7000W Gen From Costco $700

[ddawg16]

If your a Costco member.....hell of a deal.

Westinghouse 7000W Running/8500W Peak Electric Start Generator With 20’ UL Power Cord

http://www.costco.com/.product.100054388.html?&EMID=B2C_2013_0909_874_Dell

 

[ishiboo]

I'll take the HF 8500 for $500 any day over this. They're both cheap Made in China. Do plan on adding $50 for the cord the Costco comes with.

Love my HF a lot more than my Briggs, and they both put my $$$$ Mitsubishi to shame.

 

[teesee150]

I'll take Costco's warranty any day over HF, especially on a cheap hit or miss generator from China

 

[SteveCh]

If your a Costco member.....hell of a deal.

Westinghouse 7000W Running/8500W Peak Electric Start Generator With 20’ UL Power Cord

http://www.costco.com/.product.100054388.html?&EMID=B2C_2013_0909_874_Dell

I don't know, might be ok for an emergency power source, as in: use in an emergency, which is rarely. A buddy of mine bought one to use in building his cabin in New Mexico, using it to run hand power tools, nothing big. It lasted him about four months, then was junk. [His description.] He is not a "tool guy" or even much of a shade-tree mechanic, but his assessment of the trouble was that the generator part was what was wrecked, not the gasoline engine. It was gonna cost him as much or more than the original price to rebuild it. [He said.]

I think that if you buy something like this, you are not expecting it to last under anything other than occasional use. My Honda 3500, on the other hand, is 22 yr. old and still running fine. Of course, it cost twice as much as this one.

If you need a generator, just want to have it around "in case," this would be a way of not tying up a bunch more money.

 

[djb2]

'Westinghouse' is not the company the old-timers remember. It's merely a 'monetized' brand name, licensed to anyone that will pay the brand owner.

The HF generators have a great track record, with people reporting using them continuously for months on end. This generator is an unknown with a Costco receipt.
Different people in different situations will value them differently.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I'll take Costco's warranty any day over HF, especially on a cheap hit or miss generator from China

I would too, were I to want one for temporary use.

 

[SlowAl]

The nice thing about the generator from Costco is that you will get refunded if (when) it fails at any point. You only get 90 days from HF.

 

[EdJack]

Yes, Costco's forever return policy is something that HF can't touch.

My advice on a generator this size is to take a look at propane or natural gas generators (or a conversion kit). Because that size generator is going to be very thirsty on gasoline. And dealing with that volume of gasoline usage for an extended period of time is going to be a hassle.

 

[ishiboo]

Depends on what you're using it for.

My $$$$ Mitsubishi failed at the wrong moment - when we had no power, our neighborhood was flooding, etc. So for me, reliability is more important than the return policy on a crappy generator. Plus it's not something I want to lug back-and-forth, and the no-name cheap Chinese generators are not regarded as reliable.

If you want to beat the hell out of it for construction purposes or something, Costco's warranty really can't be beat.

 

[djb2]

The point above is that a return/exchange policy won't help during an emergency.

Running the generator past the break-in stage will avoid many surprise failures, but still isn't as good as getting one with proven longevity.

Figure out what your resources and priorities are before buying.

Gasoline might be cheaper if you are actually going to be running the generator occasionally -- regularly but briefly.

Natural gas is likely the cheapest per hour of run-time, but a conversion kit and running a new gas line will probably cost more than the generator. It's only an option in areas with gas service, and the gas main could fail in an emergency e.g. an earthquake.

Propane is about twice as expensive as natural gas in bulk, and even more when you fill a small bottle. Right now we get propane at about $2/gal when delivered to a home-sized tank, but pay $4/gal for filling a grill tank. It's advantage is that you might avoid an expensive hookup, it's stable for long term storage, and a portable tank has a modest chance of being refilled in an emergency (but don't count on it).

 

[Sureshot]

You get what you pay for. Why be in an emergency with anything less than decent "tools"? I have a couple cheap generators and one (diesel) is NFG and getting the engine pulled and repurposed and the other is for charging fish finder batteries and lights for ice fishing instead of running the truck. The good 3000w is for running the camper and emergency backup. I try to use it at least a few times a year to make sure it is in running condition for running the sump pump and fridges and freezers.

 

[teesee150]

The reviews on this generator are excellent. Not sure why all the complaining. Every other generator that I see for sale has horrible hit & miss reviews. Show me another generator for anywhere close to this price/performance with better reviews.

 

[EdJack]

Propane is about twice as expensive as natural gas in bulk, and even more when you fill a small bottle. Right now we get propane at about $2/gal when delivered to a home-sized tank, but pay $4/gal for filling a grill tank. It's advantage is that you might avoid an expensive hookup, it's stable for long term storage, and a portable tank has a modest chance of being refilled in an emergency (but don't count on it).

I'm using propane. The main reason is that the shelf life of propane is forever. Whereas, the shelf life of gasoline with all the ethanol they put in it now is about 90 days. So you basically have to go out and buy the gas on an as needed basis. Which is fine for construction work, but presents a challenge for disaster/emergency situations when power is out and no way to go get gasoline or gas stations closed or stations have not gasoline. I store about 200 pounds of propane or a forever basis for the generator.

 

[kc-steve]

Thanks for the heads up. Also I think everyone has made good points. I've been looking for an electric start though.

I think most people buying an occasional or emergency use generator are looking for affordability. In that calculation of affordability is also the capacity generation, which is highly flexible. We can figure we need our air conditioning requiring a high capacity generator, or we can decide on one that will power the refrigerator and lights for a lot less money. It's a fairly easy decision.

Steve

 

[djb2]

Thanks for the heads up. Also I think everyone has made good points. I've been looking for an electric start though.

The HF 7kW generator has electric start, with a recoil-start back-up. The smaller generators have only recoil start. It does require a 9Ah 12V battery that's not included.

If you have a manual transfer switch, or are plugging in extension cords, a recoil start isn't likely a limitation in this size range. These are small engines that don't take a lot of physical effort to turn over.

The low end of emergency use is the $99 HF generator, which will power a regular refrigerator. The next step up is the $299 generator (3.2kW), which can power an inefficient/oversize refrigerator, a furnace blower and a few lights at the same time. At those sizes, plugging in extension cords makes more sense than paying an electrician to shuffle circuits and install a transfer switch.

The 7kW range will let you run normal loads and most major appliances, albeit not all at the same time. That's beyond emergency service. I would call it sustaining service. If you want that much power, you very likely need a fixed installation and a transfer switch.

 

[Sureshot]

I would question the output of any of the cheap ones. 7KW for how long???
Peak, 15 minutes, 1 hr???
I still contend you get what you pay for with generators and bungee cords.

 

[ilovevocs]

I still contend you get what you pay for with generators and bungee cords.

Lmfao