How Much Generator Do I Need To Power A House??

[jpbruni]

I am going to buying a generator for my Mom up in Hot Springs Village, AR. They get a lot of winter stors up there and her power goes out all the time.

How many watts do I need? I've seen the range go from 3000w to 7000w.

She would need to run the furnace/heater, fridge, TV, lights, microwave.

What does it take?

J.P.

[Rsatt]

jp, did you get my PM a few days ago?

[JHT]

6500 watt for the 2 weeks after Ike I ran:

10,000 btu window ac unit
2 Fridge & freezer
Bunch of lights and appliances when needed

I never had any issues. A buddy had his entire house running off 2 6500 generators.

I would imagine the heater will pull a serious amount of power off it.

If I had to guess I would say you need about a 10,000.

[garzanium]

10K sounds about right. My parents where running 2 large fridges, fans/lights and 1 small TV with a 4500 for about 2 weeks no problem after IKE.

[fishdog]

depends on what kind of furnace, check out the guardian homebackup generators .

[GPBradshaw]

Depends on the heat and water heater. If gas, you could run the whole house on a 10kw. If not and it is all electric, you are going to be in the 20kw area. My dad and I have a 20kw for our 2 houses, but we have gas everything. If you are just trying to get some things needing power, get a 8.5kw. That would let you run quite a bit. Just not much for electric heat.
Another way to look at this is 1500 sq ft house would use about a 3 ton ac and a 10kw heat and a 2500 sq ft house would use a 5 ton ac and 20kw worth of heat. That kinda shows you where all your money goes in the winter on your electric bill. Those both would take lots of power from a generator to make run.

Paul

[texag93]

6500 will get the basics but will not run a 220v heating unit. Does she have gas or electric heat? A gas house is much easier to run off a gen than a full electric.

[GR5]

I'm using a 10,000 watt diesel powered. It will run the 2400 sq ft house + 4 freezers/2 frigs-- shop and garage. 1- 24,000btu a/c. It will only run 1 240volt app at once. If we need to pump up the water well the a/c must be turned off as the hot water heater also. It has a 50 amp breaker on the generator. Install a plug where the gen can easily be hooked to the house

[Shotgun Slim]

I have a new(less than 3 hrs) run time 17.5 KW Guardian Ultra Source I am thinking of selling soon. It should run 4 ton AC and everything else. It is a portable unit. I think you may need a bigger Generator than a 3-8000 unit.

[NightStalker]

OK, Ill be the contrary one here. If you are not trying to push the AC, a big TV, or electric heat, you can get by with a much cheaper (and smaller) 3kw. I live out in the sticks and lose power all the time. I run the whole house with 3 kw.and I have a freezer and a full size fridge. Now, I throw the breakers and do without the electric water heater, and I have propane heat. Just depends on how rough you want to be. But for something you MIGHT use every three years, you may want to go easy on the wallet.

[Shotgun Slim]

OOOPPPPPPPsssssssss. How do I edit it.

[PEC]

The furnace is going to determine what you need.

[Mike D]

Like has already been said electric heat water heater is going to be the deal breaker.

A couple of things to consider.

1) How is it going to connect to the house? If through the electrical panel there really needs to be a transfer switch to keep from backfeeding to the utility lines. This could be BAD if utility power came on while the generator was connected directly to the panel. Not to mention the danger to the line workers that could be caused by backfeeding on to the utility lines. Transformers work backwards too. Even though you are only putting 240 volts into the panel, by the time it gets upstream to a transformer, the voltage can be in the thousands of volts.

2) What exactly is she wanting to run? If she wants to have full heating capabilities, then she's going to need a big one. Do you happen to know the size of the service to the house?

[switchback]

Northern tool has them

[Joey~AP]

Voltage x Amperage = Wattage

Determine the neccessities that you will want to run.

Check data plates for FLA (full load amps)

Add the amps up....mutiply times 220 or 110 (depending on the voltage of the fixture/equipment).....and you will know what wattage genny to get. It outta be upwards in the 10,000+ watt range.

Miller makes a home emergency generator that has welding capabilities. That is the route that I would go.

As Mike D said....you will need a transfer switch.

Please hire a licensed electrician for the installation. This isnt sumpin that you want your brother-in-laws, uncles, cousin to install.