When the power fails, you expect your generator to hum steadily in the background, not to spend the night tripping breakers ...

When the power goes out because of a hurricane, a storm, or a problem with the electrical grid, portable generators and whole-house generators will do the same important task: provide electricity ...

Both provide electricity during an outage—the choice comes down to convenience, price, and power A portable generator (left) is much less expensive than a permanently installed whole-house model ...