How to Size a Home Generator

Are you in the market for a home standby generator, but don’t know what size you actually need? This process is best determined by examining a few major considerations...

Some websites offer questionnaires designed to help homeowners identify which size unit is best suited for their homes, but we’ve found that these forms are often unhelpful and don’t ask the right questions. You might assume you could make some conclusions about what size you would need based on square footage, but it’s actually more helpful to identify all appliances utilizing electric power. Here are series of questions that might actually be helpful in understanding your power consumption:

• How many residents live in the home?
• Do any of the residents work from home?
• Are any of the residents retired?
• How many of your major appliances are electric?
• Are your HVAC systems electric or gas powered?

Power consumption is not always perfectly linear, but being able to answer these major usage related questions will put you in a better position to understand what you want to power and what your power requirements will be. Just for reference, a larger home with few major appliances occupied by an older couple may actually use less power than a mid-sized family living in a smaller home. 

If you have electrical experience, you may be able to do a pretty good job of rounding out your actual usage in watts/kilowatts. Once you’ve made that determination it’s a simple matter of picking a generator that gives you a pretty solid margin of error (for example if you determined that your usage is around 15kW, it would be recommended to go up to 17kW, and not down to 13kW). Of course, doing all of that is easier said than done.

We offer all homeowners free power assessments to help them better understand their power consumption and what size and type of generator would work best for them. Our experts can help you evaluate what is most necessary for you to power, what you absolutely have to power and what sizes are needed to accomplish those goals. It is often the case that some homeowners only want to power certain things, while others want to power their entire home. 

If you’re working with a contractor that does not immediately offer you a power assessment, consider asking for one or at-least requesting that they take a look at the installation site before starting the project. This will give your contractors an opportunity to make recommendations that they might not be able to over the phone or by email. 

Hurricane Home Solutions operates in the majority of New York State and has offices in Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. Give us a call today or complete an online form here to inquire about a hassle-free power assessment.