Hello World! Welcome Friends! Power generators are incredibly useful household tools that can help you out in a variety of situations from natural disasters to gardening. Unfortunately, these are not backpack-size machines. Take a look at these 12000 Watt portable generator models to see what average movable generators look like. You may need a smaller one, but you can’t guess the right size without knowledge. This concise guide by electrogardentools.com experts will help you understand how powerful your portable generator should be to match your needs.
What Wattage Means
The wattage of a generator defines how much power it can produce. The calculations based on this rule seem to be easy, but you should understand starting, running, and surge wattages first.
The starting wattage is, of course, the amount of power needed to start a connected electric device. You should remember that the starting wattage is usually roughly 2-3 times higher than the amount of power needed for running the device. That’s not always the case, though. In most cases, this rule works for motorized devices, such as power equipment, fridges, heaters, etc. Smartphones, lightbulbs, or laptops need the running power to start charging.
The running wattage is always equal to the total wattage of connected appliances. Most modern portable generators are built with these figures in mind, but you should be attentive anyway. Finally, the surge wattage is the highest possible output power of a generator.
Essential Calculations
Of course, most generator manufacturers mention devices that can be powered by their generators in user manuals, but they rarely cover all the possible items. To calculate the right starting wattage for any appliance, you need to find its wattage in the user manual or on the device’s body. Another way is to multiply the amperage by voltage. Imagine that you want to turn on a refrigerator with 115 Volt AC power (VAC) and 7.2 Amps. The actual calculation will look like this: 115 Volts x 7.2 Amps = 828 Watts.
Next, multiply it by 3 to know the starting wattage (828 x 3 = 2484 Watts). The actual starting wattage will most probably be much lower than that, but it’s always better to have some extra power.
Extra Tips to Learn
Although starting wattage calculations are the most important, you should learn some more rules:
- Don’t connect sensitive devices to heavy-duty portable generators if their THD is above 3%. Portable inverter generators solve this problem.
- Always opt for a generator that produces at least 10% more power than you need. Otherwise, it will run too loudly on top loads and consume significantly more fuel.
- Don’t use portable generators to power up your house. This requires state grid and standby generators with transfer switches and higher outputs.
Easier Than It Seems
Now you can easily count how many Watts your portable generator should produce to power up all the needed electronic appliances. A portable generator will make you a much more versatile household owner. Always use the math not to damage your items, and enjoy the new opportunities!
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Top Tips When Designing Homes with Steel
Buying Your Kids Educational Toys
5 Things You Never Want To Hear in a Home Inspection
Favorites & Highlights – Top Posts of 2020
I’d love for you to join my email list! You’ll receive a notification straight to your inbox once a week which will include links to my latest home project posts! Simply enter your address below.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
[…] Friends! Home generators are available in various sizes and strengths that range from small portable generators to large home generators that can keep your whole house powered during an outage, even for extended […]