If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight - George Gobel
When Benjamin Franklin finally proved the existence of electricity in seventeen fifty-two, he almost certainly had no idea that his discovery would change the world.
As a species, we are entirely reliant, and dependent, on electricity for almost all of our daily needs.
It lies at the heart of our leisure time, fuels our working lives, and helps to shape every facet of our existence from food production to transport and travel.
Humanity has thrived due to the flight of a balloon and a metal key during a lightning storm, and we have never been more indebted to anyone than we are to the founding father whose innate curiosity created the future.

The problem with being dependent on something is that when it’s taken away, things tend to fall apart.
When power companies succumb to blackouts and grid outages and we’re confronted with a loss of power and our homes and everything in them go dark, we’re left struggling to find a solution to a surprisingly common problem.
That’s why every home should have a back-up generator so that life doesn’t have to come to a grinding halt when your power supply does.
And that’s why we found five of the best generators made by one of the best manufacturers of the portable generator, Westinghouse, so that when the worst does happen, you'll be ready and prepared to let a generator kick and make all the power that you’ll need until the grid comes back online.
It’s time to power up…
OUR TOP PICK
Versatility and power creation are two of the most important features that any generator can possess and the WGen9500DF has both in abundance.
A dual fuel generator that’s as comfortable being fuelled by propane as it is gasoline, it’s a heavy-duty machine that’ll double up as both a home-based, and job site ready generator.
Capable of producing twelve thousand five hundred watts at peak operation and nine thousand five hundred running watts when powered by gasoline and eleven thousand five hundred at peak and eight thousand five hundred while running when fueled by propane, the 9500DF will cover any and all of your power requirements regardless of which one, gas or propane, you use to sustain it.
Powered by a heavy-duty, four-stroke four hundred and twenty-seven cubic centimeter Westinghouse engine that’ll fire into life with the remote from its key fob or at the push of a button, this monster-sized generator is a one size fits all electricity-generating giant that’ll always be ready to go whenever you need it.
It’ll make nearly twelve hours worth of power on a single tank of gasoline and generate the same from a twenty-pound propane cylinder, meaning you can ride out any blackout in comfort or create enough electricity to run your work site for a day, from the moment the 9500F fires up until it’s tank runs dry.
Dependable, reliable, and strong, this generator will help you to weather any power-based crisis.
Pros
- If you need a lot of power and you need it quickly, the 9500DF is the only way to go. Capable of fulfilling all of your electrical demands, it’s a simple to use and easy to set-up generator that comes with a user-friendly manual that’ll guide you through every step of its operating process.
- Fully CARB (California Air Resources Board) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) compliant, it’s kinder to the planet than most generators and won’t kick a hole in the ozone layer every time you fire it up.
- Like all Westinghouse products, the 9500DF comes with a limited three warranty and the back-up of a nationwide resources team who will always be on hand to help you get to the bottom of, and fix, any problems that you might have.
- It's a dual-fuel generator, so it’s just as comfortable running on propane as it is on gasoline. Which means that it doesn’t matter which of them you have on hand, just plug them in and the 9500DF will do the rest.
Cons
- It’s not what most of us would call cheap, and you’ll probably be able to buy a semi-decent used car for the same price as the 9500DF. That said, the latter will almost certainly be more useful than the former, and in a crisis, a second-hand Honda won’t help you to keep the lights on.
- And it’s not light either. At two hundred and twenty pounds, it’s not the most portable of generators unless, of course, you’re either the World’s Strongest Man or Lou Ferrigno. Take our advice, when it’s time to move the 9500DF into place, take a buddy with you, and work in pairs. If you don’t, don’t be surprised when your back gives out, your knees crumble or you’re struck down by a wholly expected (because you’ve been warned about trying to move it) hernia.
EDITORS CHOICE
We don’t all need Goliath to step up to the plate when the grid goes down, sometimes we just need David to cover, and fill in, for the power company for a while.
And Westinghouse’s David is their super-quiet Inverter Generator that’ll plug any household gap until whatever power emergency you’ve found yourself caught up in, finally comes to an end.
Weighing in at just forty-two pounds, or the equivalent of an upset and belligerent pre-schooler, the WH2200 (lets’ abbreviate its full name and make things simpler for everyone) will make up to thirteen hours worth of electricity on a single one and a half gallon tank of gasoline.
It’s super-quiet run technology means that even when it’s cranking out two thousand two hundred watts at peak operation, at just fifty-two decibels it’s still quieter than an average conversation and won’t overpower the volume of any necessary modern household appliances (like television or an Xbox) that you’ll want to power with the stable spike free electricity it produces.
It may be small, but the WH2200 will be ready to roll when it matters and is, as Westinghouse so rightly says an “ideal home back-up generator”.
When the lines go down and the power fails, for whatever reason, the WH2200 be waiting to help you to get the lights back on and carry on with your life.
Pros
- Fully EPA and USFS (United States Forest Service) compliant the WH2200 is the home generator that you can also load into your RV and take on camping trips, so when you do venture into the wilderness you’ll never need to be parted from your games console again.
- Portable, lightweight (well, as far as generators are concerned anyway as forty-two pounds isn’t exactly the same as carrying a couple of bags of sugar and a sack of potatoes), and compact the WH2200 can cover all of your house-bound generating needs with a continuous supply of stable, clean and spike free electricity.
- It’s covered by Westinghouse’s three-year warranty and nationwide resources and emergency team, both of which will guide you safely through any generator based disasters that you might find yourself confronted by.
Cons
- Some less than satisfied customers have reported that the WH2200 can fall victim to durability issues, and seems to be plagued by start-up problems. It seems, having taken note of their issues, that there’s no middle ground with the WH2200. You’ll either get a good generator or a bad one and it’s all down to the luck of the draw which of the two you end up with.
BEST VALUE
When you don’t want to go all out and you don’t want to go too small, and need a generator that’s going to cater for all of your center field electrical needs and maybe fill in here and there on whatever job site you need a power-based hand on, there’s no better unit to sign on the dotted line with than the WGen6000.
A middle-weight power making champion, as soon as the bell rings, the WGen6000 will be ready to get stuck in and let the sparks fly.
It’s four hundred and twenty cubic centimeter engine will generate seven thousand five hundred peak watts and six thousand running watts and will serve up thirteen hours worth of current on a solitary tank of gasoline.
Featuring single switch start-up and full digital display so you’ll always know exactly how much juice it has left, the WGen6000 is a plug and play generator that comes with a simple to follow users manual and all of the tools that you’ll need to set it up, maintain it and ensure that it remains in first-class condition.
Built to last, the WGen6000 has a low oil shutdown system that means, should you for any reason leave it running and forget about it, it’ll turn itself off when it’s oil level gets too low.
It doesn’t just protect you from the effects of blackouts and grid failure, it’s also more than capable of protecting itself from accidental damage.
Pros
- Given the amount of power that the WGen6000 will pump out, it’s surprisingly and reassuringly affordable and should fit comfortably in the budget of most modern households.
- Thirteen hours of power on a single tank of gas? Those are the kinds of numbers that we like, and that everyone can depend on in a power-related crisis.
- It’s time to talk about that three-year warranty again. That’s right folks, the WGen6000 comes with Westinghouse’s warranty, and their just a phone call away, on-hand team of specialist operatives will help you navigate the choppy waters of generator problem solving should you find yourself caught in them.
Cons
- It’s an old fashioned start by hand generator that doesn’t feature any sort of remote activation or state of the art activation technology. That said, all you have to do to fire it up, is flick a switch. How hard can that be?
- And like most portable generators capable of producing the sort of power that the WGen6000 is, it’s heavy. At one hundred and seventy-five pounds, it isn’t easy to move or maneuver, so it’ll probably be wise to get a couple of friends to help you shift it into place when it’s needed.
RUNNER UP
It’s time to step back into the world of Westinghouse’s versatile portable inverter generators that are primarily designed to be a household back-up with their remarkably efficient, game-changing small power plant, the iGen2200.
This is Westinghouse’s next-generation inverter generator and one of their, and deservedly so, best selling models.
Even when it’s pumping out two thousand two hundred watts of power at peak efficiency (it usually runs at around one thousand eight hundred), it’ll only make fifty-two decibels of noise while producing up to twelve hours worth of electricity on a single tank of gasoline.
Weighing in at just forty-six pounds, this small, but incredibly dependable generator will keep your entire household running when the rest of your neighborhood goes dark.
Size isn’t everything and what the iGen2200 lacks in build, it more than makes up for with the amount of juice it generates.
Featuring two standard household outputs and two USB ports that you can use to charge your phone and power your smart technology, this inverter generator will produce a steady stream of spike resistant, safe and stable electricity, so you’ll never have to worry about it harming or damaging any of your household appliances.
It’s been made to keep you and your home safe during, and throughout, any electrical catastrophe.
Pros
- Efficient and reliable, the iGen2200 is the height of home-based inverter generator technology. The future has arrived to make your home even safer than it was before.
- Devastatingly easy to set up and use, the iGen2200 is also incredibly quiet and the noise that it does make will quickly fade into the background hum of the everyday ephemera of normal life.
- It’s protected by Westinghouse’s’ three-year limited warranty and always available nationwide team of specialists who are just a phone call away. If you do run into trouble with the iGen, Westinghouse is always there to help.
Cons
- There have been rare cases of reliability issues and the iGen failing, but as they’re few and far between, they’re not really worth worrying about. But forewarned is forearmed, and it’s always better to know that problems exist even if they are a rarity.
RUNNER UP
Lastly, but by no means least, is Westinghouse’s Deputy Big Dog portable generator that’s been engineered and designed to deal with all of your household power woes and on-site electrical emergencies with a flick of a switch.
Or, as the WGen7500 has embraced the world of technology, a touch of a button on its key fob that features remote activation.
Able to generate up to eleven hours of electricity on a single tank of fuel, the WGen7500 produces 9500 watts of power at peak operation and runs with steady seven thousand five hundred watts.
Another of Westinghouse’s Plug and Play generators, the WGen7500 is made to be easy to maintain and comes with a tool kit to help you set it up and keep it running, and is even simpler to use and operate.
Fuel the WGen7500 up, press start, and plug whatever you want to power into it and you’ll be ready to go.
The WGen7500 is one of Westinghouse's big guns and it’s been built to cope with crises, deal with disasters, and provide all of the on-site job back-up generation that you’ll ever need.
It may not be the prettiest generator you’ll ever lay your eyes on, but who needs beauty when the 7500 makes the kind of power that’ll keep your world turning no matter what happens.
Pros
- It’s an incredibly efficient power-producing machine that’ll keep you in electricity for eleven hours from start-up to shut down.
- The WGen7500 is fully EPA and CARB compliant, so it’s safe and legal to use in California and won’t damage the planet when you need it to help you switch the lights back on.
- You know what’s coming next, don’t you? That’s right, the WGen7500 is backed by Westinghouse’s limited three-year warranty and their team of expert advisors who are always, should you need their help with your generator, just a phone call away.
- Considering that it's a power making monster and a giant when it comes to electrical generation, it’s actually incredibly well-priced and affordable. Which, in a world where every company is looking to make every single extra cent that they can, is more than a little inspiring and comforting.
Cons
- As it runs at around seventy-two decibels, it isn’t exactly quiet and will probably shake your neighbors awake and have them banging on your walls. But as it’s so loud, you probably won’t be able to hear them over the whine of the 7500 anyway, so who cares what your neighbors might have to say about it.
- It’s the same old story all over again. All that generating power comes at a weighty cost, which in this case is around one hundred and ninety-five pounds. We’d argue that, at that sort of weight, the 7500 isn’t exactly portable and you won’t be carrying it around your house trying to find the best place to situate it. It’ll end up going wherever you can put it and it’ll probably stay there.
Best Westinghouse Generators Buying Guide
Who Is Westinghouse?
Founded by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh in eighteen eighty-six, Westinghouse was responsible for creating and developing a lot of America’s early electrical infrastructure.
An early rival to Thomas Edison’s more famous electric company that eventually became General Electric, in nineteen forty-five Westinghouse rebranded and became known as the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Having moved into the generation of Nuclear Energy in the latter half of the twentieth century and after buying CBS and the rights to broadcast the NFL in the nineteen nineties, Westinghouse’s business portfolio is now almost as broad as the imagination of its founder George Westinghouse.
Even though it has diversified in the last half-century, Westinghouse’s primary field of expertise is still electrical power and generation, which is why it is still seen as being one of the foremost manufacturers of portable electrical generators.
What Is A Portable Electrical Generator?
Portable generators produce electricity by using a gasoline or propane-fueled engine to power an alternator that converts the energy the engine creates into electricity.
The electricity they generate can then be used as a back-up to power homes during blackouts or as a primary source of electricity in houses that are situated off-grid or are located too far from a source of electricity to make it cost-efficient to connect them to the mains supply.
Smaller portable generators often work on the inverter principle, which uses a two-step process to convert the energy created by their internal engines into electricity.
Which Westinghouse Generator Is The Right One For Me?
That depends entirely on your budget and how much power you want your generator to make.
If you’re in the market for a simple household back-up generator that you can maybe use to take on camping trips as well, then the only Westinghouse product that you should really be looking at is the iGen2200 as it’ll do everything that you could ever ask of it, and will do so efficiently and quietly.
However, if you’re looking for a generator that provides a little more juice and will fuel both your home and worksite and you have a fairly decent budget, then you need to look no further than the WGen7500 which will make more than enough power to satisfy the needs of even the most fervent devotee of electricity.