly small home in Montana where we get frequent power outs in the winter
4:13
But it runs about $2,000 and puts out about 9,000 watts. It's a super quiet style
4:19
So you're going to pay more for the super quiet. You're going to pay more for other features
4:23
You're going to pay more for more capacity. But don't overbuy is what we always try to tell people because, you know, it'll just be sitting there just be wasted
4:31
Because honestly, for most people, you're only going to use a generator maybe a couple of times a year
4:36
How to choose the right generator for home use and what should you pay attention to
4:43
For just an emergency home generator where you're only going to want to power a few things
4:46
Usually the things you're going to want to power is like AC and or heat. and your refrigerator and or your freezer and maybe a few other things to keep the lights on
4:55
and stuff like that you may not if you're not running a big ac unit you're not running a big
4:59
heater unit and you're okay with everything else so you've got a wood burning stove in the winter
5:04
you just need to keep the freezer frozen so the food doesn spoil keep some lights on stuff like that You could get by with say a 2 generator Usually generators are specced by
5:15
their peak power versus their running power. When you turn something on, the power spikes
5:19
that's the peak power. Then after it's on for a moment, it kind of calms down, and that's the
5:23
running power. So you got to keep that in mind. So I would say a 25 to 4,000-watt generator is
5:32
probably going to be fine. In those kind of situations, what you're going to do probably is use extension cords to connect to your major appliances and stuff that you want to keep on
5:40
during an emergency. Now, in a whole home generator scenario, you're probably going to
5:46
be looking at starting around 9,000 watts, moving up from there, and you're going to have to have
5:51
an electrician, unless you're really handy, you're going to have to have an electrician come out and
5:56
go to your electrical box and install what's called a cutover switch. And there could be a
6:01
manual and there can be an automatic and what those will do is when the power goes off uh the
6:05
automatic will automatically switch over in a manual you'll have to go get your flashlight find
6:09
the box switch it over and turn on your generator at which point which point all the power that
6:14
normally runs through that box out to the grid is now going to run to your generator and as i said
6:19
before you're probably going to want like 9 000 or higher something that can output 220 volts
6:24
because most furnaces and most larger ac units are going to require 220 volts so you're going to need
6:30
a bigger generator from there. There's essentially two basic types of power. There's gas and there's
6:36
propane or natural gas in some cases. And in some areas, it may be beneficial for you to have a
6:42
natural gas setup because maybe natural gas is easier to access than having gas that's sitting
6:48
around. Also, if you're using regular gas, you're going to want to use a stabilizing agent to keep
6:53
that gas from going bad refined gas does go bad so the um the in in either those instances it's
7:01
really going to be dependent on what's available to you and what's most likely available to you
7:05
uh in somewhere like in up north where it gets really cold getting access to more gas if it's a
7:11
longer a longer spill where you need to run it could be an issue but you may have you know propane
7:16
running to your house or a large propane tank outside that has thousands of pounds of propane
7:21
in it and you'll be fine. Whereas like recently I spoke to some people who were just affected by a
7:25
recent hurricane and for them it was actually easier for them to get gas than propane because
7:30
all the propane because of the winds everything had triggered emergency systems and cut off the
7:35
propane so they couldn't get propane to the generators. Always remember though that if you
7:39
do run on propane you're going to lose about 15 to 20 percent in power so you're going to need a
7:45
slightly bigger generator for the same amount of power that you would get from gas. Yeah so let's
7:50
get to the numbers. What are the prices for generators? I think from your basic emergency
7:55
generator, you're going to be looking at a price probably around the $300 to $500 range
8:02
That's going to get you, the cheapest is going to be an open frame inverter from not a high-end
8:08
name brand. It's going to run about $400 in that kind of situation. If you're going to jump up to
8:16
a bigger name brand say something like a honda or something like that you're going to double or even
8:21
triple that price now if you want to go up to like a mid-tier generator we're going to see those
8:26
going in the probably uh high 600s to a thousand dollar range and that's going to get you something
8:34
that you can run say a large rv off of that's going to be a 35 to 4500 watt generator maybe
8:39
even a $6,000 if you go for a non-inverter generator. Now, if you want a whole home generator
8:46
well, the sky's your limit, but you're really going to start at a price around probably $1,500
8:52
for an open frame generator going upwards of the mid-2000s for a fully enclosed
9:00
super quiet generator that runs about 9,500, do about 9,500 watts. And then if you get
9:06
bigger, there's larger scale permanent install generators as big as you want
9:11
And those go in the tens and twenties of thousands for situations like that
9:15
Have you heard about Generac? What do you think about this brand and would you use it
9:23
Generac is a brand that has been around for a while. They're well known in the industry
9:27
They're more well known for larger generators, permanent install, stuff like that
9:31
they've recently moved more strongly into the home generator, portable generator market
9:38
Hold on for a second. Generec is not such a neutral good kind of brand. On our website
9:46
we have more than 300 reviews on this brand, and the customers mostly gave it a rating of 1.6 stars
9:54
out of five. Those reviews contain Generac customers' concerns about quality of generators, warranty issues
10:03
and poor customer service. Generac on the surface provides what would seem like exceptional service
10:11
When it comes down to the meat and potatoes of actually taking care of the customer with replacement of failed parts and or a broken unit you can rely on them to stand behind their product It not a brand I would go with If I were to go with a
10:27
larger generator, I would go and I was going to do that kind of investment. I would probably go with
10:31
a bigger name brand such as Onan, who's been known for doing generators, large generators for years
10:38
and years and years. For smaller generators, a portable generator, I would probably go with
10:42
either a Harbor Freight if I was on a budget or a Honda if I wanted something that was really
10:48
really bulletproof. The Onan generators, as I said, they've recently moved into the portable
10:55
market. So I don't know if the issues you've been seeing are with the portable generators or the
10:59
permanent install larger generators. So it's really hard to say, but I've not heard anything
11:04
on my end as far as negativity from it. But I'll be honest, the people that I talk to
11:08
most of them don't have Generac generators. They either have Hondas or they have Harbor Freights
11:15
or Westinghouse has become a big brand and Champion has become a big brand in the portable
11:21
home generator market. What are the top five brands of generators that you would recommend
11:28
Well, I think the number one brand out there, if you're looking for just bulletproof
11:32
long-term support and quality is going to be a Honda, but you're going to pay for that
11:37
and it's not going to be inexpensive uh if you're looking for something that is more of a
11:43
of an i don't see a bargain or entry level but they perform quite quite well and quite close to
11:49
honda and that is harbor freight's line of predator generators in fact you can see as the prices have
11:54
gone up those over the years because of the quality that they put into them and the people who
11:58
understand how good they are i can tell you somebody who travels around quite a quite quite
12:03
a lot in an RV, when you're in an RV park, you get a good idea of who's using what generators
12:09
by just looking around. And honestly, it's Honda, it's the Predator line from Harbor Freight
12:16
it's Champion, Westinghouse, and I'm trying to think who would probably be the fifth
12:23
WEN, W-E-N would probably be the fifth brand in there. And I would say that in line of value
12:29
as well as reliability, that would be about the way I'd put it as well. And what do you use
12:34
We have a Harbor Freight Predator generator, 3,500. And then we also use an electric power bank from Blue Eddy as a secondary backup
12:44
Here's what I can say when you want to watch out for when you're buying a generator is the first thing you want to do is make sure you're buying it from a reputable reseller
12:53
if you are buying it from somewhere uh some website that you've never heard of or a local
13:00
store and maybe you're traveling with it or something like that if you have a problem and
13:04
you can't go back to that or you can't get back to that reseller then you're you're only out there
13:09
is going to be talking to the manufacturer then you got to look at who the manufacturer is and
13:13
sometimes the name that's on it isn't really the name of the manufacturer because they buy them
13:18
from somebody else, slap their sticker on it. And if you're not careful, you could end up with a
13:25
very expensive paperweight because if you have any problems, you're not going to get support
13:30
You're not going to get parts for it. And you may not even understand how to use it properly
13:35
because there's no one there. There's no instructions. Manuals can be hard to read
13:39
or non-existent. So going with an established company for something like a generator is usually
13:46
probably a good call because when you need it you need it to work and you don't need to be sitting
13:51
there going i wonder if there's an 800 number i can call when there's power outage maintenance
13:56
is maintenance important for generators can a homeowner diy or is it better to call an expert
14:05
and how much would it cost well i think there's basically two levels here if you've got a portable
14:11
generator or uh and that's up to like the the 10 to 12 as long as not permanently installed kind of
14:18
generator most maintenance you can be done yourself and it's actually fairly easy uh once you get to
14:23
something much higher level you probably want to get a service technician to come out and usually
14:27
in those cases it'll be part of the service contract when you buy the generator but can run
14:31
around 250 per service call now that said uh generator maintenance starts with using good
14:38
quality fuel. You want to use good quality non-ethanol fuel and you want to have a stabilizer
14:43
in it because quite often you can fill up a generator, run it and not quite run it dry or
14:48
even use half the tank. You never know when the power is going to come back on. And in which case
14:52
that gas can sit in that generator for a good amount of time. And gas, gasoline can go bad
14:59
So make sure that you get a good quality stabilizer in your fuel and you mix it properly and all that
15:04
Another thing is use a good quality oil and use the type of oil that is appropriate for your environment
15:12
If your generator is most likely, say, like we're from Montana, it's going to be used in the cold in the middle of winter
15:19
you're not going to want a super thick oil. Now what if your generator is used down someplace like Las Vegas Somewhere it gets hot and your power goes out during the summer you going to be running air conditioning and whatnot You going to want a thinner oil in that so make sure you using the appropriate kind of oil and you going to change it probably at least once a year at the
15:37
very least you're going to want to check your fuel filters and you're going to want to do a visual
15:41
inspection and every so often you're going to you're going to want to check your spark plugs
15:45
and such a good idea is to keep a notepad with the hours that you've run and when the last time
15:51
you inspected each item on your generator. Each generator should come with a manual that tells you
15:56
about the different kind of maintenance that's required for that. And I try to be very spot on
16:00
about that because again, this is a tool that you may not use all the time, but when you need it
16:06
you really need it. And you don't want maintenance to be the one thing that lets you down. Is it safe to use a generator? Just remember when you're using a generator that it is a
16:16
you're dealing with two factors. You're dealing with a gasoline engine that has emissions
16:20
And secondly, you're dealing with a high power output device. So first of all, with a generator, they are going to put out carbon monoxide
16:28
I believe that's correct. And you want to make sure that's nowhere near your home
16:32
Don't run a generator in your house. Don't run it in your garage. Don't even run it backed up against your house near the eaves of your house because houses breathe
16:41
And that can actually suck the exhaust into the house. And people have, whole families unfortunately have died due to exposure from the exhaust fumes from a running generator
16:51
You want to make sure a generator is a good distance. And they all have a, they usually list a safe distance that you need to be away from your home
16:58
So you make sure that any kind, it helps with the noise and it helps with the exhaust and keeps that away from you and your family
17:05
Secondly, the power. Okay. Anytime you're running power through an extension cord or any kind of device like that, you're going to be running a lot of power coming out of the generator
17:14
and you want to make sure that you're using an extension cord that is capable of running that
17:18
level of power, especially if you're running 220 or hooking up directly to your home through a
17:23
cutover switch. You're going to be running a heavier gauge cable. Don't ever run an extension
17:27
cord off of an extension cord. You need to run power into a room and you run an extension cord
17:32
to it. Don't then connect another extension cord or don't connect, say, a power strip or something
17:37
like that to it. Yes, it may stop a voltage overload on the power strip, but these things
17:42
get hot and those cables can with too much power running through them, the cable, if it's not made
17:47
to the right spec, could actually melt and start a fire. Is it eco-conscious to use a generator
17:54
Well, if that is an issue for you, I would highly suggest going with a propane version
17:59
of a generator because the propane emissions are much lighter than that from a gasoline or even a
18:06
diesel generator. And yes, there are diesel generators out there, but you usually only see
18:10
those industrial applications that said uh just remember that this is being used at usually as an
18:17
emergency device or a short-term device so be conscious of when and where you're using it that's
18:23
the other thing you know be aware of who else may be around you if you're using this going to the
18:27
park or something to take a generator with you be aware of who else is around you where your exhaust
18:32
might be going and whether there's kids children's or families and stuff that could be affected uh
18:37
But at the end of the day, it's personal choices to, you know, how much of an impact or how much of a footprint is this going to put on the environment
18:44
And what are my needs in the moment? That's honestly why we choose to use an electric backup as an accessory
18:51
So we have a battery backup that we can use. And then only once that's depleted do we then convert over to use the gas generator at home
19:00
In what cases generator is the best solution from all sides? I mean, generator, is it necessity or an excess
19:09
Well, we think of them as supporting life support kind of situations
19:14
We've lived in the Las Vegas Valley, and during the summer, temperatures can reach 120 degrees
19:20
And power can go out. Well, if your power goes out, AC isn't a luxury
19:24
Air conditioning is life support in the valley. So having a backup power generator, if you can afford it, is something that every family should have
19:32
Likewise, in areas like Montana, where we live now, the winter, it gets really cold
19:37
And we can have several weeks at a time where it's below zero. And as such, you know, being able to run heaters is important
19:44
Even if you can't run your home furnace, if you can at least run some small, like, say, ceramic space heater
19:53
something that's safe, something that's not going to put off any emissions, and something that's going to keep your family warm and comfortable through the winter season in times of emergency
20:01
Those to us are the two most important scenarios where, you know, a generator isn't something that's just nice to have
20:09
It's something that's a necessity. Well, Jeff, thank you for taking part in this interview and sharing your piece of knowledge with me and our audiences
20:20
I'm sure that our audiences have learned a lot from this video
20:25
Well, that's all for today. thank you for watching peace consumer and see you next time for more of useful videos and tips bye
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