Before buying a whole house generator, you need to know how much power your home needs. This is done by using a whole house generator kw calculator.
The generator wattage calculator is designed to calculate the amount of power needed to run the appliances and systems in your home. The wattage calculator includes both running and starting watts for each appliance or system.
Appliance Wattage
Before you can determine what size generator your home needs, you must know how much wattage (power) each appliance uses. You can find the wattage requirements for most appliances by looking at their nameplates, data tags or using a load tester like a Honda handheld load tester.
Some appliances require more power to start up than they do to run continuously. This is because of their motors or heating elements. The starting wattage, also known as surge wattage, is normally 3-4 times higher than the running wattage.
This can be especially true with refrigerators and freezers, air conditioning units, microwaves, electric deep fryers and coffee makers. These have motors, compressors or heating elements that will surge to a peak power demand then drop back down to a lower running/continuous amount.
The wattage you need for your entire home will depend on how many appliances you have and the total wattage of all of them combined. You can use the wattage requirements from this guide as a general estimate, but you should consult your appliances’ user manuals for more specific numbers.
Lighting Wattage
A whole house generator is an excellent way to ensure your essential appliances are up and running when you most need them. Whether you need to keep your refrigerator and freezer from spoiling, power your lights, or even have the ability to run your air conditioning system, a good whole house generator will help you avoid costly outages and potential damage to your property.
One of the most important decisions you will make is determining the size generator you need. For the best results, try to factor in all your electricity-consuming needs. In particular, you’ll want to consider how much your appliances consume in watts and how many you will likely need to run at once. For example, if you are going to run your air conditioner and your refrigerator, you’ll need to account for at least 1500 watts of total ac and fridge wattage. On the other hand, if you plan on only using your television and computer, you can probably save some money by buying a smaller, less powerful generator.
HVAC Wattage
A whole house generator is an inverter that will power up a home’s hardwired appliances, like water heaters, HVAC units and sump pumps, during a power outage. They can also run lights, computers and TVs in the event of a blackout.
When sizing a generator, the first thing to consider is your home’s electrical load requirements. This is the largest electricity consumer in most homes and includes all major appliances, lighting, air conditioning and heating systems.
This kw calculator is designed to help you estimate the wattage of your connected appliances and equipment, as well as your whole house’s general electric load. It’s a great way to find out whether you need a small portable backup generator or a larger standby unit to power your home.
To use this generator sizing calculator, you must enter your home’s square footage and total peak demand over the previous year. Then add 25 percent for reserve and surge capacity.
Water Heater Wattage
A water heater requires a lot of watts to work properly. Most 240v electric heaters consume at least 4,500 watts of electricity to heat the water in a 50-gallon tank.
The wattage required by a gas heater is lower, typically 2,500 to 3,500 watts. However, these types of water heaters are usually bigger than the smaller 240v units.
For the purposes of sizing the right generator for your water heater, consider the wattage of all other appliances in your home that use electricity, such as televisions, computers, microwaves, and slow cookers.
Once you have this information, calculate the running and starting watts of each device to determine its power requirements. Then, choose a generator with enough wattage to meet these needs.