Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
plus some of the new LED bulbs are dimmable (unlike CF bulbs), so the new LED bulbs will
allow you to stretch your limited generator or renewable-energy-system power even farther
than before!
To help you figure out what your generator or backup renewable energy system is capable
of powering,
table 4-1
illustrates how much power it will take to run a variety of appliances.
Simply make a list of each appliance, and next to that appliance list its watts/hour power-con-
sumption figure, and add these figures to find your total power-consumption value. For appli-
ances where multiples might be powered simultaneously, such as lightbulbs, be sure to multiply
the power usage by the number of individual items that may be powered at a single time. After
you add up the power consumption values for each appliance, you may decide to explore op-
tions where only certain combinations of appliances are powered at the same time, so as to not
overload your generator capacity.
If all of this sounds a bit confusing, don't worry too much, because modern generators are
usually equipped with a safety overload circuit breaker that will pop whenever you try to run
more appliances than your generator can handle. If the on-board circuit breaker keeps popping,
either there is a short circuit in one of your appliances, or you are attempting to run too many
appliances at the same time and you need to disconnect some of them.
Caution:
If your generator does not have an on-board overload protection circuit breaker,
then you must be extremely careful not to exceed the rated capacity of your generator!
Table 4.1 Typical appliance power consumption
Appliance
Watts/hour
Coffee pot
200
Coffee maker
800
Toaster
800-1,500
Popcorn popper
250
Blender
300
Microwave
600-1,500
Waffle iron
1,200
Hot plate
1,200
Frying pan
1,200
Dishwasher
1,200-1,500
Sink waste disposal
450
Washing machine
automatic 500 manual 300
Vacuum cleaner
upright 200-700 hand 100
Sewing machine
100
Iron
1,000
Clothes dryer
electric NA 4,000 gas heated 300-400
Heater
engine block NA 150-1,000 portable NA 1,500 waterbed NA 400 stock tank NA 100
