Amazon has
9000-Watt Champion Power Equipment Electric Start Tri Fuel Home Backup Portable Open Frame Inverter Generator (201176) on sale for
$1077.20.
Shipping is free.
Home Depot has
9000-Watt Champion Power Equipment Electric Start Tri Fuel Home Backup Portable Open Frame Inverter Generator (201176) on sale for
$1077.20.
Shipping is free or choose curbside pickup where stock permits.
- Note: Availability for pickup may vary by location.
Thanks to Community Member
MBP1 for sharing this deal.
About this product:
- Operates on natural gas, propane, or gasoline
- Natural gas and propane hoses are included so the unit is ready to run on any fuel right out of the box
- 420cc Champion engine with its battery-included electric start featuring a reliable toggle switch, a built-in Cold Start Technology
- CO Shield carbon monoxide auto shutoff system
- 50% quieter (72 dBA) and 20% lighter than a traditional 7250-watt generator, plus fuel-saving Economy Mode, and Intelligauge to monitor voltage, frequency and operating hours
- Gasoline: 9000 starting watts and 7250 running watts
- Propane: 9000 starting watts and 6525 running watts
- Natural gas: 9000 starting watts and 5875 running watts
- Engine oil is included
- 3-year limited warranty and lifetime technical support
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Top Comments
9k starting watts and ~5k running watts on NatGas
This is VERY tempting.
I haven't run this for several days as jchu14 did, only 1 day, but so far and very impressed. If you have a pair of larger A/C units, would probably have to manage which one is running (living space during the day, then turn off that breaker at night and switch on bedroom A/C).
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I believe the equation is something like : (124A x .7) x (230V x .7) = 86.8 x 161 = 14kw used by your AC at startup. Easystart usually brings that down by 50-70% I think, so you might need 7kW max to start it up...
Easystart costs $400 & has 4 wires that you need to integrate into your outdoor condenser setup. Will require you to look at the schematic diagram & figure out how to get the wires terminated properly.
I bought an EasyStart back then & never installed it, so I had everything working on the generator but my AC. First day was cool, second day warmer, third day was going to be 90+. I hustled to install the EasyStart & got AC working on the generator, then power was restored 1 hour later. But at least it forced me to finally get it installed & prove that it works with my generator.
Unless you live in a super densely populated area where you will always be high up on the 'fix first' priority list, there will come a time where you will need/use it.
Just keep in mind while these are Inverter generators and advertised as quieter, they are still LOUD. Mine performs great but she screams.
Years ago we had a hurricane up here in New England and we were the only home with a generator on our 18 house cul de sac. Thus the only ones with power, hot shower, etc. We let our neighbors use our place for a bit for showers and such - we were without power for a week. Of course after that several of them got generators, after which we didn't lose power again. It was a running joke as to who was going to bite the bullet and buy a generator to keep the power on for everyone.
Is there any power loss when operating on alternative fuels?
No, we have never had a single unit show a loss of power on alternate fuel. Though lower gallon-to-gallon in BTU content, sometimes they perform even better than running on gasoline (see also fuel consumption). The engine regulator we install has an external fuel mixture adjuster that can be turned with your fingers and can be fine-tuned to your elevation and to the fuel supply connected. That's why we include the Engine Hour/Tachometer Meter with every generator. You can watch the engine rpm output while turning the mixture adjuster for peak performance and high efficiency. This allows full control over the fuel mixture no matter what elevation. Unlike operating on gasoline where the carburetor is a fixed jet and it can not be adjusted only replaced. This is a big advantage that allows the engine to be reset at anytime. Engines would not use the same fuel mixture in different areas especially as diverse as say Florida would be to Colorado. Unlike gasoline, setting the mixture lean on alternative fuel is cool running, clean burning and efficient.
Well it's a larger gen, non-inverter. Has some other features that might be useful like remote start. Depends on what you need. Especially with traditional gens, larger = more fuel consumption especially at idle.
The Westinghouse also has higher THD (12%), although I'm not convinced that really matters for this type of application.
Here's my anecdote - I was able to run a whole home on a 7500W peak traditional gen for weeks at a time. I didn't run anything 240V except for a well pump. That includes electric range, oven, dryer and AC. If you look at places that experience relatively frequent power outages (e.g. FL), they typically don't run one huge gen that can also run AC but usually have window units that require much less power. Really you need to think about what you want to accomplish - do you literally want to live like normal? Or, are you looking to just get by for a few days?
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Is there any power loss when operating on alternative fuels?
No, we have never had a single unit show a loss of power on alternate fuel. Though lower gallon-to-gallon in BTU content, sometimes they perform even better than running on gasoline (see also fuel consumption). The engine regulator we install has an external fuel mixture adjuster that can be turned with your fingers and can be fine-tuned to your elevation and to the fuel supply connected. That's why we include the Engine Hour/Tachometer Meter with every generator. You can watch the engine rpm output while turning the mixture adjuster for peak performance and high efficiency. This allows full control over the fuel mixture no matter what elevation. Unlike operating on gasoline where the carburetor is a fixed jet and it can not be adjusted only replaced. This is a big advantage that allows the engine to be reset at anytime. Engines would not use the same fuel mixture in different areas especially as diverse as say Florida would be to Colorado. Unlike gasoline, setting the mixture lean on alternative fuel is cool running, clean burning and efficient.
Has nothing to do with the carb and everything to do with the energy density of the fuel. Is it possible to bolt on some contraption to increase the performance of propane and NG? Probably, but we're speaking of units that can natively handle the other fuels, not require a bunch of modifications.
For example the previously linked Westinghouse:
Gas: 14500/11500kw
Propane: 13500/10500 (-9 to 10% vs. gas)
NG: 12000/9500 (-15 to 20% vs gas)
Long story short - there are always compromises. One might have everything you want, but only a 1 year warranty. Another might be short on some features, but has 3 year warranty (like this Champion does). Some are louder, some are lighter or heavier, some have shorter or longer runtimes on a tank of gas, etc.
You'll need to put in the time & homework for your specific need to figure out which one is best for you. You'll also have to do homework about your electrical feed to your house, your breaker panel, etc, to figure out how much you'll have to spend to get a 50A breaker installed with an interlock kit + a 50A outlet installed on the outside of your house to feed the generator (assuming you want to power your whole home with it).
There's also the option of a Generac unit, but that's about $5k for the unit & another $5k for the install. Definitely cheaper to go the portable route, but yeah it requires manual intervention & includes no automatic transfer, etc.
1. Cleaner power (standard generators run a higher risk of damaging electronics)
2. More fuel efficient
3. Quieter (a little at least, particularly with low electrical loads)
The one you posted the primary benefit would be higher wattage, so it comes down to your priorities. I bought this Champion as the risk to electronics seems worth the extra cost to me, but I don't necessarily need the higher wattage.
The generator also comes with a male flare / male npt fitting.
Long story short - there are always compromises. One might have everything you want, but only a 1 year warranty. Another might be short on some features, but has 3 year warranty (like this Champion does). Some are louder, some are lighter or heavier, some have shorter or longer runtimes on a tank of gas, etc.
You'll need to put in the time & homework for your specific need to figure which one is best for you. You'll also have to do homework about your electrical feed to your house, your breaker panel, etc, to figure out how much you'll have to spend to get a 50A breaker installed with an interlock kit + a 50A outlet installed on the outside of your house to feed the generator (assuming you want to power your whole home with it).
There's also the option of a Generac unit, but that's about $5k for the unit & another $5k for the install. Definitely cheaper to go the portable route, but yeah it requires manual intervention & includes no automatic transfer, etc.
You can get pretty close to an automatic "Generac-style" system with a portable gen but that requires a lot of planning and knowledge. If you check out Youtube there are tons of videos of people making small sheds for portable gens to be "semi permanent" and even those that create controls to interwire remote start functions so they can start the gen from inside the house. While it's undoubtedly cheaper than a true standby gen, it does get costly.
And NG sounds nice to everyone - heck it sounds nice to me as someone that has NG, but the deration is a LOT. 15-20% deration of max and running kw is a lot to eat, which means you need to buy a larger gen. Plus you might have to swap out a meter for higher flow in addition to plumbing. Ultimately people need to set some sort of expectation for what they want and need.
In my defense, I made it look easy. I refilled before going to bed and woke up 6hrs later and refilled again so she didn't notice.
Also, we were lucky and didn't run out of gas. May have had an extra 5 gallon unused which should have lasted another day and a half or so.
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I believe the equation is something like : (124A x .7) x (230V x .7) = 86.8 x 161 = 14kw used by your AC at startup. Easystart usually brings that down by 50-70% I think, so you might need 7kW max to start it up...
Easystart costs $400 & has 4 wires that you need to integrate into your outdoor condenser setup. Will require you to look at the schematic diagram & figure out how to get the wires terminated properly.
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