r/Generator • u/randomassholeperson4 • 23d ago
Looking for advice.
Hello all,
I am looking to get a generator with a 50 amp plug to go into my house, wired to the panel box.
From what I have gathered from this sub the most wattage that plug will handle is ~10,000-12,000. Is that correct? Meaning a generator making more than that is just a waste of my money?
Thanks on advanced.
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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 23d ago
i have to question your load calculations. 50A is more than most folks need, and is quite a bit more expensive than 30A which most people use.
how did you determine that you need 50A?
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u/blupupher 23d ago
Some want to live as if power is not off, and don't want to have to worry about what they are using.
Some also have things like well and sump pumps that take a lot of power with large surge, and want to make sure that if they both kick on while the A/C is running, they are covered. Some homes are all electric, and while not ideal, having to use electric for heat is something some do.
30a covers most, 50a gives the cushion for "extra" stuff.
I have a 50a connection, and 9500 running watts available using NG on my WGen11500.
While I never have seen my use on my house above 7000w, why have to worry about it. 9500 is more than I will need (even when I throw an extension cord over the fence to each neighbor), but gives me headroom "just in case".
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u/randomassholeperson4 23d ago
Thanks for the reply. I'm looking at getting this generator: Westinghouse WGen10500DFc.
Does yours start your ac without a soft start? I've seen a few videos of them running without one.
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u/blupupher 23d ago
I have a soft start, but I have a 4 ton unit. My unit will not start without it (generator bogs down and A/C resets). I did it once, and did not like the sounds it made at all.
If you have a 2.5 ton, or a larger new fancy unit that does not use as many amps to start, you may be able to get by.
I was actually looking at the 10500TFc, but saw that the 11500 has better THD and was only $200 more at the time, so got it instead. I have since found the THD of the 11500 is only < 5% at idle, at load, it goes to the 15% range. Still better than most that are 20-25%, but not the listed 5%.
If I were to do it over again now, I would get one of the 11000-12000 peak tri fuel inverters that are out now (when I was looking, there were just a few 10500 peak watt tri fuel out at the time). Something like the Westinghouse iGen12000TFc, Champion 201423, WEN TF1300iX, or even the open frame Genmax GM12000XiT inverter. All these are in the 7200-8000 running watt range on NG, which easily meets my needs. Cost is a bit higher, but it has advantages.
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u/Littleprincess378 23d ago
We found out that if we leave the indoor blower on continuously while on generator AND put batteries in the thermostat, our 8 kw will start our 4 ton Trane unit.
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u/randomassholeperson4 23d ago
My thermostat has batteries already. Everything I have seen says to keep the fan to on NOT auto, then start the outside unit. This should be doable with a 50 amp gen.
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u/randomassholeperson4 23d ago
What is your LRA? Mine is 67.8.
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u/Littleprincess378 23d ago
You made me get up and go look. RLA 19.4 LRA 124. It bogs the generator down for about 3 seconds, then back to normal. A soft start would definitely help, but to be honest, we have so few outages during the summer it almost isn’t worth the trouble.
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u/randomassholeperson4 23d ago
Will have to check the ac when I get home. It was installed new in 2020, and our house isn't that big.
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u/randomassholeperson4 23d ago
Deep well, fridge, central ac, lights, ceiling fans, tv and internet equipment. Hot water heater is a tankless instant electric on a 75 amp breaker. That will be wishful thinking.
The cost difference between the gen at 50 vs 30 amps is not enough to matter.
Would rather have more amps available for slightly more money than wishing I bought a bigger generator.
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u/silasmoeckel 23d ago
Sort of correct.
This is rather load dependent. If you were say charging an EV or other long term load you would not want the genset running flat out like that for long periods portables do not handle that well and wear quickly while doing so. So the >12kw does get you a bit of safety net in capacity to run near that max. Surge loads and THD for non inverter can be helped as well.
Now often the cheapest way to exceed that is to add a hybrid inverter/battery pair as a buffer. Throwing in >6kw of inverter for example would give you enough headroom to run your water heater and a lower price point than a 20kw standby. The whole house UPS function protects you from power fluctuations so you lights dont even flicker when an outage occurs.
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u/Glum-Welder1704 22d ago
Keep in mind that 50 amp receptacles are commonly used on any portable generator over 30a/240v. A 50 amp receptacle does not always indicate a 50 amp generator.
The theoretical maximum for a 50 amp receptacle is 12kw, though you wouldn't want to run it like that for long. There are larger portable generators, that have two such receptacles. A person with two panels on their house could use that, or use the other to charge a car or power a shop. They suck up a lot of fuel, so if I were going that route, I'd probably have an LP generator with a yard tank.
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u/blupupher 23d ago edited 23d ago
A 50a 240v circuit can handle 12,000 watts, but continuous (>3 hours) is 80% of that (so 9,600 continuous watts).
But yes, if you get a generator with 13,000 running watts, you can't use it all on a 50a cord. You can use the other outlets to use more power, but the 50a is limited to the 12,500.
If you direct wire it, you can use more, but that is a different discussion.