Champion Power Equipment

Not sure where to start? Read our What Size Generator Do I Need? before you buy.

Urban Supply Inc is an authorized Champion Power Equipment dealer. Every unit here is sourced through Champion's dealer program, arrives with the full manufacturer warranty, and is registered to you rather than to a reseller. The line runs well past generators — winches and hoists, transfer switches, water pumps, log splitters, outdoor power equipment and the service parts for all of it — but generators are what most people arrive for, and Champion divides them into clearly different jobs.

The wattage ladder

The quickest way to place yourself in the range is by what you are trying to keep running.

• Inverter generators — the quietest and most fuel-efficient units, producing clean power suitable for laptops, routers and sensitive electronics. This is the tailgate, campsite and small-outage tier. Several are ParaLINK-capable, so two smaller units can be linked instead of buying one large one; the parallel cable kit is Model 100740, sold separately.
• Open-frame inverters — the same clean output in a lighter, less enclosed frame at higher wattages. A middle tier for jobsites and RV use where absolute quiet matters less than capacity per pound.
• Conventional portables — the most watts per dollar. Heavier and louder, and the right answer when the load is tools, pumps and heaters rather than electronics.
• Dual-fuel and tri-fuel — gasoline plus propane, or gasoline plus propane plus natural gas. The extra fuels matter in an extended outage, when gasoline stations are the first thing to go down and stored gasoline has usually gone stale.
• Home standby — permanently installed, wired through a transfer switch, and started automatically by the switch when the utility drops. This is the tier that runs the house without anybody going outside.

Sizing before you buy

Running watts and starting watts are different numbers, and it is the starting surge of a well pump, furnace or fridge compressor that sets the size you need. Add the starting wattage of the single largest motor to the running wattage of everything else. If you land between two sizes, price a ParaLINK-capable pair against the next unit up.

Runtime is quoted at a specific load percentage on each spec sheet, so compare at the same load rather than headline to headline. And on any dual-fuel or tri-fuel unit, size against the fuel you actually intend to run: the same engine makes less power on propane than on gasoline, and less again on natural gas.

Connecting a generator to the house

Anything intended to power circuits rather than extension cords connects through a transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician. Champion makes manual cord-inlet boxes for portable use — 30 amp, Model 201192 and 50 amp, Model 201193 — and a full range of automatic transfer switches for standby installations, from 50-amp essential-circuit switches up to 200-amp service-entrance units that transfer the whole panel. Service parts, LPG conversion hardware and surge protection are in home standby generator accessories.

Never connect a generator to the house through a double-male cord into a wall outlet. It backfeeds the utility line and it can kill a line worker restoring your street.

CO Shield

Carbon monoxide from a generator run too close to a building kills people every storm season. Champion fits CO Shield on many of its portable models: a sensor that shuts the engine down automatically if CO builds to a dangerous concentration around the unit. It is a backstop and not a permission slip — a generator still belongs well away from the house with its exhaust pointed away from windows, doors and vents, never in a garage, breezeway or under a deck, whether or not it has the sensor. Check the individual product page for whether a given model carries it.

California and CARB

This is the single most common reason a Champion order cannot be fulfilled, and it is worth reading before you buy.

Most portable generators are certified to federal EPA standards for 49 states and are not certified by the California Air Resources Board. Selling a 49-state unit into California is not a policy choice on our side — it is not legal. Our checkout enforces this, so a 49-state generator will not offer shipping to a California address.

Four Champion generators carry CARB certification and can be shipped to California: Model 201207, Model 201393, Model 201255 and Model 201254. Champion's semi-trash water pumps and its chipper/shredder are separately CARB-certified. Our full explanation of what CARB covers and why it applies to generators is in the CARB-compliant generators guide.

If you are ordering from California, check the product page before you order rather than at checkout.

Which one is for you

• RV and camping — an inverter in the lower wattage tiers, for quiet running and clean power. Consider a ParaLINK pair if you need air conditioning.
• Jobsite — a conventional portable or an open-frame inverter, sized on the largest motor you will start.
• Short storm outages — a mid-tier dual-fuel portable and a manual transfer switch, so the furnace and the fridge stay on without extension cords through a window.
• Long outages, someone always home — tri-fuel on a natural gas connection. Unlimited runtime, nothing to carry, but somebody has to start it.
• Long outages, unattended — home standby with an automatic transfer switch. The only configuration that starts itself at three in the morning.
• Ranch and property work — the conventional portables, plus the winch, hoist and water pump lines.

Guides

• What Size Generator Do I Need? Home Backup Generator Sizing Guide
• Home Standby Generators and Transfer Switches: How to Pair Them Correctly
• What Is a Tri-Fuel Generator? Gasoline, Propane and Natural Gas Explained
• CARB-Compliant Generators for California

Buying from an authorized dealer

Champion honours its warranty through its dealer network. Buying from an authorized dealer means the unit is registered correctly, warranty claims are handled through the manufacturer rather than a third-party marketplace seller, and service parts and maintenance kits are the specified ones for your engine and serial number rather than a generic substitute.

Orders over $299 ship free — certain exclusions apply. Our team is available Monday to Friday, 9am–9pm EST at 917-540-6070 to help you match a model to your load and your fuel before you buy.