When sizing a generator for your house add up all the appliances in your household this will give you the total approximate wattage required to run your house, keep in mind that all the appliances will not be used at once. Once you have approximated the wattage lets covert to kVA for your generator size.
To convert watts to kVA, you can use the formula:
For a common rule of thumb is to use a power factor of 0.8 for general household appliances when specific information is not available
Click here: Watts to kVA calculator
Wattage Estimation Table:
| Appliance | Running Watts |
| Air conditioner Large wall | 3500 |
| Air conditioner small window | 2300 |
| Refrigerator | 100-800 |
| Microwave Oven | 600-1200 |
| Dishwasher | 1200-1500 |
| Clothes Dryer | 2000-6000 |
| Washing Machine | 500-6000 |
| Tv LCD | 50-150 |
| Tv LED | 30-100 |
| Plasma | 200-400 |
| Computer Laptop | 20-50 |
| Computer Desktop | 100-800 |
| Electric Oven | 2000-5000 |
| Toaster | 800-1500 |
| Coffee Maker | 600-1200 |
| Electric Kettle | 1200-2400 |
| Ceiling Fan | 10-120 |
| Vacuum Clearner | 500-1500 |
| Space Heater | 1000-2400 |
| Water Heater(Tank) | 3000-4500 |
| Iron | 1000-1800 |
| Light Bulbs | 20-40 |
The above wattages are for reference only giving approximations guide only, for best please check the data plate or manual on your appliances for exact running and start wattage. look online for the information or use a wattage meter to get the right starting & running wattage amount. If all seem too hard consult your local electrician.
Your generators load should not be more than 80% of the generators capacity, so not overloading.
Feel free to call one of our specialist a call to assist in sizing the right generator.
Phone: 1800 436 372 Syd: 02 8005 6040 Mel: 03 9013 4400 Bris: 07 3102 5700
Click here for: Home Generators
Case Study: Home Backup
| Appliance | Running Wattage | Starting Wattage |
| Refrigerator | 700 | 1400 |
| Microwave Oven | 800 | 1050 |
| Tv | 250 | 250 |
| Computer Laptop | 50 | 50 |
| Computer Desktop | 300 | 300 |
| Electric Oven | 1600 | 1600 |
| Coffee Maker | 1200 | 1200 |
| Ceiling Fan | 80 | 80 |
| Water Heater(Tank) | 2400 | 2400 |
| Lights | 200 | 200 |
| Totals: | 7580 | 8530 |
Listed above are the appliances typically used in a power outage.
On the Starting Wattage column has a total of 8530 watts if all the appliances are use on startup. On the Running column is the wattage used when running 7580 watts. By not using all the appliances at once this will reduce the wattage even lower. In this example you could use a 8kVA or 10 kVA generator.