Generac Or Briggs & Stratton

[Burtonrider10022]

I'm telling you, Craigslist is gunna be generator heaven over the next few weeks. A family that just lost half their house is gunna be selling the generator they bought last week to buy groceries. It's unfortunate and borderline twisted, but it's not immoral if you give them their asking price, which will most likely be pretty low to get the cash quick.

 

[JTH]

Maintain and repair gensets for a living. would skip Generac for sure. Small Onan would be my choice if in budget. parts are high but good reliability. Read maintainence schedule. Small briggs wants an oil change every 25 hours. once a day if you're off the grid. Best option is propane or natural gas power depending on which is available. spent 12 days w/o power in 07, first 3 days the local gas stations had no power. Filled my cars and fuel cans before it hit and used a lot of it. 5500 watts ran fridge, lights, TV and HVAC. Hope this finds you well! Praying for all living through disaster on east coast!

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you're buying one because of Sandy, make sure you keep your receipt. When we had a flood about 5 years, FEMA compensated people that bought generators.

You'll have to inquire with your local EMA office.

 

[StaggeringGoat]

Small briggs wants an oil change every 25 hours.

It's more like 50 hours, but you can't fault Briggs for that. The same is true for every small engine without an oil filter. You can also get a high end Briggs with an oil filter and much longer change intervals if you want, just like any other brand with an oil filter.

 

[vga]

I have a 15 yr old Generac 10,000 watt emer gen with a 10 gal gas tank for my home and its the best money I never spent. I worked for a company back then that went belly up and as part of the team that agreed to stay and shut down the operations and bldgs the 3 of us were allowed to keep any tools and utilities we wanted.This was around 97/98 and I think it cost $4000.00 from Home depot I have it connected to a auto transfer switch and it will power the entire house if I happen to lose PG&E which I do often in the winter. I use Mobil 1 20/50 V twin motorcycle oil and change the oil and filter every 2 yrs.
I knew about the Gen due to me having been the person that signed the Po's for the engineering dept. When I brought it home it had a grand total of 18 hrs on the clock. It has served me well over the years and has saved me many many hrs of having to sit in total darkness waiting for elect pwr to be restored..

 

[xrayos]

so, I'm looking at a whole house generator and found an Onan Cummins RS20A that is powered by a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard 993cc V-twin engine. Cost is about $5,700 and a similar Briggs branded 20kW generator is $1,000 cheaper.

Which do you guys think is better?

 

[HW70U]

B&S makes the motors for Generac last I heard. B&S makes a great little motor, but be prepared for it to be a little loud, lots of people add larger mufflers to them. Again, it may be loud, but a well maintained B&S motor will last a long time.

For quiet, fuel efficient, and also long lasting look at Yamaha and Honda.

What is your budget?
How frequent do you think you'll use it?
Have you considered tri-fuel systems?
Are you going to need to move it a lot, i.e. is weight or size an issue?
Is the noise level of the generator important to you?



The Generac (GN) (GH) line of engines is manufactured by Generac Power Systems in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Generac Power Systems in not affiliated with Briggs & Stratton Power Products.