What Kind of Generator do I Need for my House?

Electricity is one of the modern conveniences we take for granted. A brief power outage is all it takes to remind us how completely reliant we are on it. With today’s aging infrastructure and severe weather events, the frequency and duration of power outages could increase, but we don’t have to remain powerless. There are many types of backup generators for your home that can keep daily life operating following a blackout.

Generators for Your House

There are different types of generators for home use, depending on where you live and what you need to power. By understanding which one performs the best in different scenarios, you’ll be able to determine which one makes the best investment.

Houses With Occasional Power Outages

If you live in an area with reliable power (underground power cable) and without major hurricanes, wildfires, or other disasters that regularly interrupt your power supply, then a portable generator is your best bet. They are great for houses that suffer only a few, short outages per year. 

All portable home generators will require manual operation, whether you connect them to appliances with an extension cord or connect them directly to the circuit using a manual transfer switch. If you choose the transfer switch, it needs to be installed by a professional.

You will also need to decide on a fuel source. Diesel, gasoline, and propane are commonly available fuel types, but you can also get solar, dual-fuel, or even tri-fuel options. These alternative fuel options could prove useful in disaster situations where there might be a gas shortage.

Also, never run generators indoors or less than 10 feet away from doors or windows because they produce deadly carbon monoxide in their exhaust.

Portable generators can further be narrowed down by their wattage output. The following are general wattage guidelines. To find actual starting and running wattage requirements, you will need to check your appliances or their manuals. Older, less efficient appliances might require extra watts to power larger motors.

Portable Generators by Wattage

Below are estimates of the power that different portable generators can provide based on their wattage. Each generator's runtime will vary depending on the number of appliances it's powering. Always consult the generator's product manual or view our product page to know its specific power limits and run times.

• Small portable generators: Provide less than 3,000 watts and are great for short power outages when you need it to last a few hours. They will power your essentials such as lights, microwaves, or refrigerators. Keep in mind that the more appliances you attempt to power, the less overall runtime you will have.
• Medium portable generators: Provide 3,000-6,000 watts and are still meant for essentials but have larger fuel tanks, so that they can power more of them for longer. Here, you might have the luxury of cooking dinner in the microwave while the fridge stays on, and your sump pump keeps the basement dry. An added benefit to small and medium portable generators is their ease of transportation for activities like camping. Large and Extra-large generators are semi-permanent and cannot easily be moved.
• Large portable generators: Provide 6,000-9,000 watts and can power multiple rooms when used with a manual transfer switch instead of an extension cord (which is safer). They can handle every appliance except for certain pieces of hardwired equipment, which require a high number of surge or starting watts.
• Extra-large portable generators: These are the largest portable options, providing 10,000 watts or more of power. These generators often come with an electric start button and are used in conjunction with a manual transfer switch to power hardwired equipment, such as well pumps, central furnaces, and security systems. If the severity of power outages in your area justifies purchasing a standby generator, you may want to consider one (see below).

Inverter Generator

Know that if you want to power sensitive electronic devices, such as computers, phone chargers, and newer, high-tech refrigerators, you will need a generator with a total harmonic distortion (THD) of less than 5%. THD refers to how “clean” the electricity is.

A generator with high THD could potentially fry electronics and is an important consideration. If you absolutely need to keep sensitive equipment powered, then an inverter or standby generator, which produces clean power, is the solution.

If you need help sizing your portable generator, use our generator wattage calculator to figure out your power needs. Just choose which appliances you want to power, and the calculator will give you a range of generator options.

Houses with Frequent Power Outages

If you live in a hurricane zone or can count on regular natural disasters, you should consider installing an automatic home standby or whole-house generator. Even if you don't, it's nice having the security that a standby provides.

Portable generators are not designed to be used for days or weeks on end, which might be how long you need to wait for utility power to be restored in a storm’s aftermath.

A standby generator differs from a portable generator in the following ways:

• Permanent: Unlike a portable unit, which needs to be rolled or carried around, whole-house generators are installed once by an electrician. Natural gas, propane, diesel, and dual fuel models are available to power the standby.
• Automation: Standby generators use automatic transfer switches, which connect to the circuit breaker board in a house. When utility power goes out, the automatic transfer switch turns the standby generator on to energize the entire home without you having to lift a finger.
• Output: While the largest portable generators produce around 17 kilowatts, standby generators can generate 150 kilowatts or more of clean power that can handle all your appliances, even sensitive electronics. They must do so to power your entire house for days or weeks.
• HVAC: Many homeowners wonder what size generator they need to run an air conditioner. Standby generators will do the trick, and that is what we always recommend for those applications. Portable generators cannot reliably keep a central air conditioning system running, especially since they typically cannot handle the watts required to start the system (surge watts).

The size of your standby will depend on your home’s power needs, especially when it comes to the a/c system.

Generators for Mobile Homes

For those in mobile or manufactured homes, the same principles apply as in the above two sections.

• For mobile homes in locations with short, infrequent power outages, a portable generator will be your best bet. Keep in mind that some mobile home parks may have noise restrictions, so find out the generator’s decibel rating. Quiet inverter generators are a great solution for meeting noise requirements and short-term power needs.
• Mobile homeowners in areas with frequent power outages may consider installing a standby generator. Be sure to check with your mobile home park before pursuing this option, however.

Generators for Apartments

If you live in an apartment, you cannot use any gas-powered generator unless you can keep it outside at least 10 feet away from doors or windows. The exhaust from the combustion engine contains carbon monoxide, which is deadly.

Most likely, you will need a solar-powered portable generator. In addition to using solar panels, these units can also charge through a wall outlet when you have utility power and be ready to go when you lose it.

They are small, low-wattage (160-3,000 starting watts) generators, but can power your essentials for several hours, assuming you don’t have too many appliances plugged in at once. For example, some units can power a refrigerator for 10-14 hours if that is the only connected appliance.

Solar generators can also power your sensitive electronic equipment because they produce a perfect sine wave of electricity and have zero THD.

Buying a Generator for Your House

As you can see, there’s a power solution no matter what your living arrangement. Now that you know how to choose a generator for home use, you will be able to keep taking electricity for granted during a power outage. After all, why should you ever have to live without it?