WEN 11,000-Watt 120V/240V Dual Fuel Portable Generator with Wheel Kit and Electric Start (DF1100T)

I’ve had this generator for a couple of years now, and it has started every single time I’ve needed it. It easily powers my 2,000-square-foot house with no issues, including the air conditioning. I do have natural gas heat, so in the winter it only has to run the blower fan. We live in an area with frequent power outages during the summer because of wildfire concerns. I have a good place to keep it outside my house, and I’ve simply stored it under an inexpensive cover. It still looks brand new. In fact, that’s why I’m on Amazon today. I noticed a small tear in my current cover, so I’m ordering a replacement. I paired the generator with a GenerLink collar. It doesn’t start automatically during an outage, so I do have to wheel it out and plug in the cord, but the entire setup cost me less than $2,000 for what is essentially a whole-house generator. A standard 20-pound propane tank, like the kind used for a barbecue grill, runs it for about 8 to 10 hours, depending on the load. I bought four extra tanks and set things up so I can hot-swap them without losing power. I only run it on propane because it stores indefinitely and doesn’t go bad like gasoline. It also burns cleaner, although it isn’t quite as efficient. To keep everything in good working order and the battery charged, I start it every three months if I haven’t needed to use it. I’ve changed the oil twice, and both times it was simple. I even plugged my Tesla into it, and it charged just fine, although it would take a long time to fully recharge. It is a little loud, but since it sits on the opposite side of the house from our living room and bedroom, it really doesn’t bother us. Frankly, it’s more of the neighbors’ problem than mine. We only plan on staying here for another couple of years, so I didn’t want to invest in a permanent standby generator or pipe it into our natural gas system. I was looking for an affordable, reliable solution to bridge the gap until we move, and this has been exactly that. It has exceeded my expectations.

Had quite a while. Added trickle charging plug for battery. Works great. No problems. Powers 2 full size refers and a chest freezer along with several lights and fans plus 2 ac window units and tv, can't beat that for price and fuel consumption which is about 3/4 a gallon per hour, not bad.

Finally unpacked, assembled, and tested this today. I live in Fl and have used a Kubota 6500w diesel generator for the last 21 years. It got me through a lot outages. It quit working and I haven't been able to find parts to repair it and with freezers full of food and hurricane season approaching, I choose this unit for my power needs.. This Wen DF-1100 was delivered by ABF trucking. They communicated well about schedule/time, the machine was in it's factory box and strapped securely to a pallet in an enclosed semi trailer. Not a dent/tear/mark on the box so hats off to ABF trucking-great job. Finally got the box out of my van today and assembled the unit which consisted of attaching the wheels, handles, pads, adding oil, connecting positive cable to battery, removing the 2 shipping bars, connecting the propane regulator line and the propane tank. Very easy setup. The battery seemed fully charged and within a few spins the engine was purring nicely. I ran it for about 5 minutes and then connected my pool pump to it and let it run about 20 minutes. Everything checked out fine and the meter/monitor functions as it should. The unit is fairly loud but not dramatically louder than any other I've heard. It seemed to me it was actually a bit quieter than expected. I'll be building a dedicated enclosure for this unit near my power pole and that will make a huge difference on the noise level. I haven't put gasoline in the tank yet and have only run it once on propane. The dual fuel aspect of this genny is great. I have a 1000 gal in ground propane tank and I'm considering running a permanent line to it once I have an enclosure built. It is more expensive to run it on propane but for longevity, the propane burns much cleaner and the engine will have an extended life versus gasoline. I plan to get a magnetic oil dipstick for it to help keep the oil clean as there is no oil filter. Oil changes look like an easy affair and at 1 quart, I plan to change it frequently. I will add an inline fuel filter before I try it in gas mode. I like that it has an on/off gas petcock as I always run the carb dry when shutting down. This is key and here's an example of why. I have a gas powered pressure washer with a small Honda engine. I always add fuel stabilizers to the gas on all my small engine stuff, mowers, p washers, generators etc. as sometimes a good deal of time goes by between usages. The last time I used the washer was almost 2 years ago. I turned off gas petcock at last use and it ran until all the gas was burned. I just used it and it started on the 2nd pull after 2 years. No gunked up carb because all the gas was burned out of it and the gas in the tank was still fine. So far, this genny seems like great value but only time will tell regarding longevity. The owners manual is pretty good. There is an exploded view of the engine and the generator with a complete list of ALL parts with part numbers. There is also a complete wiring diagram of the electrical components. I just spent an hour looking up parts on the Wen website. Every item I clicked on was readily available. I plan on assembling a good selection of replacement parts as I will have this unit for years and it seems everything can be repaired with current parts availability should the need arise. I think this is a good strategy for anyone purchasing a generator for the long haul. Based on my initial unpacking and test, I would not hesitate to recommend this unit. I will do some follow up reviews on this unit as time passes and usage goes up.

TL:DR: Best price you’re going to find for this size and it has been reliable for the last 9 months. I installed an inlet for a generator to my panel. The idea is to avoid running extension cords to the generator in an outage. Remember that you have to cut the main breaker before turning on the generator breaker, otherwise you’re powering the grid too. Anyway, I expected to turn off all the breakers and slowly turn on the needed breakers. BUT…I felt like testing it so I just left them all on, flipped the main breaker off, and after the generator warmed up, I flipped the inlet breaker (to power everything on my panel). The generator hiccuped for a second and then hummed. I’m talking everything that you have in a 3k sqft home, this thing powered (2 fridges, internet, furnace, lights, microwave, oven, tvs, etc.). Beautiful. That was winter, though, and the furnace pulls nowhere near what the AC units pull. I tried this same trick in the summer and it killed the generator. So that just means that when power is out, you’ll need to cycle between house power and AC power (you can cool your house and maintain fridge temps this way. I tested it. Best cycle is 1 hour on/off). As far as the generator itself, this is a UNIT. You can’t beat it even at Harbor Freight (Predator). I tried. When you compare the two (same size), they’re the same price, but the WEN comes with the wheel kit and the battery. That’s about $50 each for a total of $100. So you save $100 going with the WEN. I have other WEN tools and they’ve been great (bench grinder, biscuit joiner, and more). It has instructions all over the place so it’s easy to find the choke and other important parts. I start it once a month and it has yet to show any weakness. Nothing on it feels cheap. LOUD. VERY VERY LOUD. But loud is better than freezing so neighbors are going to have to deal with it in an outage. Might build an insulated box. We’ll see. Buy it.

Package arrive with some damage, and after unpacking it, found a dent in the generator cover but doesn't affect anything so not important. following the directions prevented the generator from starting, only after opening the choke did the generator start up and run. I used propane for initial running, as I did not want to go through draining the system afterwards. if you have the choke completely closed as the directions say, the motor won't start. setting the choke to halfway and it fired up happily. noise is not bad, but I'm guessing the neighbors will complain if I run it all night. but if the power is out, they can't call the cops! Seems well built, went together easily and runs my two 1 hp air compressors at the same time during testing. having propane means that when doing maintenance runs every month, you don't have to deal with draining gas out of the system. pretty satisfied.

I have the worst luck with brand new items. Doesn't matter what it is, if I buy it new, it won't work. This generator is the first brand new thing I've bought that works perfectly. I was shocked when it started up instantly right out of the box. I even tried the pull cord... engine started with the slightest tug. It runs very smooth, it makes lots of power. It's about as loud as you would expect any generator to be. It's not quiet, but none of them are. The quality of this generator... also shocking. For the price of it, compared to other brands, I was expecting loose bolts, cheesy brackets, etc etc. It is actually very well built. It's heavy, strong, it doesn't rattle at all. Very tight. I'm confident this unit will last a long time. My favorite part, because I'm a mechanic, is the easy access to the engine parts that will need regular service. Everything was placed in the perfect spot to be worked on without foul language and throwing tools involved. I had my wife and children start it up and get it ready as if a power outage occurred. Using it is a breeze. Everything is labelled clearly, easily accessible, and it all works as it should. The only things you need to assemble is the wheels and handles. Super simple to do. Very clear instructions. The Generator is heavy, without wheels, you better drink some milk if you're gonna move it. Once the wheels and handles are on it, it so easy to roll around, you forget how heavy it really is. My 90lb daughter has no problem moving it around on it's wheels. I'm very pleased with this generator. I highly recommend this model and brand. You're getting a great product without a huge price tag. UPDATE. It's now 5/18/2022. Had to use the generator to power my house due to a power outage for a few days. It hadn't been started in about 2-3 months. Bumped the key, started right up. I've had it running on gas and it's used an average of 1 tank per 10-11 hours. Hasn't burned any oil. Level perfect every time. Doesn't overheat, runs real smooth. I shut it off every other time I added gas. Starts right back up and goes to work. I use only Non-Ethanol gas to protect the carb. Regular gas will gum up and clog jets when it sits. I also use Synthetic oil, (Royal Purple) in the engine. I purchased the WEN cover for it and the Generator looks brand new, even after sitting outside for over a year. And yet another update 11/21/2022 So the generator has been running for 300+hrs straight, powering my house. Day 12, Battery died. Generator shut down because without battery power, the solenoid in the carb closes when it loses 12v power from the battery. Not a big deal, jump started it off my lawn tractor, started right up and gave me time to go get a new battery. I plugged a charger into the generator to keep the battery charged while I went and bought a new battery. It flashes code P50 when you need to change the oil. Do that, don't ignore it. (takes about 3 min) It flashes P100 when you need to do a more extensive service. Do that also, don't ignore it. (takes 10 min) This Generator is screaming 23/7 days a week now. It's a beast. It's doing it's job very well in my opinion. Still solid, no rattles, nothing coming loose, and producing power like it has since day one. Fuel consumption - About 10-11hrs on a tank. I changed to an NGK BPR7ES plug and run 89 octane gas, Royal Purple Full Synthetic Oil, and It's a solid 12-14hrs per tank of gas. I hope all this actually helps someone.

I just finished putting the generator up after using it the last 36 hours after Hurricane Zeta knocked power out to our house. What a great purchase! I flipped off the main breaker and back-fed the house via the 240V Dryer plug. This thing is a workhorse. We have a two story house on a basement with 2 HVAC units plus a mini-split AC in the basement. I left the upstairs HVAC breaker off, but powered two refrigerators, the main and mini-split HVAC, all the lights, internet gear, laptops and TVs in the house, plus the occasional kitchen appliance. With that load I burned about 6 gallons (nearly full tank) in 8 hours. I filled it back up while it was running, and it didn't seem to be getting hot, so ran it about 13 straight hours the first day. The next day it started right up and ran it for 5 hours until street power was restored. IMPORTANT: Make sure if you backfeed your panelboard that you DISCONNECT your street power and then disconnect your generator before reconnecting street power. An Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) will do this for you, and may be required by code to feed your panelboard. You'll also want to crank the generator up once a month for 30 minutes or so to prevent the carb from getting varnished, and to keep the battery charged. I let it sit 4 months and had to jump it off my truck as the hand starter is brutal. Pros + Great value for money + Dual fuel + Reasonably Efficient + Built in Volt, Frequency, and Time Meter + Key-start (when the battery isn't dead) Cons - No Amp or Watt Meter built in - Hard to Manually Start - Battery was dead - PRO Tip: Use jumper cables to your car to get it started - A Little Loud (maybe the same as other generators the same size, but louder than typical smaller tailgate type generators) - Waveform a little dirty - my APC UPS would not charge off of it even though it should the voltage and frequency were well within range.

Bought two of them. They’ve worked great on two different homes. No complaints!

Great unit, performs exactly as stated, Thank you

I was VERY impressed with the quick responses I received from NYRS. They handled a problem I was having with delivery, quickly and completely to my satisfaction. Thank you NYRS.

generator seems to work fine altho haven't had a chance to reallytry it yet. Started easily. Problem I have is that I have ordered a couple of dipsticks, supposed to be for this model. Not ! I can't get info to see which one has the proper threading. The ones recommended do not work. So this is a frustrating issue.