What size generator for home fridge support

[RVTravel]

For home fridge support for a few days after this hurricane?....would 2000 support a typical home fridge used a few times per day to keep foods cool during power outage or should it be 3000 or bigger...thanks

 

[tx2sturgis]

I can run my smaller deep freeze on a 1000w inverter genset....and my mid sized home fridge will easily run on a 2000w genset. (compressor start-up surge included) 

Your residential fridge might be more power hungry than mine, some of them have ice makers and door seal heaters and powerful defrost heaters, and larger compressors...sometimes all running at the same time. 

A large side-by-side, 2 or 3 door residential fridge is about as power hungry as they get. I have not owned one of those in many years so I dont know if you can power one with a 2000w genset (on startup). 

I'd like to know what you find out in your situation.

 

[RVTravel]

Thanks..my bro in law uses a 4000 pulsar inverter generator for this purpose on large fridges like you mention. I was wondering if my siblings might get by with smaller...prob not. They all have the mega fridges. In Monroe.La currently.

 

[hugemoth]

The refrigerator will have a plate or sticker on it somewhere listing wattage. The compressor does have a start surge but the defrost timer will prevent the compressor and defrost heater from running simultaneously. Most friges also have between 1 and 3 fans. Dorm friges generally do not use fans or defrost heaters.

 

[sneaks]

I run an old (20 years or so) fridge, 7cu chest freezer, commercial Bunn coffee brewer, some lights, router, couple of laptops, 40" TV, Monitor heater off a 3600w sustained\4500w surge standard gas generator without issues. Just a fridge should be easily handled by 2000w with a little left over. Most full-sized fridges are about 750-800w sustained, 12-1500 startup.

 

[bullfrog]

Many people rig their Prius main battery to a 3,000 watt inverter and are able to run their freezers and refrigerators in their sticks and bricks. If I remember correctly they listed some general household appliance loads in their on line discussions. You might get the information from searching their sites. Any of them have a Prius? They run more economically than a Honda generator and are quieter! I believe you can run a 1500 watt inverter off the small starter battery which I believe is limited by the fuse in the charge wire from the big battery, it has been a while since I was researching this so be sure to verify the set ups if you try.

 

[RVTravel]

As a follow up, my own power was back on in 1.5 days, but thousands are still without power after the tropical storm/cat 1 (debated) came through. Even way up here in north louisiana it could be a week or more before things are nearing normal (downed trees and power lines).

Most of my siblings don't have a generator, but the bro in law was using a 4000 watt pulsar to help with fridge support. So, there prob will not be any info on if a lesser watt gen could work. Seeing all the home roof damage and tree debris confirms that I don't really want to own a home..lol. One sister has 5 downed trees and possibly two of those fell after the storm..yipes. The pic is a tree down at a friends house.

 

[Sofisintown]

At least that tree didn't fall the wrong way...

 

[LoupGarou]

A 2000 watt generator should be able to handle the load of a residential refrigerator. Keep in mind that the duty cycle on the refrigerator isn’t 100%. It’ll cycle on and off as it needs too.

Gas availability will be an issue. If the power grid is down, stations can’t pump fuel.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

 . . . would 2000 support a typical home fridge used a few times per day to keep foods cool during power outage or should it be 3000 or bigger...thanks

I can run my 19 cu. ft top freezer refrigerator with a 2000W Sportsman generator.  It will charge my phone and laptop at the same time.
I burns about a gallon of gas about every 6 hours.

I will only run it for about 20 minutes, 3 times a day to cool the refrigerator and limit opening to just before cooling it down.  So a gallon of gas will last about 6 days.

 

[RVTravel]

An interesting and supportive article on size needed for mostly fridge support.
https://generatorist.com/what-size-generator-do-i-need-to-run-a-refrigerator

 

[jonahblah]

The article you linked in your post helped. Thanks a lot!