Gillette Generators

[bob15]

Has anyone ever heard of or has a Gillette Generator? A power equipment dealer a few towns over from me has started selling Gillette brand whole house generators. They make them in Elkhart, Indiana (according to their website).

They have a 12kW unit which is Subaru powered, is this a Subura engine or a re-named Wisconsin-Robin? I was looking at a 14kW Kohler, but having a somewhat close dealer in Gillette would be nice.


bob
 

[Wile E]

Go to their website, gillettegenerators.com

It looks like they know what they are doing and the product is not imported crap from China.
Honda engines too.....Honda makes the best Generators.

I have a 10hp Subaru engine on a powermate generator. (I would really rather have a Honda)
The whole house generators are nice, but expensive and do you really need a whole house deal? A portable will run almost every item in your house except the electric stove and electric dryer. You just have to plug in stuff periodically, or run 2 things at a time maximum.

Those whole house generators gulp down 1.5 gallons of propane per hour I think. ($ 75 per day) for a power outage.
 

[bob15]

I was looking at between a 12 (Gillette) & 14 (Kohler) kW generator. I squeak by on a 5k right now. I seem to lose lower for more than 16 hours multiple times a year. Last Oct, I lost power for 11 days. A month earlier, 4 days.

I like that they are US made. Not sure on the Subaru engine though.

We have a high water table, so the sump pump is almost always running, a 1.5HP well pump, fridge and freezer and a couple lights are the "must have". The issue is the sump pump is a 1/2hp. When it kicks on with the fridge, freezer or well pump on, my poor Coleman Generator struggles. A couple times it has tripped out, of course I'm in the shower at the same time......

They do suck down the gas, although I have a 500 gallon LP tank I use for the range/over and a tankless hot water heater, so it isn't a complete issue. Compared to 13-15 or gallons of gasoline the Coleman burns in 24 hours; and the mindset that I wouldn't have to worry about having 3 inches of water in the cellar if power was lost and I'm not home, it doesn't worry me too much.


bob
 

[Wile E]

If it were me I would chose the Kohler "IF" I was to buy a home standby unit. That Kohler 14KW is $4,000 roughly. You could also get a 12KW portable for about $ 3,000. Go on the northern tool website or the www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com website and see.
Honda makes a larger portable unit. Honda is the best gensets out there.
 

[Gene Stevens Oh-Tx]

Check out "Amazon.com"...a lot of times you can get the same unit at a lower cost to include shipping. Sometime you can also get free shipping. Gene
 

[Jon Hagen]

The Wisconsin Robin is a renamed Subaru engine.
 

[Billy Shafer]

I have never heard of them. But looks like they are using top quality pieces to build a generator. Standby housing looks like the same one Onan uses. Might be worth checking out
 

[mkirsch]

The thing about a whole-house generator is, you're not tied up farming extension cords 24/7. You can get a good night's sleep, instead of laying there awake waiting to go out and unplug the refrigerator and plug in the freezer, or vice versa, at 1:00AM, 3:00AM and 5:00AM.

In a real survival situation it frees you up for other survival tasks like procuring food and fuel, stacking sandbags, clearing a fire break, boarding up windows, etc..

If you've got the $$$ and feel it's worth it to you, then don't let anyone sway your decision.
 

[buickanddeere]

100% agreement.
The auto start units keep pipes from bursting,freezers full of
rotten food or flooded basements.
Nobody has to be around or skilled enough to connect an
undersized genset without trips or burning out equipment.
 

[Wile E]

I guess it is just me but I have a hard time spending $4000 or more on an item I will need for less than 1 day a year. You can get 2 portable units for less than $2000. A backup for your backup generator.
 

[bob15]

[Spook]

I bought a whole house propane Generac 15kw a few years ago. I don't need it often, but if the power does go out, I don't have to run around with cords and look for gas.