hi gary,
i bought a generac first time hurricanes blew thru town. runs flawlessly. cranks on first pull with little effort. has a 6 gal gas tank. means u fill it up every 11-12 hrs....runnin the a/c and everything else. paid about $700 for it home depot. its rated ar 5500 with a surge limit up to 8500 watts. means it will hold a constant 5500 watt load with brief surges. during the hurrican power outages we ran a 10,000 btu window unit a/c, every lite in the house, one to 2 stove eyes, computer, tv's etc. i would even get up early morn, switch the ac off while it was cool and turn the hot water heater on. it was great havin hot showers when everyone else was complainin about cold showers.
on the other hand, my friend bought a honda 5000 watt generator. he paid about 3 times what i paid for mine. it is MUCH louder. i cant remember what size gas tank he has but he has to get up every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs and fuel it up.
it did not come on wheels so it takes 2 people to move it. he has to be very careful with what he turns on. honda rates it at 5000 watts, but manual says it will surge no more than 5000 watts. i know the same dual element hot water i have kills it deader than a hammer!!
no doubt u get what u payed for, but briggs and stratton has been makin air cooled 4 stroke motors as long as honda has.
personally glad i didnt pay the xtra for the import.
just my .02
i bought a generac first time hurricanes blew thru town. runs flawlessly. cranks on first pull with little effort. has a 6 gal gas tank. means u fill it up every 11-12 hrs....runnin the a/c and everything else. paid about $700 for it home depot. its rated ar 5500 with a surge limit up to 8500 watts. means it will hold a constant 5500 watt load with brief surges. during the hurrican power outages we ran a 10,000 btu window unit a/c, every lite in the house, one to 2 stove eyes, computer, tv's etc. i would even get up early morn, switch the ac off while it was cool and turn the hot water heater on. it was great havin hot showers when everyone else was complainin about cold showers.
on the other hand, my friend bought a honda 5000 watt generator. he paid about 3 times what i paid for mine. it is MUCH louder. i cant remember what size gas tank he has but he has to get up every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs and fuel it up.
it did not come on wheels so it takes 2 people to move it. he has to be very careful with what he turns on. honda rates it at 5000 watts, but manual says it will surge no more than 5000 watts. i know the same dual element hot water i have kills it deader than a hammer!!
no doubt u get what u payed for, but briggs and stratton has been makin air cooled 4 stroke motors as long as honda has.
personally glad i didnt pay the xtra for the import.
just my .02