HOW MANY WATTS
DO YOU NEED?

SPECIAL NOTE:

As noted on this page some items have a much higher start up wattage then others. What does this mean?

Appliances with motors require higher start up power, this should make since given Newton and the Laws of Motion. However how much effort does it take to put that "body" in motion? In this case a motor. For a simple explanation lets use a motor vehicle for an example. A lot more gas is expended when driving in start and stop conditions then when driving cross country. So what does this mean?

As far as you and I are concerned - Who cares?

Well you should, and let me explain why and how you can help. As a very simple example; lets say that the power company (FPL) can supply 30 watts or power at full output. Now lets say we have 3 houses connected to the power company (A,B, and C). Each house has all the regular comforts of home, with the following power requirements.

  running/startup
Appliances 2 watts/5 watts
Lighting 3 watts
Entertainment 5 watts
TOTAL 10 watts/13 watts


From the example above we can see that when all houses are running they consume a total of 10 watts each, 10 X 3 = 30 watts. The power company can handle this and everyone is happy.

Now lets assume that a power outage has occurred and when power is restored all homes come back online. We'll if you are paying attention you can see that we have a problem. Startup power for each house is 13 watts, 13 X 3 = 39 watts. As you have probably guessed by now something is not going to work or worse over time the appliances in the house will become damaged due to a weakened power startup load. Most likely on a large scale, the power will fail again until something is taken offline at one of the houses or the power company can produce the 39 watts required for startup.

How can I help?

The purpose of this little example is to explain how you can help the power company as well as protect yourself. When power is lost you should go to your main circuit panel and turn off all of your circuit breakers until power is restored and has been maintained for at least 10 minutes. Some circuit panels will have a main disconnect at the top of the panel. This will cut power to all circuits within the panel and provided a single place for controlling the power instead of 20 or 30 different branch circuit breakers.

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How big of a generator do I need?

To Select a model that has enough power, add the watts for items you may want to run at the same time. Use the highest total wattage as your minimum power requirement.

* Appliances and tools with induction motors may require 3 to 7 times the above listed wattage when starting. Be sure to check the specific wattage requirements and operating instructions for appliances / tools to be used.

* Note: The above wattages are estimates. The actual wattage required for your appliances may differ from those listed above. Check the nameplate on your appliance to determine the wattage required. For more accurate wattage readings and to check the performance of your appliances simply clamp an analog or a digital amp meter around one leg of your power cable.

USEFUL FORMULA;   WATTS = VOLTS  x AMPS

Household Electrical Appliances

APPLIANCE                        WATTS APPLIANCE                     WATTS
Radio AM/FM. . . . . . . . . . .50 / 200 Iron . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200
Radio CB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Blender* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
100 W. Light Bulb . . . . . . . . . . .100 Juicer* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300
500 W. Floodlight . . . . . . . . . . .500 Mr. Juicer II* . . . . . . . . . . . . . .500
1000 W. Floodlight . . . . . . . . . 1000 Power Juicer* (Jack LaLane). . . 700
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Waffle Iron . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 1100
Window Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 Electric Frying Pan . . . . . . . . . 1150
Compact Disc Player & Radio . . 85 Electric Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..1250
Stereo & Turntable  . . . . . . . . . 100 Hot Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1500
Color TV . . . . . . . . . . . . .300 / 400 Toaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1100
VCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Toaster ( 4 slice ) . . . . . . . . . . 1800
DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Toaster Oven . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200
Automatic Washer* . . . . . . . . .1250  Electric Range, (6 inch element) . . 1500
Clothes Dryer (Gas) . . . . . . . . . 700 Electric Range, (8 inch element) . . 2100
Clothes Dryer (Electric) . . . . . .5500 Electric Oven .. . . . . . . . . . . . .4000
Dishwasher*   . . . . . . . . . . . . .1500  (hot water wash cycle) Microwave Oven . . . . . . . . . . . 800
Personal Computer . . . . . .400 / 700 Convection Oven . . . . . . . . .   1500
Laptop Computer . . . . . . . . . .  .50 Food Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Furnace Fan* (1/3 hp) . . . . . . .1000
Scanner . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Ceiling Fan. . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .  30
Zip Drive  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Pelonis Heater . . . . . . 1000 to 1200
Answering Machine .. . . . . . . . . . 5 Space Heater  (avg.) . .1000 to 1500
Freezer* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .500 GE Space Heater  . . . .1000 to 1500
Refrigerator/Freezer* . . . . . . . . .800 Food Dryer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260
Refrigerator/Freezer* (side x side) . . .950 Hot Tub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1700
Vacuum Cleaner*  . . . . . .  . . . .750 Hot Tub Pump* . . . . . . . .  . . . 750
Bread Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600 Dehumidifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Electric Blanket . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Water Conditioner. . . . . . . . . . . .30
Coffee Grinder . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Electric Hot Water Heater   . . . 5000
Coffee Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . .1550 (hot water heating element) Garage Door Opener  . . . .. . . . .750
Coffee Maker / Mr. Coffee. . . . 800 Home Security System  . . . . . . .300
Cappuccino Maker . . . . . . . . .1550 (hot water heating element)

Common Tools

ELECTRIC  TOOL         WATTS ELECTRIC  TOOL          WATTS
Jig Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300 Circular Saw* (6 1/2") . . . . . . 1000
Miter Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600 Circular Saw* (7 1/4") . . . . . . 1200
Sabre Saw* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 Circular Saw* (8 1/4") . . . . . . 1800
Makita Chop Saw*. . . . .  . . . 1550 Impact Wrench* (1") . . . . . . .1200
Sawzall* . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . 750 Drill* (1/4")  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250ce
Planer . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . 1650 Drill* (3/8")  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200 Drill* (1/2")  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750
Jointer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1450 Drill Doctor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Lathe*  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .900 Portable Grinder* . . . . . . . . . .1380
Disc Sander . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200 Concrete Vibrator* (2 hp) . . . .2100
Drill Press* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 Winch* . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .1800
Band Saw* . . . . . .  . . . . . . . 1200 Electric Chain Saw* (14") . . . .1200
Table Saw*. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1800 Grass Edger * . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000
Makita Cut Off Saw* . . . . . . 1000 Weed Trimmer* . . . . . . . . . . . .500
Airless Sprayer* (1/2 hp) . . . . 700 Electric Lawn Mower*. . . . . . .1500
Air Compressor* (120v. 1/2 hp) . . .1200  /  2500 Electric Pressure Washer*. . . . 1200  /  3600
Air Compressor* (120v. 3/4 hp) . . .1750  /  3000 12v Battery Charger. . . . . . . . . .120
Air Compressor* (120v. 1 hp) . . . . 2500  /  4000 Wet/Dry Shop Vac* (5 h.p.). . 1000 / Rigid (Brand)
1/6 h.p. elec. motor . . . . . . . .200* Wet/Dry Shop Vac*(5.5 hp). . 1100
1/4 h.p. elec. motor . . . . . . . .300* Wet/Dry Shop Vac* (6 h.p.). . 1200
1/3 h.p. elec. motor . . . . . . . .360*

Household Appliances that use Induction Motors

         Well Pumps                                  Running

Starting

          Air Conditioners                  Running

Starting
               1/3 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . . .750*           1400-3000                  5,000 BTU . . . . . . . . . . . 1250*           1750-3400
               1/2 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . .1000*

2100-4000

               10,000 BTU . . . . . . . . . . .  2400*

3000-4750
               3/4 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . .1850*

2800-5000

               20,000 BTU . . . . . . . . . . .  3250*

4000-6800
               1.0 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . .2250*          3500-6500               24,000 BTU ( 2 Ton ) . . . .  3750*          4950-8500
               1.5 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . .2750*

3800-8000

               30,000 BTU (2.5 Ton) . . . . 4250*

6000-11,000
         Sump Pumps               Space               36,000 BTU ( 3 Ton ) . . . .  4900*

9000-16,000
               1/3 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . . 800*

1300-2900

               48,000 BTU ( 4 Ton ) . . . .  6850*

12,800-20,000
               1/2 Horsepower . . . . . . . . . . . 1050*          2150-4100               60,000 BTU ( 5 Ton ) . . . .  8000*       15,800-28,000
         Submersible Pump               Space               90,000 BTU (7.5 Ton) . . . 12,500*       25,000-50,000
               400 GPH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200*             400-600                               Space                 Space
         Heat Pump                Space                          Space               Space
               3,000 Sq. Ft. Home . . . . . 4000 to 5000*

10,000-12,500

                          Space                  Space