Overview of Generator Sizing
For South African households, having a generator is a great way to provide backup power when the electricity fails. But what size generator do you need for your house? This article will help you understand the process of determining your ideal home generator size and why it’s important to get right.
Understanding Generator Wattage
When shopping for generators, one of the most important specs to look at is wattage. The wattage tells you much power your generator can produce, and in turn how many appliances it can run or what type of loads it can operate successfully.
In general terms, small household items tend to require very little wattage (such as a laptop which may only use 40 watts). On the other hand larger equipment such as heaters might require 1000 watts or more. It’s important that whatever load(s) your plan on running with your generator are within its stated capacity so that they don’t overload it leading to potential damage and safety issues.
Calculating Your House Load Requirement
To determine what size generator would be best suited for powering up all/your essential household items during an outage requires some calculations first prior to making any purchases:
– Start by compiling a list of all electrical appliances you want powered by the gen-set in case of an outage e.g fridge/freezer; lights; TV etc
– For each appliance listed find out their respective wattages – these should either be specified on their labels or even better via their user manual if available
– Once this information has been gathered add them up together – this gives you total ‘load requirement’ figure required from your chosen gen-set
Choosing Your Home Generator Size
Now that we know our total load requirement we now need choose an appropriate sized machine from which meet those requirements ensuring not exceed its maximum output rating otherwise risk damaging both itself as well as connected electrical items due overloading . A good rule thumb here is opt for something slightly bigger than calculated value ensure no surprises down line in terms peak demand periods where multiple appliances switched same time thus increasing overall watt usage . Additionally also factor any extra runs like water pumps sump pumps etc although these generally have lower energy consumption still worth taking into account when choosing correct genset size . Overall sizing correctly vital step selecting suitable model avoid disappointment upon delivery being able fixture needed connect devices safely without compromising performance efficiency levels jeopardising anyone safety surrounding environment .
