Standby Generator Opinions

[JMJ]

B&G 7kw/Guardian 7kw both with auto transfer and LP as fuel.

[JMJ]

Sorry, that is B&S/Guardian

[Smarty]

JMJ,

I installed and use the Guardian 7KW with auto transfer. It works extremely well. No idea about the B&G.

Smarty

[ransley]

alt.energy.homepower is a group that lives off grid.

[Smarty]

JMJ,

Now you ***ARE*** confusing me.....

The Guardian is made by Generac and is the unit I am familiar with and recommend. It uses an engine made by Generac.

The Briggs and Stratton is a competing 7 KW unit. It delivers similar performance to the Generac based on its' specifications, but is an entirely different design.

I originally thought you were asking for a comparison of the 2 competing units, but it now appears you believe them to be one and the same unit.

Smarty

[sylvan butler]

That could be, however Briggs owns Generac generators.

sdb

[Smarty]

I don't think this is true. I would very much appreciate any link or evidence to show that Briggs owns Generac. I bought and installed my Generac last October after my local area experienced a freak October ice storm which left several hundred thousand people without power for up to almost 3 weeks in some cases. As a result of this prolonged outage, the local Home Depot stores stocked and sold literally several thousand Generac generators to me and a lot of other local people. I called Generac in early November of 2006 and asked them how I could buy stock in their company, since I was not only extremely impressed with the quality of their product but also was so very impressed with how they were able to put several thousand generators into my area so quickly. I was told that the company is privately owned, run by family members, and that stock was not for sale. I also checked on their website which is quite elaborate, and there is no mention whatsoever of any connection with Briggs. Furthermore, they proudly state that they build their own engines, and there is no reference to Briggs in any way in their owners manual, installation manual, parts manual, or the nearly 500 page service manual.

If you look at the design and layout of the competing Briggs 7KW generator it is entirely different in layout with no common parts I can find to the Generac.

I think there is a misconception that Briggs has something to do with Generac. A number of people I have spoken to at Home Depot and elsewhere claim (incorrectly) that the Generac engines are made in Japan by Honda.

Smarty

[hallerb]

**Effective May 15, 2001, (a) Generac Portable Products, Inc. was merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of Briggs & Stratton Corporation ("Briggs") (Commission File No. 001-01370) in a statutory merger in which all of the outstanding shares of Generac Portable Products, Inc. Common Stock, $.01 par value, were converted into the right to receive cash, and Generac Portable Products, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Briggs, and (b) all of the 11-1/4% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2006 issued by Generac Portable Products, LLC and GPPW, Inc., and guaranteed by Generac Portable Products, Inc., were purchased pursuant to the issuers' tender offer therefor and retired.

[hobbes]

Hmm confusing isin't it ...

Ok there are two Companies:

Generac Power Systems Inc. (Privately owned)

Generac Portable Products (an affiliate of Briggs and Stratton Power Products)

They both sell portable generators .... "Generacs"

Best, Mike.

[Vic Dura]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:07:52 -0000, " [e-mail]" wrote Re Re: Standby Generator Opinions:

Here's the link to it:

[Smarty]

Thanks for the clarification Mike, and also to hallerb for posting this. I does leave the original poster's question very confusing however.....and I am not sure whether the question was to compare the Guardian to the B&S, both of whom offer very different 7 KW generators, or if he/she intended to ask for an opinion of some generator made by Generac/B&S in their portable products company which may very well be a single product using a Briggs engine. It is entirely possible that Generac Portable Products Corp does make a transportable 7 KW generator which is entirely different from the permanently installed units which I was referring to, and which uses a B&S engine.

I found the website for the other "Generac" and they do show a 7.5 KW portable at:

I found it especially interesting that the generator engine is described as a "Generac 15 HP OHVI" whereas if you take a look at one of their pressure washers at:

you will see the engine listed as a "Briggs & Stratton".

Apparently they do use B&S engines in some of their products, but not in the

7.5 KW portable generator. Their 5KW portable generator does indeed use a B&S engine.

Smarty