Household Wattage Usage Chart

Appliances and tools with induction motors marked in tables may require from 3 to 7 times the listed wattage when starting.

Household wattage usage chart. Use the chart and the following steps to help you determine how powerful your portable generator should be. Select items from the chart that you would like to power at the same time. These are approximate values only. Household utility furnace fan gas or fuel only sump pump 1 3 hp well pump.

Wattage reference chart at right contains examples of what you can power with a portable generator. Appliance rated watts surge watts survival appliances light bulbs 75 each 75 each. Allow 2 times the listed running watts for starting these devices. Wattage reference chart the following reference chart will help you to see how much electricity normal household items consume when they are turned on.

Surge watts is what it takes to turn on the item. Multiply the hours used on the average day by the wattage listed below. Fill in the running watts. We hope these tables charts will help you to better estimate how big and powerful generator you will need as a backup source of power.

Remember that some items such as garage door openers are used only for a fraction of an hour or minute per day. Rated watts is when the item is running. The following list points out typical values for the wattage of some devices you would find in your home so that you can compare them. The actual wattage required for your appliances may differ from those listed.

Cfl light bulb x4 15 watt electric water heater. A 300 watt item used for 5 minutes per day will only consume 25 watt hours per day. As some appliances have various names this could help find it on the other name s column. Use the search tool on your web browser to find the name of the appliance.

You should check the appliance for actual ratings. Room air conditioner 10 000 btu central air conditioner 24 000 btu box fan 20 ceiling fan. This will give you the watt hours consumed per day. Led plasma lcd 50.