I just purchased this generator and it was very easy to put together right out of the box. I followed the instructions in the book and added the oil and then gas. I turned the choke on and then hit the start button. The generator started right up. My friend who was helping me thought it was going to be louder than what it was. I too was surprised at how little noise it made. I then tested the voltage in all of the plugs. Everything was right where it should be. I hope I do not have to use it as a backup, but if I do I'm sure it will do the job with no problems. I bought this for our house for when our power goes out, which happens quite often. I also bought it with the intention of using it when we build our log home. I know it will be able to power all of the equipment while we work.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] due in no small part to recent events on the eastern seaboard, we felt it necessary to purchase a portable generator given to volatile weather here. we decided to go with the best name in the business: Generac. we were certainly not disappointed. the 8000 Watt Standing and 10k Startup wattage were plenty for our home. that and the Package coming with a Battery and an electric startup were all key features that pushed us towards this brand. we did not have much knowledge in Generators and even less in hooking them up. I love the 25 foot chord it came with and also the ease at which it is transportable via the super heavy duty tires. we went with a professional to hook everything up which cost about 200 Dollars. though I could have probably done it, as the directions were super easy and everything was marked and easily understood, we felt having someone with experience to install it was wise. overall we are very happy with this new model and even happier with the performance. it is not loud (like a Starship taking off) as the exhaust is pretty well muffled. love that feature. we recommend this to anyone with potential power issues.

The power to my house has been pretty reliable up until this year. We have has three outages for extended periods of time so far this year. I have a well and a freezer full of beef, so I bought this generator to power my house during these outages. The power has not gone out since I bought it, but it does run all my appliances and the well pump without any problems when I tested it. It is worth having the insurance of stand-by power when it is needed.

Pre read the manual online the day prior to delivery which made the startup effortless. Assembly was a breeze and it srarted right up with ease. Ran it for about 30 minutes, loaded an air compressor, portable heater, and shop vac just to test. Then tested the whole house, 2 fridges, freezer, furnace, gas water heater, and numerous lights. Flawless performance. Expect to survive the eventual power outage this winter and next spring.

I purchased this generator new approximately 5 years ago. I left an initial impression review at that time. Other than monthly test runs, I have not had to use it. Last night it was finally used to provide power for the entire house. It worked flawlessly. It was 28 degF. When I started the generator and it ran continuously for 16 hours with no shutdown. Temps got to a low of 6 degF. It’s one thing to lose power in the summer. Losing power when it is in the single digits is an altogether different scenario. Our house has baseboard electric heat that had to work in some rooms not heated by the woodstove. In conclusion, and as a follow up,after five years it did exactly what is what purchased for.

I purchased the Generac GP 8000E after a recent ice storm where we lost power for 2 days... also, have encountered power losses in summer with hurricane/wind storms. Upon delivery, there was very little assembly necessary before it was ready for service. Excellent quality construction. Has a good set of features to make it easy to use with the electric start... maintenance to keep in it service looks minimal. As the electrician, who installed our breaker panel interlock, stated... you have close to a whole house generator at a fraction of the cost."

I purchased this generator after the issues with Hurricane Irene. When this storm hit and we lost power, I simply brought out the generator, hit the switch and forgot about it. It performed great. I ran my boiler, refrigerator and a TV. I have and will continue to highly recommend this product.

Just made it through hurricane Sandy's blackout. This was the generators first extended test. Passed with flying colors. This is the 6500 Watt model, manual start. Started on the second pull (usually does). I Powered, using the 30amp outlet - 1 Refrig, 2 gas forced hot air heating units, 1 gas powered water heater, 2 bathrooms, kitchen lights, dinette lights family room outlets (charged a lot of cell phones), and used applicances through those outlets (toaster over, coffee maker, washer/dryer), and of course a radio, hall lights and a bedroom. Using the 20amp four outlets, powered three more refrig, including a couple from my neighbors house, and some additional lights. The generator took forever to use the gasoline in the tank. No lights flickered, appliances functioned proprely. At times I forgot I was on generator. Thank You Generac.

I bought THIS generator because of the past experience with the brand, AND because this unit had a larger engine than most of the similarly sized generators. The typical 15kw genset has an 18 to 22 horsepower engine. This model has a 30hp engine!! That extra horsepower means greater power margin for starting loads like HVAC compressors. I calculated that I needed 10kw, and this units 22kw starting capacity exceeded that substantially... But in my experience I need more than the minimum because if the hvac computer crashes because of voltage drop, then starting will fail. You mush have excess power during the starting of the compressor to keep the computers happy. So I picked carefully, and while this one has much more power than I require, the price point and performance thresholds were met by *only* this generator. So I did my first test running the whole house, and this generator handled the load with few problems, but the power was very noisy, very high harmonic distortion. Some things in the house ran fine, but things powered on transformers did not like the power. The home thermostat was inoperable, the computer in the dishwasher crashed, several of the UPS systems did not like the power and complained, and my smart LED lights were very unhappy. Sensitive loads did not like this generator at all... But once I got the thermostat bypassed, the HVAC compressor seemed to run fairly well, though the compressor was noisier than normal. So to meet my needs I decided to buy the largest inverter generator that I could fine to run the house and electronics, and the Generac GP15000E is dedicated to the HVAC compressor *only*. The HVAC blower and electronics run on the inverter generator where they are fed a true sine wave. I didn't set out to buy this much excess capacity, but I still paid less than I would have if I had bought a similarly sized whole home generator, and I have a reconfigurable power plant now so I can handle any need.

This generator was easy to assemble and fired-up immediately. Quieter than I expected based on neighbors' units and some of the chatter online. Easy to move the generator around. The 1% unhappiness is based on the difficulty to add the oil. The generator is designed to receive oil at an almost 90-degree angle, so you need to spend a crazy amount of time carefully adding little amounts at a time or go buy a funnel with a flexible line. Also, the oil supplied does not indicate the type/weight of the oil and neither does the generator's manual. You can find it online at generac.com FAQ section. It's easy to see why it's an FAQ.