Champion 10,000 Watt Generator Review

With 10 kilowatts of power, you should be able to keep your whole house powered comfortably during an outage. The Champion 10,000 watt generator that we’ll be reviewing is not only a formidable portable generator, it has the added advantage of dual fuel operation. You can use either propane or gas to power this generator. Propane is popular as a green fuel, as it has lower emission levels. Another great advantage to using propane, particularly during a natural disaster, is that gas can be in short supply, whereas propane can be stored indefinitely.

Champion 10000W Dual Fuel Generator 100297

Champion 10,000W Dual Fuel Generator 100297
What Can You Run on a 10,000 Watt Generator

A portable generator of this size is going to be amongst your more expensive options. Though, this Champion 10,000 watt generator is not at all expensive when you consider that this is a popular brand with a great network of service centers around the US. Even then, you may be wondering if you need to pay this much for a 10KW generator when a smaller, cheaper generator may suffice. After reviewing the Champion dual fuel generator, I’ll look at what you can run on a 10,000W generator and why it can be beneficial to use a larger generator.

Champion 10000 Watt (Peak) Dual Fuel Portable Generator Model: 100297

The Champion 10,000 watt generator is a robust machine with a tough metal frame and large chunky wheels. This makes it the ideal generator for a jobsite, for emergency power at home, even a camping generator. Though some might find it a bit large and heavy for camping purposes. The ability to use propane is an added bonus. A 3.3’ propane hose and regulator are included, so it’s propane ready, straight out the box. Probably most remarkable, is that this powerful dual fuel generator is price very competitively. That’s excellent value for money, something I’ve come to expect from Champion. These guys manufacture great quality light to medium duty generators, always at a fantastic price.

To generate 10,000 watts of starting (peak) power and 8,000W continuous (running) power, you need an engine that’s up to the task. In this regard, the Champion 459cc, 4-stroke engine certainly makes the grade. It is known to be a reliable engine and has cold start technology, making it super easy to start in all kinds of weather. It has the convenience of an electric starter with a recoil starter as backup. This engine is EPA and Carb certified; and is pretty remarkable when it comes to fuel consumption.

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Great fuel economy, and a large 6.6-gallon gas tank, means really long runtimes. The Champion 100297 will run for 8-hours at 50% load on a single tank of gas. That’s an average load of 4KW constantly, for 4-hours. For most households, I’d guess you can easily get 12-hours or more from a tank of gas. A 20-pound propane tank will provide 5-hours at 50% load. Though, as with all dual fuel generators, power output is lower when using propane. The Champion 10,000 watt generator produces 9025W peak power and 7250 running watts when using propane.

One of the issues when using a large 10KW generator is noise levels. Though, here the Champion 100297 isn’t too bad – 74dBA measured from a distance of 23-feet. Another is weight, especially when you consider that this generator has a tough metal frame and metal gas tank. So, the rather hefty weight of 209.4 LBS is unavoidable. Though, this is still a portable 10,000 watt generator, thanks to large solid wheels and a great fold down loop handle. The metal frame is also designed to offer plenty of easy gripping positions for lifting.

The control panel is limited in the outlets provided. I’m really disappointed that the guys at Champion didn’t include a 120V/240V 50A outlet. Since this generator can deliver a peak output of 83A at 120V (41A at 240V) it is ideally suited for a 50A transfer switch. This would be a convenient addition if you want to connect the Champion 10,000 watt generator directly to the main power supply to your house. For the rest, it isn’t really lacking when it comes to AC outlets. You get the usual 120V 20A outlets, a total of 4 with 2 X 20A circuit breakers (one for each set of duplex 20A 120V outlets). It also has a 120V 30A (L5-30R) locking outlet and a 120V/240V 30A (L14-30R) locking outlet. The 30A circuits are protected by a 2-pole breaker and the 120A (5-20R) outlets have GFCI protection. This makes the Champion 10,000 watt generator OSHA compliant. Great news for contractors. It doesn’t have any DC outlets, which is a minor disappointment. The Champion “IntelliGAUGE” is a nice extra, this digital display allows you to check on the voltage, frequency (Hz), and runtime.

If you’re looking for an affordable power supply for whole house backup, or a busy jobsite, you can’t easily beat the Champion 10,000 watt generator. It has the great advantage of dual fuel use and is one of the most affordable in its class. Champion generators have earned a solid reputation for reliability and great after sales service. The 3-year warranty also provides a good deal of confidence in your purchase.

What Can You Run Using a 10,000 Watt Generator?

Some may see 10KW as more power than they need. Though, in my opinion, you can never have too much power when it comes to portable generators. If you want to supply your home with reliable electricity during an outage, and don’t want to compromise on the equipment that you can use, the Champion 10,000 watt generator is one of your best options. It won’t provide the kind of power that you get from a large standby generator. But, the fact that this is a portable generator has some obvious advantages, you can use it anywhere.
A standard 3-bedroom home uses, on average, around 4 kilowatts of electricity at any given time. So why a 10,000 watts? Well, 4,000 watts is the average consumption. Sometimes it can be less, at other times, much more. This will be of greatest importance for peak loads that can happen for a very brief period. If you’re using a 15,000 BTU air conditioner, along with two refrigerators, and some smaller appliances at the same time, your power consumption can reach 10KW when the high-watt appliances start simultaneously. Induction motors, used for refrigerators, air conditioners, and pumps, can use 3-times as much power to start. So a refrigerator may normally require around 400W to run, but it can use up to 1,200W when the electric motor for the compressor starts. Since air conditioners and refrigerators cycle on and off continuously, a generator with a peak capacity of 10KW will greatly reduce the chance of it tripping when you use all your normal electrical appliances and equipment around your home. There may be times when 10KW isn’t enough, but these will be rare and easy to manage. I never recommend using a high-watt heat pump, or central air conditioner (HVAC) unless you have a large standby generator (20KW+). However, a 10,000 watt portable generator should be sufficient if you emit water heaters, large ACs, and non-essential equipment, like pool pumps.
On a jobsite, where many tools are starting and stopping all day long, a 10,000 watt generator will ensure that you’ll always have the power you need. Even if you’re using a relatively large air compressor, you can still run a whole bunch of other power tools, including powerful angle grinders and the like.
Even your basic power demand seldom reaches the peak or rated capacity, a 10,000 watt generator may still your best option. When it comes to long term durability, a larger generator will always be preferable. Any generator runs optimally at around 50% of its rated load. In the case of an 8000W/10,000W generator, this would be a continuous load of around 4,000W – the average consumption for most homes. This is the ideal situation. The generator will run optimally most of the time, short periods of high load demand won’t have any adverse effects. When a generator is required to run for long periods, supplying a load close to its maximum rated load, the engine and alternator generate a lot of heat and wear is at its highest. A generator that is used mostly within the 50% range of its rated capacity will last much longer.
Another aspect to consider, is that of reliable stable current. The issue of Total Harmonic Distortion is a hot topic these days, since we rely heavily on electronic equipment. When THD levels exceed 5%, you run the risk of damaging electronic circuits, which are present in almost all the appliances we use around the home. Regular exposure to high levels of THD will cause equipment failure over time. Regular generators, that don’t make use of an inverter, can produce THD levels as high as 25%. Though, it’s important to remember that THD increases as the load on the generator increases. Most standard generators only produce dangerously high THD levels when power consumption starts to reach around 70% of the rated load, becoming increasingly hazardous as the load goes higher than this. Short periods of high load, causing increased THD, is less likely to cause damage to your electronic equipment. It’s only when these appliances run for longer periods with unstable current, that THD is likely to cause damage. So, by using a more powerful generator, you’re more likely to be using 50% or less of the rated capacity most of time, thereby keeping THD levels within safe margins for electronic equipment.
Generators become increasingly noisy as they labor under the strain of generating high-watt power. When using any generator, it’s going to be considerably quieter at about 25% of its rated load, getting gradually louder as you approach 50% of the rated load. As you approach 70% of the rated load, noise levels increase exponentially. It’s always at the high-loads that generator noise becomes unbearable. So, using a more powerful generator is usually going to result in less generator noise.