TL/DR at the bottom.
After going through Winter storm Uri and having both of my tanks crash, my wife agrees a generator is necessary both for my hobby and for our household in general. The watts I have calculated, including allowances for surge, are around 5600W. We will have an electrician out to see about a manual transfer switch for the critical circuits (included in my calculation). I also have some battery backups on the way to power the DC returns automatically if I am not home or until someone can connect the generator.
I have been looking around and found a Champion Generator that will power all our critical circuits with a bit of room to spare while not breaking our budget completely. The generator is a 7,000 running watt, open frame, inverter generator. This is the most cost-effective option.
I have also considered getting 2 of the smaller Champion inverter generators and a parallel kit. This would be more expensive but give us some power if one failed and the option to purchase a dual fuel model that could utilize gasoline or propane.
I was also looking at the Westinghouse iGen4500DF and getting 2 of them with a parallel kit. The dual-fuel model is currently out of stock, and these would be more expensive than the Champion generators.
I like the idea of having an option for propane since fuel storage would be easier, and the odds are I could find one of the types of fuel if I needed more during an emergency.
We are in North Texas outside of DFW, so hurricanes are not really an issue though they have contributed to fuel shortages in our area. Another winter storm like we just experienced, or damage to the area grid from a tornado, a car taking out a transformer, etc., are more the types of issues we expect to be preparing for.
Wondering if anyone has any good or bad experiences with these brands of generators? Any tips or advice about generators also appreciated.
And while I would love a Kohler, Honda, etc., that is really not in our price range, as this needs to address the power needs of a few things in the house besides the tanks.
We also are not sure how long we will be living here, so we are not considering a permanently installed, whole house situation.
TL/DR: Champion generators any good? Buy one to cover the load, or split the load between 2 smaller generators? Worth the extra cost to buy 2 smaller generators to have a dual-fuel option? If Champion is no good, what about Westinghouse? Any other thoughts?
After going through Winter storm Uri and having both of my tanks crash, my wife agrees a generator is necessary both for my hobby and for our household in general. The watts I have calculated, including allowances for surge, are around 5600W. We will have an electrician out to see about a manual transfer switch for the critical circuits (included in my calculation). I also have some battery backups on the way to power the DC returns automatically if I am not home or until someone can connect the generator.
I have been looking around and found a Champion Generator that will power all our critical circuits with a bit of room to spare while not breaking our budget completely. The generator is a 7,000 running watt, open frame, inverter generator. This is the most cost-effective option.
I have also considered getting 2 of the smaller Champion inverter generators and a parallel kit. This would be more expensive but give us some power if one failed and the option to purchase a dual fuel model that could utilize gasoline or propane.
I was also looking at the Westinghouse iGen4500DF and getting 2 of them with a parallel kit. The dual-fuel model is currently out of stock, and these would be more expensive than the Champion generators.
I like the idea of having an option for propane since fuel storage would be easier, and the odds are I could find one of the types of fuel if I needed more during an emergency.
We are in North Texas outside of DFW, so hurricanes are not really an issue though they have contributed to fuel shortages in our area. Another winter storm like we just experienced, or damage to the area grid from a tornado, a car taking out a transformer, etc., are more the types of issues we expect to be preparing for.
Wondering if anyone has any good or bad experiences with these brands of generators? Any tips or advice about generators also appreciated.
And while I would love a Kohler, Honda, etc., that is really not in our price range, as this needs to address the power needs of a few things in the house besides the tanks.
We also are not sure how long we will be living here, so we are not considering a permanently installed, whole house situation.
TL/DR: Champion generators any good? Buy one to cover the load, or split the load between 2 smaller generators? Worth the extra cost to buy 2 smaller generators to have a dual-fuel option? If Champion is no good, what about Westinghouse? Any other thoughts?