A couple years ago the power in our area was out for two whole weeks because of ice and such, we stayed warm thanks to gas heating but now I'm in an all electric mobile home in the same area. All I want to power is the refrigerator, deep freeze, microwave, one laptop and at least one, maybe two little plug in heaters.I need to know what size/type generator to get and if I need a separate kit or anything in order to hook up to my mobile home. I don't want to buy the wrong type or size and find out it doesn't work in the middle of an ice storm again.Thank you for any and all help, it's very much appreciated.
Total the wattage of All of the devices you want on the generator. Typical heater is about 1500 watts, a microwave about 900, the freezer and the refrigerator about 1500 or 1800 watts each, totals to about 4500 watts. If you get a gas generator which is the least expensive type then a unit 1.5 times the total is the smallest you should choose for a typical run item these will probably be rated about 7500 watts peak. Any smaller and you risk brownouts that will destroy the equipment you are trying to operate. A 10% cushion is just too small for these smaller units. If you choose a more expensive diesel powered unit it is safer at the 7500 watts, if you choose natural gas or propane then it must be double the computed wattage.
add up the watts of the things you want to be on during an outage and get a generator with a little bit bigger output. you don't want to overwork a generator that's too small. bigger is always better.
Add the power for each item, total watts for each and then double it for the size of the generator. I suspect at least a 10 kw unit. The heaters will use a lot of power next is the refrigerator and the deep freeze. The microwave will need to be inspected for size but usually they run on 15 amps at 120 volts and can draw down the output of the generator when they start. You will need a transfer switch and the proper installation and inspection of it to your power panel and possibly need to notify the local power company that you have the back up generator wired into the unit. Electric heat on a generator is not a good idea rather try to get a fossil fuel heat source that vent to the open air, this will allow a smaller generator to be used. I suggest you consult a local qualified professional electrician to do the work so they can properly size and install the package.
Add up the wattage and look for the correct size to supply it.
