Are you considering purchasing a 4,500 watt generator, but are unsure of the items it can power?
Typically, a 4,500-watt inverter generator delivers about 37.5 amps when operating at 120 volts or 18.75 amps while operating at 240 volts.
What can a 4500 watt generator run? A 4,500 watt generator can operate practically all home appliances, power tools, RV appliances, and camping equipment.
One restriction is that you can’t use all of these gadgets/appliances simultaneously. You need to know how much power each appliance in your home uses to determine if you can operate them all at once.
To assist you in your endeavor, we have compiled a list of items alongside their respective power requirements. Other higher wattage appliances, like air conditioners, may require different outlets than some low wattage appliances, therefore it’s important to know if your generator has enough of the right kind of outlets.
Running watts and starting watts are the two primary measures of power production that describe a generator’s capabilities.
Rated (running) watts are the maximum power your equipment can produce over extended periods of time, and are represented by the first, smaller number.
The greater second number represents the surge watts your machine is capable of producing when first turned on.
A generator with an output of 4500 watts would have 4500 surge watts and a running watt of 3500 watt to 4000 watt.
So, don’t expect to power your entire home with an 4500-watt generator because you’ll need a lot more juice than that.
What Size Generator Do I Need?
What size generator do you need? Follow the following instructions to find out how many of your home’s electrical devices you can safely run off of a single portable generator:
Make a list of all the electronics in your home that you would like to keep running in the event of a power outage (listed below you can find estimates of the appliance wattages)
- Make a table with the running and starting wattage needs from their name tags
- Then sum up all of the operating watts required to run your appliances.
- Next, identify the appliances that requires the additional beginning watts.
- Then, add this to your overall wattage while running.
- Indicated by the final tally, this is the minimum number of beginning watts your generator must supply.
Here is an example of how to determine the wattage requirements
| Appliances | Rated Watts | Additional Starting Watts |
| 22″ LED Television | 17 W | 0 W |
| Refrigerator / Freezer | 700 W | 2,200 W |
| Laptop | 50 W | 0 W |
| LED Light Bulb (2) | 18 W | 0 W |
| 12,000 BTU Window AC | 3,250 W | 9,750 W |
| SUM | 4,035 W | 18,500 W |
| TOTAL | 22,535 W |
In the above illustration, we can see that the total running watts of our appliances comes to 4,035W.
In order to run all of these devices, though, we’d need a generator with a surge capacity of at least 18,500 watts.
Just remember that the wattage at which your home’s electric appliances operate may not be listed on their information labels. If that’s the case, you can use this calculation to get a rough idea of how many watts you’ll need to keep things running:
W (or kW) = V (volts) × A (amperes) (A)
Amperes (A) = Watts (W or kW) / Volts (V)
As a result, if you know the voltage and current requirements, you may calculate an approximation of the operating watts. Perhaps this equation, which illustrates Ohm’s law from your high school physics classes, can jog your memory.
There is an cheap equipment available called “load tester” that can help you figure out how many watts each of your appliances requires. You can skip all the complicated physics calculus and just grab one from Amazon.
If you want to know the exact wattage needs of each appliance or power equipment in your home, you’ll need to check them out one by one.
Here is a quick video how to measure the load of appliances
Keep in mind that these are simply approximations, and that in order to learn the exact figures, you need read the label on your particular products.
Can 4500 Watt Generator Run A Well Pump?
In most cases, a well pump can be powered by a generator with an 4,500-watt running capacity. Without knowing the precise operating and starting watts required by your water pump, it is difficult to provide an accurate solution to this query.
Here are rough estimates for different types of well pumps
| Horse Power (HP) | Running watts | Starting watts |
| 1/3 | 750 | 1500 |
| 1/2 | 1000 | 2100 |
| 3/4 | 1500 | 3000 |
| 1.0 | 2000 | 4000 |
| 1.5 | 2500 | 5000 |
The estimations show that starting watts, and not running watts, are the problem. The specifics can be calculated after locating the pump’s voltage (120 or 240) and horsepower details on the information plate.
Can 4500 Watt Portable Generator Run a Sump Pump?
A small sump pump (1/2 HP or 1/3 hp) should be able to be powered by a generator with 4,500 operating watts without any problems. It consumes 1050 watts while operating and 2150 watts during starting.
But, without knowing the precise running and beginning watts required by your pump, however, giving a definitive response to this topic is extremely challenging.
The info-plate on your pump should contain the relevant data for calculating the required voltage, amperage, and horsepower. Here is a detailed guide on generators for sump pump.
Can a 4500 Watt Generator Run An RV AC?
In most cases, an RV air conditioner (13500 BTU) can be powered by a generator with 4,500 operating watts. Without knowing the precise running and starting watts required by your AC unit, it is difficult to provide an accurate answer to this query.
Cost estimates for several varieties of RV air conditioners are shown below. The estimations show that starting watts, and not running watts, are the problem. The info-plate on your RV air conditioner will tell you the exact voltage and amperage requirements.
| BTU | Running watts | Starting watts |
| 11000 | 1100 | 1600 |
| 13500 | 1800 | 2800 |
| 15000 | 2000 | 3500 |
Can A 4500 Watt Generator Run A Refrigerator?
A refrigerator’s power consumption typically peaks at roughly 1300 watts while the compressor starts up and then lowers to around 250 watts during normal operation. Each of the generators described here is powerful enough to power a refrigerator.
Refrigerating and freezing food is no problem with a 4500-watt generator. You can run any cutting-edge fridge with a freezer with no problem using an inverter generator with a minimum starting wattage of 2000.
The average refrigerator starts using between 800 and 1200 watts, thus 4,500 watts is more than enough to run the appliance safely.
Will A 4500 Watt Generator Run A Heat Pump Or A Furnace?
A 4,500 operating watt generator typically isn’t powerful enough to run an electric furnace or heat pump. But if it is a gas furnace (6000 running watt and 1800 surge watts) you can run that with a 4500-watt inverter generator.
For further information on the wattage requirements for your furnace or pump, kindly get in touch with the manufacturer.
Will a 4500 Watt Generator Run An Air Compressor?
As a rule of thumb, a generator with 4,000 to 4,500 surge watts should be able to power a modest air compressor without any problems. Without knowing the precise running and starting watts required by your air compressor, it is very difficult to provide an accurate solution to this query.
Here is a rough estimates for different types of compressors
| Air Compressor Power | Running watts | Starting watts |
| 1/2 HP | 950 | 1600 |
| 1 HP | 1650 | 4500 |
The estimates show that the problem is in the initial wattage, not the operating wattage. Look on the compressor’s data plate for the specifications of its voltage, amperage, and horsepower.
Will A 4500 Watt Generator Run A Circular Saw?
In most cases, the output of a 4-kilowatt generator will be sufficient to operate a circular saw. The estimated power needs of a heavy-duty 7.25-inch circular saw are 1,500 running watts and 2,500 starting watts.
If your generator has a starting wattage of at least 2,500, you can use it to power your machine.
Will A 4500 Watt Generator Run A Space Heater?
Space heaters have approximate energy needs of 1,800 watts (starting and operating).
It is clear that a generator producing 4000 to 4,500 operating watts is more than capable of powering your space heater. Remember to check the label on your appliance to determine its exact wattage needs.
Will A 4500 Watt Generator Run A Microwave?
Most microwave ovens require roughly a thousand watts of power. You shouldn’t have any trouble powering your microwave with a 4500-watt inverter generator. Make sure you verify the appliance’s label for its specific wattage needs.
Will A 4500 Watt Generator Run A TV?
Certainly. It is safe to use a 4,000-watt generator to power your TV provided the inverter has a low total harmonic distortion.
Here are some rough estimates of wattage requirements of various TVs:
| Type | Running watts | Starting watts |
| CRT TV | 300 | 300 |
| 20” Flat Screen | 120 | 120 |
| 46” Flat Screen | 200 | 200 |
How Long Will A 4500 Watt Generator Run?
Each generator has its own fuel usage and fuel tank capacity, hence there is no one correct solution to this question. We have found that a 4,500-watt generator can run at 50% load for about 10 hours.
After comparing the operating times of more than a dozen generators producing roughly 4,500 surge watts, we settled on this figure as a reasonable middle ground.
