Generators

How to use this table

This table holds 18 generators normalized onto the same columns, so that units described differently by their manufacturers can be compared directly. Every row carries a confidence flag and a link to the datasheet or retailer page the figures came from, and every product has its own page with the numbers worked through for an off-grid build.

What is in here right now

The generators listed run from 1,800 to 10,500 W running, with a median of 6,500 W running. The median price works out at about $0.29 /W per unit, which is the figure worth comparing against rather than the sticker price.

Sort on any column by clicking its header. The comparison that usually settles a decision is not the biggest number but the price per unit alongside the specification that constrains your design, because that is where a cheaper product either is or is not a false economy.

What each column means

Running W

Continuous output. This is the figure to size against, not the peak.

Peak W

Short-duration starting output, held for seconds.

Fuel

Fuel type. Propane stores indefinitely and does not varnish a carburetor; gasoline does not store well without treatment.

Inverter

Whether the machine produces inverter-grade output, which is cleaner for electronics and quieter at part load.

Tank gal

Fuel capacity, which with runtime gives the burn rate.

Hrs @50%

Hours from a full tank at half load. Check the load fraction, because runtime quoted at quarter load is a different number.

dBA

Sound level at the manufacturer's stated distance. The scale is logarithmic, so 10 dBA is roughly a doubling of perceived loudness.

E-start

Whether it starts without a pull cord, which matters more than it sounds in cold weather.

2-wire auto

Whether an inverter can start it automatically when the bank falls to a set state of charge.

240 V

Whether 240 V is available, which some well pumps and larger chargers require.

lb

Weight, which decides how it is handled and mounted.

Wty yr

Warranty length. How a claim is actually handled matters more off grid than how long the term is.

Price

List or recorded retail price at the date noted. Prices move constantly.

$/W

Price normalized to the unit that allows fair comparison across different sizes.

A workable way to shortlist

Start with the charger in your inverter rather than with the house load, since off grid the generator is mostly a battery charger. Check fuel type and how it stores, then runtime and burn rate, then noise and starting. Two-wire auto start changes how the machine is used more than any other feature on the list.

Then read the individual product pages, which work each unit's published numbers through for an off-grid build and list the nearest alternatives in this table. The system planner sizes array, controller, battery, and inverter against each other rather than one at a time, which is how these choices actually interact.

Five ways people get this purchase wrong

1. Sizing to run the whole house rather than to feed the inverter's charger, which produces a machine that is larger, thirstier, and louder than the job needs.
2. Adding up peak ratings across appliances. Peaks last seconds and never coincide the way a spreadsheet assumes.
3. Storing untreated gasoline. Fuel degrades within months and gums a carburetor, which is the classic no-start on the coldest morning of the year.
4. Running it lightly for long periods. A machine at a fraction of its rating burns nearly as much fuel per hour as one working properly, and on diesel it wet-stacks.
5. Never testing it. The generator that has not run since last winter is the one that will not start this winter.

Every one of those is cheaper to avoid than to fix, and most of them are decided before anything is bought. That is the argument for building the load list and the system design first and shopping second, which is what the planner and the course are for.

Where these numbers come from

Figures are transcribed from manufacturer datasheets or primary retailer specification pages, recorded with a date and a confidence flag, and linked back to the source on each product page. Where a manufacturer publishes a figure without its test conditions, it is recorded as published and treated with the skepticism it deserves rather than quietly normalized.

Prices are list or observed retail at the date noted and move constantly, so they are here for the ratio rather than for the last dollar. The price index tracks market ranges over time, the open data page publishes these tables as CSV and JSON, and the methodology page sets out how the research is done. If a figure here no longer matches its source, the corrections page is how to say so; corrections are logged publicly rather than edited away.

Missing a product you are comparing? Tell us and it goes on the list. The tables grow from what readers are actually shopping for rather than from what is easiest to transcribe.

Common questions about generators

What size generator do I need off grid?
Size it to the charger in your inverter rather than to the whole house, since off grid the generator is mostly a battery charger. Work out the current the charger draws at your battery voltage, allow for efficiency, and add headroom so the machine is not running flat out continuously.

Inverter generator or conventional?
Inverter machines are quieter, cleaner for electronics, and more economical at part load, which suits battery charging. Conventional open-frame machines cost less per watt and suit heavy intermittent work such as running tools. Many off-grid households end up preferring an inverter machine for charging and, if there is a build under way, borrowing or owning something rougher for site work.

How much fuel will it use?
Divide tank capacity by the quoted runtime to get gallons per hour at that load fraction, then compare against the kilowatts it produces at that load to get kilowatt hours per gallon. That figure converts generator hours into money and makes the case for short, heavy charging runs rather than long, light ones.

Is two-wire auto start worth it?
For most people, yes, after the first winter. It lets the inverter start the generator automatically when the bank falls to a set state of charge, which turns the machine from a chore performed in bad weather into a background process. It does need to be installed and tested properly rather than assumed to work.

Why will my generator not start?
Usually fuel. Gasoline degrades within months and gums a carburetor, and a machine that has sat since last winter is the classic failure. Stabilize fuel or run propane, start it monthly under load, change the oil on schedule, and keep spare plugs and filters on the shelf.

Listings, inspection, and insurance

Safety listings are easy to skip past on a spec sheet and hard to add afterwards. Where a jurisdiction inspects an off-grid installation, unlisted equipment can fail the inspection outright. Where nobody inspects, insurers may still ask, and an appliance or a system component without a recognized listing is a reason some carriers give for declining a rural policy or a claim.

That matters more off grid than on, because rural policies are already a narrower market. Insurers commonly ask what the structure is, how it is heated, how far it is from a responding fire station, and whether the installation was permitted and inspected. Deciding to buy listed equipment and to hold the installation to code standards, even where nobody will check, is the cheapest form of that conversation going well.

Keep the paperwork with the systems binder: model and serial numbers, the datasheet as it read on the day you bought, the installation photographs before anything was closed up, and the receipts. Proving what you had is your job in a claim, and it is also what makes a sale straightforward years later. Lesson eleven covers the insurance and financing side, and the printable binder has a place for all of it.

This category inside a whole system

No component in an off-grid power or water system is chosen alone. The battery constrains the inverter, the inverter constrains the cable and the fusing, the controller constrains the array, the array is constrained by the worst month at your location, and the whole thing is constrained by the load list you started with. Choosing any one part in isolation is how people end up buying twice.

The order that works is: honest load list, then location data, then system voltage, then the components against each other, then the wiring and protection that make it safe. Lesson four covers the load list, the site report gives the location numbers for any address, the planner sizes the components as a set, and lesson six covers the part where mistakes start fires rather than merely costing money.

The other tables are next door: batteries, panels, inverters, controllers, generators, and pumps. For prices rather than specifications, the price index; for what to keep on the shelf, the spares reference; for the terms used here, the glossary.