Builders' Show: After stormy weather, generators in demand

Standby generators have certainly drawn the attention of Baby Boomers, considering that 80 percent of sales go to homeowners age 50 or older. At the very least, standby generators—which start up automatically when needed—can protect not only your home but also your life.

We saw standby and portable generators at the International Builders' Show, from Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group (co-branded with GE), Generac and Kohler. In the months ahead, we'll be choosing which generators to test this year from among available models.

Briggs & Stratton, as shown in the video, announced 17-kilowatt (kW) and 20 kW models that use the same galvanized-steel housing. Airflow directed out the front of the model, claims the company, lets either unit be situated closer to a house with combustible siding than the five feet that certain other models (including Kohler's) require. Monitoring of protected circuits comes from the Symphony II power-management system, which includes load control modules. Common in standby generators, these prioritize high-amperage appliances to keep all from cycling on at the same time and overloading the generator.

Generac, which enjoys the lion's share of the standby-generator market, showed a new transfer switch—the panel of switches that allows the powering of protected circuits and also prevents household current, when it resumes, from frying those circuits. The switch, along with an inlet box to which a portable generator can connect, will be bundled with certain portable models.

Besides its biggest-selling 20 kW Guardian Series standby generator, the company showed a 3,250-watt portable model that runs off 20-pound propane tanks of the type you'd use in your gas grill. (It can also accept 30-lb. tanks.) The LP3250 (see photo), which shipped this past summer and sells for a little more than $600, can run for about eight hours at half-load from a single 20-lb. tank. Best suited for outdoor events including tailgate parties, it can power devices in the home as well—with no worries over gasoline gumming up the carburetor.

Kohler showed a revamp of its 14kW 14RESA and 20kW 20RESA standby generators. Both models boast better sound muffling plus a new LCD readout the company claims is easier to read in sunlight.

There's also a redesigned controller that can communicate with two other new components. A programmable interface model lets you (through software on your computer) issue on/off commands to devices, such as a powered shutter, and also remotely check on the status of, say, a sump pump. The other is a load control module that prioritizes high-amperage appliances.

What none of these companies yet have is a mobile app that lets you check on your standby generator's status and even turn on or off protected devices. The best you can get, so far, is a text or e-mail that can alert a dealer with whom you've contracted for service.

—Ed Perratore