DuroMax XP5500EH 5,500-Watt Dual Fuel Portable Generator - Gas & Propane, Electric Start, RV & Emergency Ready

I have to say I was a little bit worried about buying the smallest generator they make, but I added up all my wattage and had plenty left over. When it got here, the box was not damaged, and all of the parts were in the box. It takes about 30 minutes to put together if you read the instructions closely.I’m able to power a portable air conditioner (large size, not window unit), a 14 ft.³ deep freezer, a 14 ft.³ refrigerator and a full-size dehumidifier. I also powered both of my 75 inch TVs and plugged in everything else that goes with them…. I have a ton of LED lights and Alexa and what not. Everything got plugged in and the generator didn’t spot once. I guess the tomato I was using somewhere around 3000 to 3500 W which is well below its peak running wattage.I will say that you should definitely charge the battery upon arrival like I did not. When mine got here after I put it together it cranked right up with the start button so I thought no big deal. I checked it with my battery charger and must’ve misread it because I thought it said it was at 100%.I know this is not true now because I went to crank it yesterday just to make sure everything was still running OK and suddenly the start button did not work. They would not even try to turn over whatsoever. Just a bunch of clicking noises.So I plugged the battery charger back in to check the battery as customer Support told me to. It still said 100%.Turns out I did not have it selected on the right charging method so it was not giving me all of the numbers. I did not see that the voltage was very low and that it was not charged all the way.The moral of the story is charge the battery lol!I charged mine and now it purrs like a kitten again. A very large kitten!I purchased the tent accessory that is in the section of where “Customer’s also bought”. Definitely a wise investment. It has kept it out of the elements, but fully functional if needed.One more mistake I made was when I went to fill the oil up. I did not make sure that the generator was level. So I had oil spilling out, thinking that I had overfilled and lo and behold it was just off balance…. Quite a bit haha. I just let it spill out until it was done and then I helped it a little bit more to make sure it wasn’t overfilled and everything was all fine.Now I have it set up on a pallet with two bricks on one of the sides to even it out perfectly. I mean dead on perfect. Got lucky there.I almost bought the 13,000 W version which would’ve been unjustifiably too much for this house. At the time it was on sale for about $1100.I decided to go with my gut and just add up the wattage I needed, and it worked out.Oh, if you happen to put synthetic oil in on its first run, don’t freak out because that’s exactly what I did. It was an accident. I bought both types and just put the wrong one in. Once it had been running it its first full cycle is when I figured it out. It has had no problems so I think you’re OK if you’ve done like me.The control board is easy to operate and manage. It’s pretty obvious what each thing does. It has all the features that I needed and worked out great.Just make sure you get one that is enough to power what you need and you will not be disappointed. Also upgrade your propane tanks to some 40 pound ones like I did. It’ll save you a lot of trips. And if you have to like me, and the power does go out and everybody is blazing the propane stores you’ll just be sitting back like “what’s going on?” HahaSorry for the rambling I hope all of this was useful or some of it was useful to somebody. It was my first generator purchase and I knew absolutely nothing about them. I threw a dart and hit the bull’s-eye!One last thing… I love that it has the four prong outlet that allows 120/240v. I have one cord that can handle 8000 W of electric electricity. It has four female ends to plug into.I had the AC unit, dehumidifier, deep freezer and refrigerator all on the same 10 amp cord and it didn’t even get warm. Not one bit.So invest in the right chords as you invest in this awesome generator!

This genset performed flawlessly for our (7) day outage during Tropical Storm Isaias. Note: we ran the unit on propane only. I am giving it (5) stars in spite of the issues noted in other reviews:* the wheels are cheesy (but come on you are not towing it)* the handles could have better hardware connections (but they work)* the owners manual is not accurate on additional materials for example I did not receive the electrical plugs and no mention was made of the included propane hose which I was alerted to by another Amazon reviewer or I would of melted it as it is stuffed up inside.On the plus side:*manual gives clear set up and starting instructions*included battery was charged* the included oil funnel/hose worked great did not spill a drop*packing and shipping were excellent, unit was delivered in (2) days by an Amazon truck with no damage*unit is not unpleasantly loudOther details; our older house (recently purchased) needs an upgraded electrical service and when we can afford that we will also get a transfer switch and then purchase a whole house genset. However in the meantime due to the virus my wife has been hoarding food and every fridge and freezer is packed. By coincidence our now beloved utility Eversource was having some planned outages (hour or less) last month which reminded me what a crises we would have with a prolonged outage so luckily I pulled the trigger and the generator arrived here before the storm. Before I was alerted to the hidden propane connection hose I purchased my own and a 30 gallon propane tank in addition to the standard tanks I have from Home Depot for the grill. Our propane supplier was great and hooked up the unit to the larger tank with a snap connection we have for part of the house using the hose I purchased.Final notes; I did run the unit for about 12 hours straight one day (versus the periodic shutdowns I was doing) and a little oil was consumed. As I put at least 100 hours on the unit for the week I will be changing the oil this week to be ready for the next outage. Final final note...I worked in boating for 30 years so have run many generators however I think an inexperienced homeowner would be able to get this unit set up and running.