BEST STANDBY GENERATORS FOR THE HOME:

Permanent (stationary) generators are pre-wired to your home electrical wiring and hooked-up to a fuel line. Automatic systems are also referred to as standby. These systems can detect a power outage, start up and power your home or business during an emergency without your involvement. This quick guide provides comparison characteristics including fuel consumption of some of the popular brands. You can find of course all this technical information by yourself, but our review may save you hours or even days of research. We will also provide lesser-known details that other guides will not tell you. If you contact a local installer, they may try to sell you the model they just carry, which would not necessarily the best or the most cost effective solution. My comparison chart will help you get an idea of what's available on the market and what you need to know before buying. The rating chart is followed by a comparative analysis to help you choose the best system for your home.
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QUICK OVERVIEW AND BUYING GUIDE

Depending on their engine, stationary emergency gensets can run on natural gas (NG), liquefied propane gas (LPG) or diesel. In this review we also included one Generac's gasoline-fueled portable model because it can be used as a whole house generator due to its high power. Many residential models are bi-fuel and can run on both gas and propane, although they are shipped configured for a particular fuel, usually propane. You will need to do a simple adjustment to convert from one type to the other. Note that the rated wattage varies slightly with the fuel: the chart above give both NG and LPG watts. Diesels are more reliable, but they are also the most expensive. Because of their higher cost, they are more suitable for industrial applications. Standby devices under 20kW are normally air cooled. Devices above 20kW are usually liquid cooled.
Nowadays most domestic standby models carry 5-year limited warranty for home use, but you have to read fine print for details. The warranty for commercial use is always shorter. For additional information, startup ability and lesser known details also see our guide to generators for home use. One of the most important things to determine when choosing your backup system is how much electrical power your home will need in emergency. Check out our sizing guide for the recommendations.

So, what brand to choose? The main U.S. manufacturers of gensets for homes are Generac®, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler®, and Cummins® Onan®. Most other brands are private labels. Generac® accounts for about 65-70% of all North America gensets sales. As far as I know, its current home generator systems up to 30 kW are CARB-compliant, which is required for California. The new EPA requirements may be similar to CARB, so for newly designed or imported models similar emission limits supposedly are required nationwide. Generally, as far as I can see, in 10-20 kW range Generac® and Champion models are sold at the lowest costs per kilowatt among top brands. Any model from their product lines can be a cost-effective solution for a typical private house or a small business. Just be aware that in the past some Generac users claimed they noticed oil leak that might result in premature engine failure. Hopefully, this alleged problem is now fixed. Guardian® packages comes in several basic types. Some of their models can be bought with an optional "smart" load management. It can temporarily shed non-essential circuits when the genset approaches its maximum capacity. This allows you to handle several a/c with a smaller system. People often buy a well-known brand name without actually checking what's behind it. For example, GE used to sell Symphony® II 40380, which was actually built by Briggs & Stratton. Apparently, this arrangement did not work well-- GE website stated that GE Generators are now Briggs & Stratton. B&S also used to power Milbank. Milbank likewise is no longer selling generators.

Champion's model 100174 (7.5kW) once received "Best Buy" rating from Consumer Reports magazine. Well, generally, a 7,500W part is good only for essentials. Of course, if you don't need to feed a central a/c or other large appliances, this model may be an excellent choice. Otherwise, an average home with up to 4-ton central air conditioner typically needs at least a 12 kW device, such as Champion 100179. For 5-ton a/c you likely need a system around 17kW, such as GUARDIAN® 17/18kW series 7228 (see also a more detailed overview of Generac 18/17kW generators with their fuel consumption). To properly size a system for such motor-driven loads, see our guide to starting a/c and motors). Popular Kohler's 14RESAL was also once recommended by CR magazine. Kohler® website says its units restore power in as little as 10 seconds. This brand has one of the best warranty in the industry and is a good choice too, although it seems to be somewhat more expensive. A number of models once recommended by the consumer magazine, such as Kohler's 8.5 RES-QS7, Generac 6237, CorePower 5837 and Cummins 13GSBA-6722B have been discontinued since their review. Cummins still makes a similar model RS13A.

Of course, besides the purchase price, there are costs associated with the installation, which may run from $5,000 to $15,000. When you are choosing the size of your genset, you need to check if your gas or propane service is sufficient to provide the required amount of the fuel. Our chart shows fuel consumption in cubic feet per hour (CFH) for both NG and LPG. By the way, in the past Briggs was making a nice dual-fuel 7 kW #40248, which offered flexible connection options. It included a propane quick connect kit that could get you up and running immediately from two BBQ tanks as if it was a portable genset with an option to connect to natural gas later on. Unfortunately, this part is discontinued.

Note that the manufacturers usually state rated power for 60 ^oF (15.5 ^oC) ambient at sea level. You need to derate available watts typically 3.5% for each 1000 ft (305 m) above sea level and 1.5% for each 10 ^oF (12.5 ^oC) rise in ambient temperature above 60 ^oF. So, a 15 kW device would provide only about 14.1 kW at 100 ^oF.

WHERE TO BUY

. There is a number of online stores that carry standby generators at a discount. You may start with this one. They usually offer a competitive price and free shipping. As far as I know, regardless on where you bought a system, you can order the installation either from the maker's participating local dealer, or hire a private licensed contractor certified by the manufacturer.





NOTES:
All listed devices provide split single-phase 120/240VAC 60 Hz output.
The devices compared here represent only a small sample of all available models and brands. For other models as well as official specifications, datasheets and warranty info visit the websites of the respective generator manufacturers.
The part numbers in our chart are arranged in no particular order. The data and features (including ability to run a specific size of central air conditioner) are based on the published specifications of the respective manufacturers or retailers.
No attempt was made to verify products compliance to their specs.
While all attempts are made to provide accurate, current, and reliable data, all info here is provided AS IS- we assume no responsibility for any errors. Product reviews are provided for information purposes and reflects only the opinion of the author. The sole responsibility when selecting a product rests with you.
Generac®, GUARDIAN®, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler®, Cummins® Onan®, GE and some other words mentioned above are registered or unregistered trademarks, trade names and service marks and are property of their respective owners.
The links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See our complete Disclaimer linked below.

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