A home backup generator is very useful to have in case of a power failure. It can keep the lights and the freezer going. A larger home backup generator can ensure everything electrical in your house keeps running as it should. When you’re looking for a home backup generator, you need to know what size of generator to buy. How do you work out what you need in a backup home generator? At Electricians Los Angeles we install and repair home backup generators.
Types Of Generators
When it comes to a home backup generator you have a choice between one that’s small and portable or a larger unit that’s wired in to your house electrical system and that will automatically take over in the event of a power failure.
With a portable generator, one of around 5000 watts, you’re not going to be able to run everything in your home, but you will be able to take care of the basics. This means you’ll have light and you’ll be able to make sure the food in your freezer isn’t ruined. Usually this will mean a large extension cord from the generator with small cords to the appliances. That’s a lot of work.
Calculating Wattage
Your home backup generator needs to create a greater wattage than the appliances you’re running can use. That’s simple mathematics. To know the size of generator you need you need to know how much wattage each appliance pulls.
That’s not too difficult to find. Either the owner’s manual or simple research will be able to tell you. A light fixture with a 60 watt bulb pulls 60 watts, for instance. Total up all the lights in your house that you’ll want to run from the home backup generator to give the figure for lights. Think about which appliances are vital, such as the freezer and refrigerator. Total up the wattage for each of them. You need to allow a cushion between the total wattage you need and the amount put out by the home backup generator.
Startup Wattage
One problem is that the start up wattage of many appliances is much higher than the running wattage. In the case of a refrigerator, for example, it’s more than double the running wattage. You need to be able to factor this in when calculating the total wattage. This is why having a comfortable cushion of power is so vital. That start up wattage is also known as the surge wattage, and is there in every appliance when it’s first switched on.
Powering Your Home
You’ll find that a home backup generator will have an extra surge capacity to allow for the surge when appliances are switched on. With a 5000 watt generator this will be an extra 1000 watts. This will increase with the size of generators, but still leave a cushion. To power everything in your house you’ll need a home back generator that runs between 20 kilowatts and 30 kilowatts; the larger generator will give you the extra amount you might need.
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