Champion 12,000 Running Watts, 15,000 Starting Watts Large Portable Inverter Generator for Home Backup

August 2, 2023 - I started looking for a large portable generator for my home use about a year ago. More specifically I wanted a large generator that I could use as backup when the utility power is out. Over a number of years I had slowly built this home as a retirement home and no sooner got moved into it than storms came through the area and I had no generator large enough to supply adequate power for my needs. Thankfully my house sustained no damage but utility feeder lines to the area where knocked out. I was without power for 5 days and without water for 3 days. The water pumping station was without power and that is why we also were without water.

 

I only had a small Honda eu2000i generator, but with it I was at least able to swap it back and forth between my freezer and refrigerator to salvage my food items. The closest service station with power to get gasoline was almost 30 miles away. It was a very eerie feeling driving past all the retail areas where no one was open because they had no power. To say I learned a big lesson is an understatement.

 

I had bottled water for drinking and was going down the road to a neighbor's house to fill up containers with water for the commode and other things.

 

At the time I was still finishing up the house and didn't have the money to purchase a larger generator. But, over the years a large backup generator was constantly on my mind, especially when we were experiencing bad weather.

 

Finally I had enough money to build a small storage building for storing my large generator that wwas close to the breaker box on my house. I wanted to be able to tie a large portable generator into the main house with an automatic transfer switch to provide me with power in my home without having to have electrical cords strung out everywhere from the generator, as I had done in the past. My idea with the storage building was that I would keep the portable generator stored out of the weather when not in use, and then just role it out onto the small porch where it could have plenty of ventilation when I needed to run it. When the storage building was built the electrical wiring was run underground over to the breaker box for later hookup of the transfer switch.

 

I had looked at a number of the "whole house generators" but was turned off by two things; one most were propane and, they were not moveable. Many years prior a neighbor had been badly burned by use of a propane heater and I have just been turned off with anything propane since them. I know that is just a psychological thing with me and may not be a problem for others. The other negative for me was that I could not move the whole house generator, say to use at one of the out buildings (I live in a rural area) or to even allow a neighbor to use it if need be.

 

About a year after the storage building was completed, I finally had enough money to purchase the generator. I spent several hours researching these units. I wanted enough wattage to run as much as I could in my house while on the generator power. There is no natural gas in the area so my house is total electric. I could live without some things, but I really did want hot water, a little heat (even if just from small heaters), some lights, the TV and to be able to make coffee and cook some or, at least use the microwave.

 

I finally came across this Champion 12000 running watts, 15000 starting watts portable generator which had an electric start and was moveable on wheels. Being a 5'2", 112 lb. female these two things were important to me. Champion is a name brand and this unit had enough wattage to allow me to have power to the things that were key for me during a utility power outage.

Well wouldn't you know it, once I had located this generator, read the reviews, studied the features and settled on it being the one for me, it was "Out of Stock" everywhere. Not even Champion had it available on their website. So, I decided to just tuck my money away and wait for this generator to be available again. I would check back every week or so just to find that it still was not in stock. After several months still no Champion 100111 12000 / 15000 watt generator for sale anywhere. I finally decided to begin researching again and try to find something else.

 

After much more research I had settled on my second choice of the WEN 5613K 11000 / 13000 watt portable standby generator. It also had a wheel kit and electric start, two must haves for me but was a little less wattage output at 11,000 running watts and 13,000 starting watts. I had previously purchased a small WEN electric wood splitter and was happy with it so even though I was not happy with giving up a 1,000 running watts, the plus was that it was available for purchase.

 

I decided to think about it for a few days. After about a week I had just made up my mind to just go with the WEN. When I sat down at the computer to purchase I thought I would look just one more time for the Champion 12000 / 15000 watt generator. An low and behold, it was available most everywhere. I purchased immediately. Not to say that there is anything wrong with the WEN, but I wanted my extra 1,000 watts.

 

The only downside has been that they delivered it on an 18 wheeler. I live on a dead end dirt road with a couple of curves that no 18 wheeler can maneuver and if they did they couldn't turn around when they got here. Not having a truck, or the strength to handle the unit by myself if I met them at the paved road, I had to do some manipulating to get the unit to my house.

 

But, once it was finally here, a friend helped me put the wheels and handle on, we hooked up the battery, put oil and gas in it and it started right up. Surprises were that it was bigger than it appeared to be in the picture and it was quieter than I had expected it to be. The generator still fit in the shed and on the porch so my plan for that has still worked. Before I had a chance to get the tranfer switch and an electrician to tie it into the house I had one occassion to use it by just running cords from it into the house. It was really nice to have for that time of power outage. Since my freezer is in an out building I still use my little Honda eu2000 to power it when need be.

 

Since this unit has the electric start feature, I later ordered a 12v battery trickle charger to keep the battery from draining down when not in use. Most of these units do not come with a pull cord backup so if your battery is not charged then your nice large portable generator won't start and is going to be of no use to you when you need it the most..

 

I was pleased that it rolls easily and even I can move it in and out of the storage building by myself. Below I have listed all the individual features so you can decide if it will be a fit for you. Lowe's carries this unit but they did not have it in the store. They can order it for you and have it shipped to you or to the store for pickup. Or, it is....

 

 

Available Online at:   Amazon.com