Author Archives: Jimmy

Westinghouse Portable Generators

The Line Of
Westinghouse Portable Generators

It is no secret that Westinghouse makes the world’s best line of portable generators on the market. The quality and craftsmanship of these gensets are un-unparallelled. If you want to provide a reliable portable power source for your family in the event of disaster or simply have power on your work site, the are Westinghouse Portable Generators that will suit your needs.

Each of the Westinghouse Portable Generators on this page feature heavy duty all steel construction and electrical connections that are fully enclosed.

The quality of these units are so great, Westinghouse backs their craftsmanship with a full 3 year limited warranty. That is triple the warranty of most other manufacturers.

Westinghouse Portable Generators Feature Color Coded Electrical Panels

The electrical panels are color coded for intuitive operation and all electric circuits are protected with quality circuit breakers to protect against over current.

These portable generators also come with a ergonomic handle kit and wheels that will never go flat. This provides easy transportation, so you can have power where you want it.

Westinghouse portable generators are powerful enough to protect your family from unexpected power outages can can power your major appliances, such as your refrigerator, electric ranges, sump pumps, space heaters, air conditioners, microwaves and well pumps.

Westinghouse Portable Generator Models

Model	WH3250	WH5500	WH6000S	WH6500E	WH7500


Running/Starting Watts	3,250/3,750	5,500/6,750	6,000/7,500	6,500/8,000	7,500/9,000
Electrical Outlets	Four 120v	Four 120vOne 120/240 Twist	Four 120vOne 120/240 Twist	Four 120vOne 120/240 Twist	Four 120vOne 120/240 Twist
Starting Method	Manual	Manual	Manual	Electric and Manual	Electric and Manual
Fuel Capacity	4 Gal	6.6 Gal	6.6 Gal	6.6 Gal	6.6 Gal
Run Time at 50 Percent Load	14 hrs	14 hrs	13 hrs	13 hrs	12 hrs
			Comes With Cord

It is an important note that with any generator, it is recommended to turn on one appliance at a time, since each of them require more power to start than to run. To help assist you in determining which genset to get, please refer to our article: What Size Generator Do I Need.

All of the Westinghouse Portable Generators on this page feature an over sized muffler. This make these gensets much quieter than most competitor’s generators in the same price class.

Westinghouse Portable Generator Tool Setup-Kit

Westinghouse Portable Generator Tool Kit

Westinghouse also backs their portable generators with friendly and knowledgeable customer service. If for any reason you need help with your Westinghouse Portable Generator, call them at 1-855-WH-HELP-1 (944-3571).

Each of these units also come with a tool kit, one liter bottle of oil and a funnel to get you up and running right away. This kit comes with Oil, all the wrenches you will need and a funnel for easy oil fill.

These generators come with a great owner’s manual that will tell you all that you need to know to easily operate and maintain your unit. A spec sheet can be found here.

How Do I Start My Westinghouse Portable Generator?

Starting your generator is a snap! It is so easy to do, so take a quick look at these videos that demonstrate how to start your unit:
For Manual Start Models:

For Electric Start Models:

How Do I Maintain My Westinghouse Portable Generator?

Maintenance is easy on your genset! By adhering to proper maintenance, your generator will provide you with years of faithful service. All the steps are outlined in your Westinghouse Portable Generator user manual, but it is easier to take a quick look at this video to see just how simple it is!

How Do I Store My Westinghouse Portable Generator?

Proper storage is important to make sure your generator is available to you when you need it most. By following the simple steps outlined in this video, you will know exactly how to properly store your Westinghouse Portable Generator.

As you can see, proper storage practices are very important to the save and reliable operation of any generator. Please take care to learn these practices so that you ensure that your generator performs for year of faithful service.

So, if you are looking for the finest quality electric generators for virtually any need, you owe it to yourself to check out Westinghouse Portable Generators.

What Size Generator Do I Need

What Size Generator Do I Need?

People buy generators for a number of reasons. Regardless of the reason, you need to have an idea what you are going to supply power to, and how much current is required by those things. When I was looking into getting a generator, I asked myself the question, “What size generator do I need?”

Luckily, there are a few resources to help you determine the size generator you will need to power the things you want to plug in:

Westinghouse Wattage Calculator

Honda Wattage Estimation Guide

I found both of these tools very useful for deciding what size generator I needed to power my house. When looking at the guides, you will notice something that is important. Many devices, especially ones with electric motors, require more electric current to start than it takes to run.

That makes sense to me. Newton’s Law states that objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Object stopped tend to stay stopped. So, it takes extra energy to take a stopped motor and start it then it takes to keep it running after it is started.

When looking at the charts, you will see the term Surge or Starting watts. Notice that the difference could be significant. I never realized how many things have electric motors in them, like the refrigerator. There is a compressor in it that has a motor. The circulator pumps that are part of your heating system are motors, too. When I thought about what size generator do I need, I got confused. Do I need to add up all of the surge numbers or the running numbers?

In addition, I started to ask myself, “Do I really have to power everything?” The answer to that was no. There are a few things I don’t need to have and others are essential. So, when thinking about choosing a generator, ask yourself these questions:

What do I want to power?
1. What are the essentials to power?
  1. For me, this was my refrigerator, heater, hot water, some lights and the coffee pot 🙂 Although I have Oil heat, the boiler still requires electricity. This was something I didn’t even think about until it was gone. If you have electric heat, you have to think big, when it comes to generator size, or more likely, look to alternate ways to heat your home.Cold showers get old really quickly. Do you have a gas or electric hot water heater? What about your washer and dryer?Do you have a pump that need to be powered? Think about all of these things and write them down.
2. What is nice to have power?
  1. More lights, the television, DVD player, hair dryer, etc.
3. What can I live without?
  1. Things like the oven and stove. I have an electric oven and stove and this takes up a lot of power. Although I can use it with the generator I purchased, I don’t have to. For example, I can use the gas barbeque with stove on the side. If you have a gas stove, you are in luck.

After evaluating all of the things you want to power, you can then have to do a little math. Add up all of the running watts of each category. Back to our main question, which was “What size generator do I need?” Choose a generator that will at least take care of your essential items and some of your nice to have items. Add in some buffer wattage for surge and you are half way there with your low number.

Next, you will need to look at your options and your budget to come up with the next. For instance, I bought the 7500E portable generator. After doing the math as I described above, I could have gotten by with a 5000 watt generator. Why did I get the 7500E?

I did a lot of looking and reading of reviews. I saw that some brands of generators caught on fire and was recalled! Yikes! I saw some that got ok review and some that got excellent reviews. The Westinghouse got excellent reviews, so I choose to get that brand of generator. The difference in price between the 5500 watt model and the 7500 watt model was under $300 dollars. I also thought it would be better to run the 7500 watt model, running it at half its load, then the 5500 watt model running it closer to its capacity.

I decided the $300 was a small enough difference for me, so I went for that one. In addition, you never know when a neighbor may ask you if they can run an extension cord, so that they don’t loose all of the food in their refrigerator.

One last thing I want to write about here is the surge watts. The key here is you need to start your generator. After it is warmed up and running smoothly, you need to apply power to a few things at a time. For instance, first plug in your refrigerator, then after that is running, plug in the next device.

Running a lot of extension cords is not the best idea, although it will work in an emergency. A better idea would be to plan for hooking the generator up to your home a neater way. An electrician is needed for professional and safe installation of either a transfer switch or interlock kit.

If you have the generator hooked up to your house with a transfer switch or interlock kit, follow this plan:

Turn off all the breakers
Safely connect the generator to your house.
Supply power to the devices one breaker at a time.

That should help you get past the surge watts. Choose the device that draw the most current to be the first you provide power to.

I hope this article helped you to answer “What size generator do I need?” It was a learning experience for me when I was figuring it out.

Portable Generators – Being Prepared

Portable Generators

Hi, my name is Jim. I created this website to provide valuable information for preparing for disasters and choosing to provide backup power to homes. I always thought I was prepared for emergencies. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Now, thanks to portable generators, I am prepared.

Westinghouse Portable Generators

It is funny that I never gave a much thought to electric power. It was always there, after all. If it went out, it was probably going to be back on in less than a half hour, where I live. I hardly ever lost power and it was pretty rock solid.

Then, hurricane Irene was forecasted. The stores were packed, and everyone went to buy food, water and essentials. I bought a bunch of things, myself, to be prepared. My refrigerator and freezer were packed. I had flashlights and everything I thought I needed.

The hurricane hit and we lost power about 11 pm. My child was scared, as she never experienced a black out before. We were all up, and the wind and rain was really intense. We put on some candles and I played my acoustic guitar to try to take everyone’s mind off of the stress. I think I made up a song called the No Lights Blues… We laughed and made it through the night.

In the morning, we still had no power. No electric coffee pot. “It must be coming back on soon, don’t worry!” So, I went to the local 7-11 to get coffee. No big deal, right?

I began to hear the sound of portable generators going. Some of my neighbors bought them prior to the storm, or already had a gas powered portable generator.

The next issue was cold water and no heat. No, I don’t have an electric water heater. My oil furnace heats the house and water. The only problem was that without electricity, the oil furnace would not kick on.

A day went by without electricity, yet some of my neighbors still had electricity, because they had portable generators. Then, two days without power. My daughter was starting to ask if the power would ever come back on. Things were stressful to say the least.

Remember all that food I told you about? My refrigerator packed with food that I was so proud of being prepared for a disaster? With no electricity, the refrigerator wasn’t working. I had to throw it all out! I did have a small cooler, filled with ice that I had to keep buying at 7-11, along with morning coffee.

To make a long story short, we had no power for 9 days. NINE DAYS! You know, I never thought how important to our way of life electricity was. Being without for nine days makes you aware of the reality. Thank goodness it wasn’t cold enough to freeze the pipes in my home.

After this experience, I decided to get a gas powered portable generator. I did a lot of research and decided on a Westinghouse Generator for my Disaster Preparedness Plan. I decided to make this website to share my research so that others can benefit by the time I put in to purchase a portable generator.

I had friends that said that this was a once in a lifetime thing, and that I was crazy for even looking at portable generators. It would just sit there. I didn’t care. I wasn’t doing that again.

Fast forward a year – Hurricane Sandy is predicted. This time it was during a colder part of the year. I applied what I learned from the last hurricane. I bought food, but purchased a lot more dry things, like pasta, trail mix, nuts, fruit, etc. I got more bottled water, and was ready.

The best part was that this time, I had portable generators. I purchased several 5 gallon gas cans and filled them all. I thought, “This isn’t going to be as bad as they think. I can always put this gas in my car after this hurricane blows over. But if it is as bad as they say, I will be ready this time!”

I was ready, then the Hurricane Hit! It was much worse than was expected. I plugged in my Westinghouse portable generator and fired it up! I had lights! My refrigerator was running! My heat was on! The television worked but since lines hit the cable lines, there was no television. But, our DVD player worked and we had something to take our minds off of the damage after the hurricane. All thanks to my portable generator!

Some of my neighbors had portable generators and they had power, some didn’t. Many of the folks who had portable generators helped out their neighbors with long extension cords. But, without heat, many homes had their pipes freeze and had floods. People in my neighborhood were without power for longer than 15 days. I had power! I was prepared. My family did much better through a more damaging hurricane. Dad is the Hero Supreme!

So, that is my story. I made this site to share my experiences and what I have learned in the process. It is my sincere wish that the information I post here helps some of you to prepare for your families.

I will be posting some of the strategies I learned along the way with gas powered portable generators, and will share some of why I chose the generator that I did.

The Line Of Westinghouse Portable Generators