When you buy a 5500 generator, it’s simple to ask: what will a 5500-watt generator run on? In your home power emergencies, it is generally believed that a 1200-1300 square meter home requires a 5000-to-7000-watt generator.
This capacity is sufficient to operate most household appliances. In the scale, the 5500-watt generator is at its lower end.
But it can fulfill all needs in case of power failure. This means it is a great alternative to restoring most home appliances needed for a home.
A Great Alternative For Emergency Power Outage
A 5500 watts generator is a great alternative for emergency power outages and this makes it the most commonly used home standby generator due to its price and performance ratio. It is a significantly affordable option among the home standby or residential generators and can operate basic home appliances like a 10,000 BTU air conditioner. This means that a 5500 watts generator marks the entrance into the home standby grid as anything of lower wattages will not run your household appliances, particularly your air conditioner or heating systems.
A 5500 watts generator is considered at the lower end of the residential generator scale but it is an adequate choice to power a 12,000-square-foot house. A medium-sized house with typical household electronic appliances will be properly backed up by this 5.5 KW generator and will cope with power outages that keep on disturbing the peace and comfort at home.
A homeowner can use this 5.5 KW generator to power the electric appliances that stopped working due to a sudden power blackout or frequent power outages. A common house doesn’t have many heavy-duty home appliances and even if it has one such as the central air conditioning or heating system then a mid-range generator may not be the ideal option for you.
A common medium-sized house will need to power a few lights, fans, a coffee maker, a toaster, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, a freezer, a television, and a few other basic electric appliances like your phone and laptop chargers. In that scenario, a 5500 watts generator will be more than enough for you as it can run all of the above-mentioned appliances and that too with ease. But the question arises will a 5500 watts generator run all the appliances at once?
Well, there is not a straightforward answer to this question and you would have to dig deep into your power requirements and the estimated wattages of the devices you want to run with your generator.
What Can I Run On A 5500 Watt Generator?
Now you may be wondering if a 5500 generator can run a welder.
The answer is you can because this generator is big enough with enough power to run a 225/125 AC/DC welder using an 8-inch diameter E6010.
You can even run your refrigerator with this type of generator. But, if you can run a welder, you’ll need a 15,000-watt alternator.
Since gas is a bit expensive, this is the least efficient way to work with generators. At least that’s when you want to run it for a long time.
To help generate cold air, refrigerators and freezers use electric motors and compressors.
You can have two different electric motors that produce the power of a triple starter.
The initial wattage should be 1,800 watts when the active wattage of each of these elements indicates 600 watts.
Avoid plugging many items into the circuit if you work with a 5500-watt generator. Microwave ovens use 750 to 1100 watts, depending on the model and brand.
To know more that let’s calculate the required wattage of the common household appliances and make an educated guess about the generator compatibility.
· Refrigerator/ Freezer
A portable 2000 to 2500 watts generator can run most common household appliances but it can only power a few basic appliances at once such as your phone charger, laptop charger, lights, television, and fans. But if you want to power your kitchen appliances like a refrigerator, freezer, toaster, blender, etc. you would have to have at least 4500 to 5500 watts of power. Therefore, a 5500 watts generator is the best deal to power your kitchen appliances at home.
· AC Window
The most difficult appliance to be powered with generators or other power backup sources is the air conditioning system. There is not a universal wattage of any air conditioning system and you will see many small wattage generators running an AC at your neighbor’s home but your bigger generator unit not doing so. Well, this is because the smaller BTU AC systems like that of a window are easier to be powered by the generators while the central cooling systems will not be running with anything less than 7.5 KW or 12 KW units.
A typical window AC has 10,000 BTU while there are many 5000 and 8000 BTU AC units also available on the market. The 10,000 BTU AC will be very easily powered by a 4000 to 5000 watts generator and this means that with your 5500 watts generator, you can smoothly run a 1 Ton AC (12,000 BTU).
Advantages Of 5500-Watt Generators:
If you have a 5500-watt generator, it can run many different appliances in your home.
These include lights, fans, radios, televisions, water pumps, hairdryers, electric heaters, and blankets. Indeed, it can operate all devices with less than 5500 watts of power.
Since they have enough watts, you can use them as a refrigerator with other low-wattage items while running a 5500-watt generator.
Surprisingly, television does not consume much energy. For example, it’s a 19-inch TV that uses only 65 watts.
The amazing thing is that a 61-inch projection TV uses only 170 watts. But water heaters consume a lot of electricity.
Surprisingly, it is a 40-gallon water heater that uses 4500 watts to 5500 watts.
If you use a 5500-watt generator, it will be able to run a water heater. However, it won’t be able to run anything else while the water heater is running.
When it comes to running a computer, it uses an average of 270 watts of power.
Depending on the size of your home and the model and brand of the fan, the whole house cooling with a fan can use anywhere from 240 watts to 750 watts.
However, it only consumes 60 watts when you use it in sleep mode. You can even run your laptop on just 50 watts.
Disadvantages Of 5500-Watt Generators:
The 5500-watt generator does not have proper idle control. Such high rotating power can sometimes affect the equipment, affecting your equipment and even leading to damage.
You will need to monitor the fuel of this generator regularly.
Although it will not turn off when the fuel is low, it is best to monitor it safely.
The price of this generator may be a little more than what you might be looking for. Maintenance and other parts can cost you more if you are looking for original parts.
As a result, maintenance can be a bit difficult economically.
You might want to check out the leaking of the fuel, which has been a problem for quite a few people. It should be kept away from children.
The related reviews about the engine that gets stuck, which does not allow pulling, resulting in a huge problem with the starting of the engine.
You should not trust completely the reviews or whatever information you get.
There might be situations where the specs of some things might be different, and then you could be in trouble. So be sure.
Also, you cannot keep it anywhere in the house as it can be harmful to children or if you have pets in the house.
Therefore, you must find a safe place for the generator, where children and the generator are safe together and free from damage in an accident.
They’re usually too loud, so you have to choose your location wisely, so it doesn’t bother you or anyone else. Firstly, you should hope you never have to use it because nobody likes trouble.
But if you do, be careful when starting the generator as well.
Our Recommendation:
The 5500-watt generator is the best and is specially designed for household use. It will keep your family connected and help you for many other purposes.
The performance of this generator is the best and is accepted by thousands of users worldwide.
You can run all the appliances in your home with a 5500-watt generator.
Although a single tool requires 4500 watts, you must unplug all other devices from the generator for it to function properly.
It would be helpful to make sure that the water heater does not exceed 5500 watts of power.
FAQs:
1. Which Oil Is The Best For A 5500 Generator?
The choice of engine oil depends upon the type of engine you have in your generator. The 5500 watts gasoline generators come with the OHV 4-stroke engine and therefore the SAE 10W 30 will be the best engine oil for colder areas. For those living in hotter areas, the SAE 5W30 will be the best option.
2. How Many Amps Does A 5500 Generator Provide?
The amperage produced by the generator is based on the voltage you are using to deliver the output power. The 120V power supply will have 45 amperes produced by a 5500 watts generator. While only 23 amperes of current will be delivered by a 5500 watts generator operating at 240 volts. To know the exact amperes produced by your generator, you can make use of the following formula.
Amp (A) = Watts (W) / Volts (V)
3. How Long Will A 5500 Watt Generator Run?
The runtime of a generator is not a universal statement and it will depend on various factors of which fuel consumption rate and the size of the fuel tank are the two most significant measures. In general, a 5500 watts generator will last you a good enough 11 hours at half load. Running it at the maximum load will sharply reduce the runtime while you can increase it significantly by running at a lesser load such as ¼ or 1/3 etc.
4. What Is The Best 5500 Generator With An Electronic Start?
The best 5500 watts generator with an electronic start is undeniably the WEN 7000E. It is a great home standby and a commercial unit that comes with an open frame body and many innovative techs to give you optimum performance. For those users looking for a quieter alternative, the Honda EU7000iS will be a great option.
Conclusion:
See More Articles:
What Will A 10000-Watt Generator Run?
What Will A 3500-Watt Generator Run?
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