Editorial Policy
Clear standards, explicit tradeoffs.
We prefer useful over comprehensive, and accurate over flattering.
Research approach
We use a mix of manufacturer documentation, product pages, published specifications, CPSC safety guidance, utility and code references, and editorial synthesis. For buying content we add owner reports from Facebook groups, YouTube review comments, electrician forums, and verified purchase reviews, because that is where the year-2 truth lives. Installed-cost figures come from real quotes and installer input, are dated on the page, and get re-verified on a schedule, not just on complaints.
How we evaluate products and brands
We judge machines and brands on fit, not on abstract prestige. A premium standby can still be a bad recommendation for a buyer whose outages last six hours, and a bargain portable can still be a bad recommendation for a buyer who needs a well pump running for a week. When a brand is hard to reach, rated in wishful watts, poorly supported, or a white-label import wearing an invented name, we say so directly. Every negative we publish is sourced and defensible, per our methodology.
Updates and corrections
We update guides when prices move, models are discontinued, code or incentive rules change, or a page is otherwise outdated. Generator pricing and availability shift hard around storm season, so money pages get re-verified before June and again before winter. If a factual issue is reported, we correct it as quickly as possible and prefer updating the page over letting stale guidance linger.
Storm coverage
When a named storm or major grid event threatens, we update our prep and safety pages with dated, factual blocks: what's actually in stock, what to check before the weather arrives, and the safety rules that matter most in the first 72 hours. Those updates are service, not marketing. No countdown timers, no urgency theater. A storm is when readers need us most and trust us fastest, and ambulance-chasing forfeits both.
Health and safety content
Portable generators kill roughly 80 to 100 Americans every year through carbon monoxide, and backfeeding endangers utility workers. We treat placement, ventilation, refueling, backfeeding, and overload sizing as safety topics, not content angles. Those pages are written conservatively, cite CPSC guidance, carry no product links and no email capture, and never bend to stay commercially useful. They are not a substitute for the manufacturer manual or a licensed professional.
What independence means here
Independence does not mean having no commercial interests. It means not letting those interests dictate the verdict. Some links on this site earn a commission, and some installer referrals earn a disclosed flat fee. No commission has ever moved a ranking, and if the cheaper option is the better option, that is the recommendation. The details live in our affiliate disclosure.