Quick answer: Westinghouse does not make a permanently installed home standby generator. What the brand sells instead is a range of large portables, from the 7,500-running-watt WGen7500 up to the WGen9500DF with 12,500 peak watts, plus transfer switches that wire them into your panel. In October 2026 Westinghouse added its own automatic transfer switch, the WATS200, which can start a compatible generator for you when the grid drops. A Westinghouse whole house generator setup costs a fraction of a Generac or Kohler standby install, and the trade is honest: you give up hands-free automation and full-house coverage to keep several thousand dollars in your pocket.
What Westinghouse actually makes (and what it doesn't)
If you came here looking for a Westinghouse equivalent of a Generac Guardian bolted to a concrete pad, it does not exist. Westinghouse Outdoor Power builds two families that matter for backup: the open-frame WGen portables, which are the loud, heavy, cheap-to-buy workhorses, and the iGen inverter series, which is quieter and cleaner but tops out lower. The company positions this lineup explicitly against the cost of a permanent standby installation, and its own product pages say as much.
The switch side is where 2026 got interesting. Westinghouse has sold manual transfer switches and its ST smart switch for a while, letting you flip a house circuit or two onto a portable. The WATS200 automatic transfer switch, introduced October 27, 2026, is the new piece: it monitors the utility feed, starts a compatible generator when power fails, and transfers the load without you standing in the rain at 2 a.m. It is still not a full standby system in the Generac sense, because the generator lives outside on wheels and you manage fuel yourself, but the gap is narrower than it was a year ago.
The Westinghouse whole house generator lineup, model by model
These are the models worth knowing if the goal is backing up a house rather than a campsite.
| Model | Running / peak watts | Fuel | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| WGen9500DF | 9,500 / 12,500 (gas) | Gas + propane | Essential circuits of most homes, including a well pump or small AC |
| WGen7500 | 7,500 / 9,500 | Gas | Fridge, furnace, lights, electronics without the big surge loads |
| iGen5000DF | 3,900 / 5,000 (gas) | Gas + propane | Quiet essentials-only backup, RV-style |
| iGen4500 | 3,700 / 4,500 | Gas | Fridge, modem, medical device, a few lights |
The WGen9500DF is the one people mean when they say Westinghouse whole house generator. On gasoline it delivers 9,500 running watts and 12,500 peak, which is enough to start a 3-ton AC compressor alongside refrigerators if you manage loads. On propane the numbers drop to about 11,200 peak, and propane is the smarter disaster fuel anyway because it does not go stale in the tank. The 6.6-gallon tank runs up to 12 hours at quarter load, it has a 50-amp 120/240V outlet for direct panel connection, and both remote and electric start. Street price hovers well under four digits, which is the entire point of this category. If you want to check current pricing, search WGen9500DF on Amazon.
The WGen7500 gives up the 240V 50A outlet's headroom but keeps a 30-amp locking receptacle, and MSRP sits at $1,049 with bundles (generator plus cover plus switch) appearing around $849 at big-box retailers. For a gas-furnace home without a well pump, it covers the critical list at half the cost of the flagship, and if your definition of a Westinghouse whole house generator stops at fridge-plus-furnace duty, the 7500 is the value pick in the lineup. The WGen7500 listings on Amazon swing a lot between seasons, and outage-season pricing is rarely the good pricing.
The iGen pair is a different philosophy. The iGen4500 produces 3,700 running watts from a 3.4-gallon tank for up to 18 hours at light load, runs at conversation-friendly noise levels, and its inverter output is safe for sensitive electronics. The dual-fuel iGen5000DF adds propane at 3,500 running watts. These will not run a whole house, and nobody pretends an iGen is a Westinghouse whole house generator. They will keep food cold, phones charged, and a furnace blower spinning through a two-day outage, quietly, on little fuel. Some people run an iGen for nights and a WGen for pump-and-laundry days.
How many watts your house actually needs
Before falling in love with any model, run your own numbers. Rules of thumb fail at the worst time, usually when the well pump and the fridge compressor start in the same second. Our generator size calculator walks your appliance list into a wattage total, and if you want a worked example, the guide to what size generator for a 2800 square foot house shows the math on a typical single-family load.
The short version: most gas-furnace homes live comfortably in the 7,500-to-9,500 running-watt band, which is exactly the WGen sweet spot. Homes with a 3-ton or larger AC, a well pump, or an electric water heater either step up to load management or accept that those circuits stay dark.
The transfer switch is what makes it a whole-house setup
A portable generator with extension cords through windows is not a Westinghouse whole house generator system; it is a fire hazard with a handle. The fix is a transfer switch, and you have three routes.
A manual transfer switch, around $300 to $600 plus an electrician, hardwires six to ten chosen circuits to a panel beside your breaker box. Westinghouse's larger WGen units carry an L14-30R or 50-amp outlet exactly for this, and the what is a generator transfer switch explainer covers the wiring basics. The ST smart switch adds remote control over selected circuits. The new WATS200 turns the sequence automatic for compatible units: outage detected, generator started, load transferred, and a Westinghouse whole house generator stops being a fair-weather convenience.
None of this is plug-and-play in the legal sense. Any panel-connected switch needs a permit and an electrician in most jurisdictions, and the install labor is a real line item to budget next to the machine.
Where a Westinghouse setup wins, and where it loses
Against a permanent standby, the Westinghouse whole house generator formula wins on money and flexibility. A WGen9500DF plus a manual switch plus installation commonly lands between $1,500 and $2,500 all-in, while a comparable standby install runs to five figures once you price the pad, the gas line, and the labor; our generator comparison page has the full breakdown. You also keep the option of rolling the same machine to a job site or a cabin, which a Guardian on a slab will never do.
It loses on automation and endurance. Even with the WATS200, you are storing and rotating fuel, changing oil on a schedule, and accepting that a portable parked outside is easier to steal. Noise is the other real cost: an open-frame WGen at load is loud enough that neighbors will have opinions. Standby units from Champion and Kohler exist precisely because some buyers will pay five figures to never think about any of this, and if that is you, no portable will talk you out of it. For everyone else, where to buy a generator at the right price beats waiting for the next statewide outage map to decide for you.
FAQ
Can a Westinghouse generator run a whole house? A WGen9500DF at 9,500 running watts runs the essential circuits of most homes: fridge, freezer, furnace, lights, internet, and either a well pump or a small AC. All-electric homes with electric heat, electric dryers, and an EV charger will not fit inside that budget without load management, and no Westinghouse portable changes that.
What is the best Westinghouse generator for home backup? For essential-circuit backup, the best Westinghouse whole house generator is the WGen9500DF, mainly for its 50-amp 240V outlet and dual-fuel option. Budget-limited or moderate loads: WGen7500. Quiet, minimal overnight loads: iGen5000DF.
Does Westinghouse make an automatic standby generator? Not a permanently installed one. The closest current product is the WATS200 automatic transfer switch paired with a compatible portable, which automates outage detection and startup for selected loads. A true whole-home automatic standby still means Generac, Kohler, Briggs & Stratton, or Cummins.
Is dual fuel worth it on these generators? Usually yes. Propane stores indefinitely, which matters when outages are years apart, and the roughly 10 percent power drop is rarely decisive. Gasoline gives peak output and easier refueling anywhere, at the cost of fuel stabilization chores.
The bottom line on a Westinghouse whole house generator
A Westinghouse whole house generator setup is the pragmatic answer to backup: one big dual-fuel portable, one transfer switch, one electrician visit, and you are out the door for the price of a standby unit's concrete pad. The 2026 addition of the WATS200 automatic switch closes the biggest convenience gap this lineup had. What it will never be is invisible, silent, or automatic in the way a permanent standby is, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. Size the Westinghouse whole house generator to your real load, wire it properly, and it will sit in the garage doing nothing for years, which is exactly what you want from it.
