We were without power for 4 days. My sister is on electric oxygen and has a portable oxygen that needed to be charged. We traveled over an hour to find this generator. We also needed to have power for our refrigerator to keep our $600 in groceries from being ruined. I would like to know if it could be back fed to my house but for the moment it ran for 15 hours on one tank of fuel. Our 4 days on generator sure eased our stress for not having power.

I was looking for a dependable generator for home back up for basics, fridge/freezer a few lights and possibly my TV. I was also looking for ease of start up. I am a woman and this generator is perfect. Easy to start and maintain. Everything I was looking for.

This 8Kw machine was purchased to replace a Coleman 4Kw machine because, like many users, we initially underestimated our power needs. A sparsely used cabin in the woods, off the grid, but enjoyable getaway doesn't warrant air conditioning or television, but a water pump and a hot water heater alone quickly outstripped the 4Kw output of the previous generator. We had to choose between 1)pumping/heating water and 2) lights, computer, power tool, or battery chargers. It was a tolerable choice for a couple of years, but purchase of a KillAWatt device quickly demonstrated the actual consumption of power we were using at the cabin. The 8Kw output now affords us the luxury of hot water and lighting simultaneously, so we are now considering an upgrade to a small refrigerator. The Generac product line is seen all over the north woods up here in upstate New York, often as standby generators, but a few portables as well. This one is very heavy, and is not liftable to put into the vehicle to take to another site for a hunting trip or other event, so it needs to stay put. After using it for two weeks, a few bolts and nuts had vibrated apart and were sitting on the ground, so it prompted us to go around the entire unit, tightening all accessible bolts, nuts, screws, etc. The loose ones were limited to the frame and housing area. The motor/generator components were well manufactured, and we were reluctant to over-tighten any mechanical systems. Hooking the machine up to our house was straight-forward, because we had already set up the previous system with an electrician. The larger capacity Generac did require a 240 volt / 30 amp connector plug to upgrade the milder plug used by the previous generator. Also unforeseen is the simple fact that an 8Kw generator can use twice as much gas as a 4Kw generator. We're not saying the Generac is less efficient, but having the power available whets the appetite of the user. We are still re-thinking our power needs daily because of the reality of gas prices. 24 hours of full-out use will cost $15 per day, but miserly use can cost only $5 per day. The choice is up to the appetite of the user. What's the difference? Running the water pump and water heater all day and all night pulls a lot of watts. Replacing incandescent light bulbs with efficient LED bulbs makes a small but noticeable difference. Chilly nights sometimes tempt one to plug in the electric heater, but power costs money. It's better to use extra blankets if you have them. It is comforting having the power when you really need it, and this machine has it if you want it. Given the cost of fuel over the course of the summer, and looking to the future of several summers ahead, we plan to supplement our electrical generator with solar and wind to manage the cost and reduce the carbon foot print.

Got this as 'insurance' against the increasing number of power outages. My electrician set up wiring for easy connection to my breaker box. It's really easy to roll around and use. It runs all the essential things (sump pump, furnace, refrigerator/freezer some lights, one burner on fridge, computer) - about 1/2 the house - plenty for an extended outage. I am almost looking forward to putting it through its paces during the next outage. Almost.

This is a great unit. I live in a colder climate in a home with base board electric heat. The unit handles the house load well. I had no problem with the 2 ton heat pump/air conditioner. Assembly was easy enough, but instructions on wheel assembly could be improved with larger diagram. This unit is heavy. The pneumatic tires are good. the only negative is the wheels should be bearings instead of bushings. This could make the unit a little easier to move around. Unit is a little loud, but that can be expected with a 30HP engine. A second muffler attachment could help if it didn't place to much back pressure on the engine.

The unpacking and assembly were well described and easy to complete with minimal mechanical skills. The engine started right up and power was immediately produced. I let the unit run for a few minutes and then checked the oil level and examined the unit for any leaks or other obvious issues but none were found. I would recommend this product to anyone in need of a large portable generator for emergency or other short term uses.

I have had this generator for 3 years now. Due to a more dependable electric grid lately, I haven't needed to use it for a power failure. I do however try to start it quarterly for preventative maintenance. I keep the battery charger plugged in since the control seem to drain the battery constantly. Last week when I tried to start it, the battery was low and I couldn't start the generator. The manual pull worked, and I ran the generator for 1 hour. I guess I'm in the market for a replacement battery.

I bought this portable generator because every time after a power outage I said I was going to get one and never did once the power came back on. Finally after the last outage I said that's it I'm getting a generator… I reviewed a lot of different types and brands as I usually do when making any purchase. I did a lot of research on properly breaking in a portable generator To assure a long life for the generator. I do run it every 30 days for about 15 minutes or so to exercise it. It starts first or second pull every time. Although I have not used it in an outage situation as of yet I am sure that it will perform fantastic and flawlessly. I am a tradesman and I can tell just by looking at and touching the generator it is the highest quality. I love my new toy…

Just recently purchased a home in Florida, our first hurricane season and Irma made us realize that a generator is a life saver in Florida. We have only owned it for 2 months and it was a big purchase but well worth it. We only used it for 2 days it is on the loud side but it does the job we expected it to. Overall a good purchase so far... time will tell.

I purchased this generator after doing some research and felt this to be the best generator by far for quality, features and price. I had used a John Deere that I paid almost 1500.00 dollars for after we were hit by a severe ice storm in 2003. The John Deere was junk compared to this Generac. The John Deere will not stay running if left in the rain or if snow blows in on it. Also the quality of the John Deere was cheap!! It had a plastic gas tank, no electric start or anything to keep it off the ground. The Generac comes with the electric start (which is great), wheel kit, a solid frame and a handle to move the generator around with. Shop around and compare you will end up buying the Generac!!