Best Generator for Camping
Read our recommendations for quiet, light, reliable generators less than 5000 watts that can be used while off the grid, including generators that are RV (recreational vehicle) ready......
Best Generator for Home
Read our recommendations for home generators under 5000 watts. These generators can be used for emergency power when the power supply goes down temporarily but you need to keep core appliances running......
Best Solar Generator
Read our recommendations for 1000 to 2000 watts solar generators. These generators can be used indoors or outdoors. They can be powered by solar panels, or from your car or wall outlet......
Our Mission - To Make Buying a Generator Easy
Where do you start?
Buying a generator can be tricky. There are so many options and a ton of technical speak. Our mission with this website is to demystify the experience of buying a portable generator. With this aim in mind, we’ve created a starter article. In this article we break down all the terminology and summarize the key things you need to know to before buying a generator that is right for you. We recommended you take a look through this article if you are buying your first generator: Generators 101 – Which Generator is for me?
What do I need to consider
The starter article, linked above, will take you through all the things you need to think about when buying a generator. But, if you’re in a rush or just want the summary view, here it is:
- Power – This is the most important thing. Get a generator with the right amount of starter power and the right amount of running power. Appliances often use more energy to start. Generators allow for this by having a higher “starter” power than can be used temporarily by an appliance when it is starting up. There are plenty of online calculators to help – you should definitely use one of these to estimate your power needs before you start shopping.
- Quality of Power Supply – Inverter generators tend to offer a more consistent and higher quality power supply which may be needed for more sensitive electronic devices. Think about what devices you want to power before you buy. On our website most of our recommendations are inverter generators because we are recommending smaller generators which we expect you will use to power several sensitive devices.
- Noise – This can be really important, especially if you are camping close to others. A normal conversation is about 60 decibels (DB). We’ll give you an indication of the noise level of each generator we recommend.
- Reliability – You want a unit that you can easily start and won’t let you down.
- Weight – Do you want to be able to easily pick up your unit and carry it or are you ok with moving it around on wheels?
- Fuel Source – Generators can run on lots of different energy sources. Make sure you pick an energy source that will be available when you are off grid.
Our Focus - Small, portable generators
There are such a wider variety of generators on the market, and such a wide variety of uses for them. So, we decided to narrow our focus to small portable generators, mostly inverter generators. The kind of generators that can keep you comfortably powered up on the move or in an emergency. Not the kind of generators that would run a large household for weeks at full capacity.
This website will focus on smaller (less than 5000 watt) generators. Generators producing power above this level are no longer portable. In fact, portable generators over about 4000 watts are pushing the definition of “portable” but we’ll list the weight of all the generators recommended so you can decide what you can handle.
This website also focuses on inverter generators because these generators produce “cleaner” energy. Several of the common electronic devices we all use everyday (such as phones and laptops) can be energy powering them.
This website will provide recommendations for camping trips (including RV ready generators), recommendations for emergency power at home, and recommendations for solar generators.
Camping Generator?
Getting away from it all but still want a few creature comforts?
Ah, fresh air and open space. Exploring new places. Love to get away from it all but still want to have a few creature comforts? Perhaps you want to keep a small fridge going, run some lights, brew some coffee, type out a few emails on your laptop? Whatever you need to power up, take a look at our generator recommendations to find the right generator for you.
Home Emergency Generator?
Keep appliances running when the grid power goes off
Maybe you’ve found yourself stuck in a power outage more often than you would like, with food going bad in the fridge, no lights, and nothing to entertain yourself (or your kids) with. Or, maybe you want to make sure this doesn’t happen, especially when the grid is becoming less reliable and natural emergency events are happening more regularly. Whatever the case, a back up emergency generator for your home can be a lifesaver for many.
Want a Solar Generator?
Power up using the sun
Solar generators are a little different than other generators. Instead of generating power on demand, solar generators capture energy from the sun (or a car charger or wall power outlet) and store it in a battery for later use. That is why solar generators are also often called “portable power stations”.
Solar generators are great when you have lower energy needs and access to the sun (or other energy sources to charge the battery). Also, because they don’t emit any harmful toxins, they can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Latest Articles
Generators for Beginners
Everything you want to know to understand the options available, what you should consider when choosing a generator, and information to assist you in narrowing down your options .....
How Much Power Does My Generator Need?
Let us assist you in determining what your power needs are so you can confidently select the right portable generator for you.....
Which Type of Generator Do I Need?
There are so many different types of generators and ways of categorizing them that it can get confusing. This article will give you a run down of all the generator types so you can select the right one for you .....