DuroMax XP12000EH 12,000-Watt Dual Fuel Portable Generator – Gas & Propane, Electric Start, Whole Home Backup Power, Transfer Switch Ready, RV & Emergency Ready

Based on our current use we would recommended this generator to everyone. It is very solid generator and meets our needs. We purchased this generator because we live in Florida and do to Hurricanes. For a low cost high powered generator that runs on propane or gas, I think you would be hard pressed to find another that has all the options, key start, and comes with the battery and all the accessories included. A standalone Generac 15KW would have been 9 thousand dollars with the auto transfer switch. You will save thousands and get the same results with this generator.This is more than enough to run my hole home, and I have 3 freezers, 1 fridge, and many other devices. Granted, my lights in my house are ALL LED now, which helps! But I was able to run three window unit also with four box fans with celling paddle fans, water heater, house water pump all at the same time.Most of the time I don’t rate or comment. BUT seeing some of these peoples who don’t have a clue what they doing writing comments here.If you never worked with four-stroke engines. Hire someone else don't blame the generators, do to ignorance of how to ADJUST IT.Then yes, I saw you needed to hook up the negative ground wire, (all batteries on engines never comes hook up) to the battery so I did that.(Now this quote from some other people writings) #1 “the unit will start rite up but surges badly on LP. Turning off the auto throttle switch corrects this issue. There is nothing in the manual regarding this switch. Once this was done the engine runs smooth.”#2 Engine revs up then dies down. Pretty annoying.(YOUR FIX) If you adjust the idle on the carburetor up, you can fix this and the auto throttle will work for LP running. Knowing what to do is key here. And No, you will not find this in the instructions. Again, Hire someone else if you do not know what I am talking about, don't blame the generator.It is shipped without oil, so it needs 1qt and a half of 5-w30. This is in your instructions, so, why be surprise you don’t have any oil.I do not recommend the 20gal that’s a full-sized grill propane cylinder. You can only use a little under half a tank before you will have problems with not enough Pressure to run generator. Get a sixty or eighty gallon, will work better and longer. I myself have it on a 250gal tank.Hope I have cleared up these “People miss understandings of what not to do.Dr.DRE1965

I only write reviews when I really like something or really hate it. I really like this generator, the DuroMax 12kW. I considered buying a permanent standby generator but I couldn't justify the $20,000 expense (that's what I was quoted by several suppliers here in Naples FL). That said, the Florida heat is insufferable and while a smaller generator could power a room A/C, we really wanted our central air, a new 5 ton 14SEER Carrier unit. The problem is that it demands 144 amps/32kW at start up and no portable can handle that load. After doing some research, I learned about a KICK START (also called a Hard Start) device; essentially a secondary capacitor and regulator that soft starts the AC. $250 later and my big central AC dropped to 38A/8360 measured watts! Exciting, but would it work? I had an electrician wire the inlets (I have two 200 amp service boxes, one for the high amperage stuff including the central AC, stove, pool pump etc. and the other for the rest of the house). I put the 50 amp inlet to the high current box and the 30 amp to the other. The electrician installed the Interlock kits on each service box, along with dedicated breakers for the generator. This is IMPORTANT, even critical, to prevent back flow of the generator current to the grid, which could be lethal to a line worker. It forces you to either use the power from the grid OR the power from the generator, but not both at once. You simply slide the metal plate which allows you to switch on the generator; then back when power is restored. See pictures. The Duromax arrived this morning. It looks great and was not as large as I feared, although it is heavy. I was able to flip it upside down to install the wheels and feet by myself (I'm 60, but in reasonably good shape). On the advice of other reviewers, I didn't bother with the original tires but went to ACE hardware and bought a pair of robust inflatable ones. They may go flat, but I can put air in! The ones that come with it are some sort of hard foam. Time for Duromax to improve the wheels. I also noticed that there are no ORANGE shipping braces as referenced in the manual. Just not there and it appears they aren't needed. There is also no longer a purge value for the propane regulator. Duromax needs to update the manual in this regard, although importantly they did update the regulator. Everything you need to connect to propane is in the box. The unit was a little troublesome to start. As others have noted, I had to move the choke to the mid position to start, then back off quickly when it fired up. Follow the start-up instructions to the letter, including starting with the breaker on the unit set to OFF and the loads off at the service box(es). I connected up and started initially with only the central AC on. The unit powered up and I did a series of fist pumps! Then I turned on the other box fed by the 30 amp circuit and the rest of the house powered up. I didn't press my luck trying to run other heavy loads, like the pool pump or the electric stove, but in an actual power outage I would plan to cycle those loads - turn the AC off to run the pool for a while or heat the hot water for a shower. The main thing was the Central AC. The Duromax is not quiet, but neither are the whole permanent whole home generators. I had the electrician mount the inlets on the side of my home nearest the driveway so I can just roll this out and keep it well removed from the house. With the garage doors shut, it's fine inside (and cool!) You can hear the big Duromax slightly change pitch when the AC comes on but it doesn't seem to be struggling at all. I am IMPRESSED. While I don't want a hurricane knocking out power, I feel like we are now prepared should it happen (and it will down here, just a matter of when). Although I have ordered some 40lb propane tanks (I never intend to put gas in this machine), I tested it for an hour running the whole house using a 20lb tank. I bought a Flameking Bluetooth scale on Amazon and with a full tank starting at 80% after an hour I re-measured. It hardly moved, was still showing 80%! (Yes, the scale works because I've measured other tanks and it stores those results). The base of the 20lb tank was getting a little frosty; I've read that tanks freezing can be a problem but the solution is a bucket of water a few inches up the tank. Overall I highly recommended the Duromax 12kw!