sigtauenus
Active Member
I'm trying to find an easier way to calculate my entire house load besides adding up every single applicance and light bulb.
I just pulled my last 2 years worth of electric bills and found that I have a max use of 3007 kWh in Aug 09 (which would have included both max a/c and pool pump use), and a 2 year average of 1896.
I saw some online how-to's for this that said to take that 3007 peak and divide it by 30 days and then divide it by 8 hours assuming that you only use electricity for 8 hours during the day (8 sleeping, 8 at work). However, during peak periods, my heat pump is running 24/7 so that calculation is an inaccurate assumption.
Then the how-to says to take you largest appliance, such as a oven, which would be 50A and 240V to get 12KW, add the number from my electric bill, and that's the generator size I need for whole-house. Also, just because an appliance is on a 50A circuit doesn't mean it is going to use it all.
Using that math, I have a need for a 25KW generator. That is insane!
I'm thinking a 17-20KW would be good, and even that would likely be excessive. If we are in the middle of a hurricane, I likely won't have the oven on, and if I'm home I can surely turn off the pool pump and turn up the thermostat (to run the heat pump less, or turn it down in the winter), and if I'm not home (assuming an automatic switch), I won't have the oven on, it would be just the fridge, water heater, and heat pump running, and I guess some clocks.
Suggestions?
I just pulled my last 2 years worth of electric bills and found that I have a max use of 3007 kWh in Aug 09 (which would have included both max a/c and pool pump use), and a 2 year average of 1896.
I saw some online how-to's for this that said to take that 3007 peak and divide it by 30 days and then divide it by 8 hours assuming that you only use electricity for 8 hours during the day (8 sleeping, 8 at work). However, during peak periods, my heat pump is running 24/7 so that calculation is an inaccurate assumption.
Then the how-to says to take you largest appliance, such as a oven, which would be 50A and 240V to get 12KW, add the number from my electric bill, and that's the generator size I need for whole-house. Also, just because an appliance is on a 50A circuit doesn't mean it is going to use it all.
Using that math, I have a need for a 25KW generator. That is insane!
I'm thinking a 17-20KW would be good, and even that would likely be excessive. If we are in the middle of a hurricane, I likely won't have the oven on, and if I'm home I can surely turn off the pool pump and turn up the thermostat (to run the heat pump less, or turn it down in the winter), and if I'm not home (assuming an automatic switch), I won't have the oven on, it would be just the fridge, water heater, and heat pump running, and I guess some clocks.
Suggestions?
