FL StormPower GuideFlorida backup power & storm prep costs

What size generator do you need?

Check the equipment you’d run during an outage — and how many of each. We total your running watts, add the starting surge of your largest motor (compressors and pumps spike 2–4× when they kick on), then add a 25% safety margin and snap the result up to a real generator size.

Your appliances

Essentials
700 W running · 2,200 W start
The most common load people forget to surge-budget.
1
500 W running · 1,500 W start
60 W running · 60 W start
3
20 W running · 20 W start
1
15 W running · 15 W start
2
65 W running · 65 W start
200 W running · 200 W start
1,000 W running · 1,000 W start
900 W running · 900 W start
800 W running · 1,300 W start
1,000 W running · 2,200 W start
1,500 W running · 3,000 W start
Optional in an outage — many owners let the pool sit.
Comfort (Florida heat)
100 W running · 200 W start
1
75 W running · 150 W start
1,200 W running · 2,200 W start
One room of real cooling during an outage.
1,100 W running · 1,800 W start
3,500 W running · 9,000 W start
A soft-starter kit can cut surge roughly in half.
4,500 W running · 12,000 W start
Almost always means a standby unit.
Heavy loads
4,500 W running · 4,500 W start
2,000 W running · 2,000 W start
500 W running · 1,500 W start
5,000 W running · 5,000 W start

How generator sizing works

  1. List your loads. Every appliance has a running wattage (what it draws continuously) and a starting wattage (the brief spike when a motor starts).
  2. Add running watts. Sum everything you’d run at the same time.
  3. Add the largest single surge. You don’t add every surge together — motors rarely start at the same instant — but your generator must clear the biggest one on top of the running total.
  4. Add a safety margin. A generator running at 100% load trips easily, burns fuel fast, and dies young. 20–25% headroom is the industry-standard cushion.
Florida tip: budget for coolingIn most states, sizing for “essentials” is enough. In Florida, a post-hurricane outage means 90°F+ heat and humidity — size for at least a window or portable AC if anyone in the home is heat-vulnerable.