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So you’re looking at getting a generator but need to know what size to carry on your activities of normal daily living without the power interruptions we are having with the current load shedding. To assist you in choosing the right size generator, below is a table, by no means comprehensive, but with most of the household items we use on a daily basis so that you can caculate your daily electricity consumption.
All electrical appliances will carry labels stating how many watts are required for them to run. If the wattage is not stated then you can calculate the wattage by multiplying the volts by the amps. The table below is an approximate guide to the amount of electricity used by the most-used household appliances. Generally speaking, for items like TVs, etc. you will notice quite large variations and that is because the bigger the screen, the more power it uses. The same goes for an oven, the larger the oven, the more energy it uses. The table below represents the amount of watts per hour used by a particular item. | Appliance | Energy used (watts per hour) | | Tumble dryer | 4,000 – 6,000 | | Oven | 3,000 – 6,000 | | Air-conditioning unit | 1,000 – 6,000 | | Stereo System | 250 – 750 | | Computer | 1,000 – 1,500 | | Electric space heater | 2,000 – 4,000 | | Fan heater | 2,000 – 3,000 | | Kettle | 1,500 – 2,500 | | Hob | 1,000 – 2,000 | | Iron | 1,000 – 1,500 | | Toaster | 1,000 – 1,500 | | Dishwasher | 1,000 – 1,500 | | Hairdryer | 700 – 1,500 | | Microwave | 500 – 1,000 | | Washing Machine | 400 – 1,500 | | Fridge | 500 – 1,500 | | Freezer | 500 – 1,500 | | Vacuum Cleaner | 200 – 1,000 | | Television | 50 – 400 | | Video/DVD/Satellite | 50 – 400 | | Cooker Extractor Fan | 100 – 200 | | Bathroom Extractor Fan | 20 – 200 | | Regular light bulb | 40 – 150 | | Low-energy light bulb | 10 – 20 | | Fluorescent Light | 10 – 20 |
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The Building Process 
