Running Appliances on a 5,500 Watt Generator
“What can I run on a 5500 watt generator?” We have all been there, dealing with power outage at exactly the wrong time. While power outage for a few hours can be managed albeit painfully, problem arises when you live in a place where electricity supply is unstable.
Natural disasters may also put us without electricity for days at a time. This is the primary reason many homeowners turn to generator.
A Great Alternative For Emergency Power Outage
For emergency situations, household power needed in a house may vary from one house to another. Depending on how large your house is, a 1,200-square foot houses typically need a 5,000 watt generator to be properly power common household items. While 5,500 watt generator is considered as the lower end of the generator scale, it’s still an adequate substitute.
Homeowners will be able to regain most of the function of their most important electrical appliances in the home. However, it’s worth noting that electrical appliances that produce heat in order to function generally do not require more wattage.
Coffee machines, electric water heaters and televisions are among few electrical appliances that do not need more start-up wattage.
Generators with 5,500 watt generally has the ability to handle most of your electrical appliances. However, it comes with one caveat, and it’s the fact that you cannot do so all at once. Hence the importance of knowing the answer to “What can I run on a 5500 watt generator?” question.
Freezers And Refrigerators
Both freezers and refrigerators use a compressor and an electric motor in order to be able to generate cold air. In essence, you will have two electric motors which is translated to triple start-up wattage.
If each of the running wattage of this appliances is indicated as 600-watts, the start-up wattage will be 1,800-watts. When you are running a 5,500-watt generator, avoid plugging too many appliances into the circuit.
Of course this only happens in the beginning. Note that start-up wattage is typically greater than running wattage. With that being said, unplug other appliances before you start up the generator.
Plug your freezer and refrigerators into it and allow them to generate cold air first in the beginning. Once running as normally, it will automatically be brought down to 600-watt. You may plug other appliances back into it.
Pay Attention To Power Requirements
To determine how many electrical appliances you can plug into your 5,500-watt generator, you must find out power requirements of each appliance.
Fortunately, this information can be accessed easily as they are supplied on the label affixed to the power cord. While the information are typically listed in watts, some appliances only feature draw in amps. In this situation, simply multiply the amperage by the appliance’s voltage.
By multiplying these two numbers, you will be able to find out the power requirements of your appliance. Need an example of how many appliances to plug into the circuit in the winter?
Your 5,500-watt generator is more than capable of handling your heater, lights, either radio or television, refrigerator and other small appliances. If you decide on plugging your refrigerator, remember to unplug your microwave, washing machine, and electric range. Now you don’t need to wonder about “What can I run on a 5500 watt generator?” anymore!