Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator with 10 HP Engine

Product Review

As an engineer, I'm obsessed with numbers and choosing a generator presents the excellent opportunity to play with them. I won't bother you with a lot of technical details, but this is the generator I chose right after 4 months of deep, deep researching. Very first criteria: my needs. I wanted to power a 3 bedroom residence with a finished basement through the harsh winters in Maine. Here are the devices I setup as an absolute necessity to power up throughout an emergency: 1) Water nicely pump, 2) Furnace blower, three) Basement Sump Pump, and 4) Refrigerator. Here are the "good-to-haves": 5) lights within the kitchen and primary living room, 6) pellet stove, 7) oven range. And, lastly, just the "nice-to-haves": 8) Television, 9) microwave oven, 10) laptop or computer. And here's what gets excluded: all of the 2nd floor inside the property, garage door opener, bedroom lights, almost everything else not listed above. (More...)

Coleman Powermate 5,500 Watt 11 HP Portable Generator PMA525500

Product Review

I truly purchased 1 of these generators shortly following Katrina hit the gulf in prep for a natural disaster with an extended power outage. I've not had 1 but where it lasted long enough to require it, but my brother ~10 miles away had 1 for a full week in Dec 2006 (and luckily had a generator). In Dec 2007 yet another county in my state had power out for a full week due to a primary transmission tower coming down, so those points have shown me no one is invincible to power outages. The hardware shops rapidly ran out of generators each and every time a crisis came, so if you're smart you will not wait for the crisis to come ahead of contemplating obtaining prepared. (More Detail...)