Amps to kW

[kermit911]

I live in the US and I am looking for a House Generator. I have no idea what the hell a kilo Watt is. I know Amps and volts. So I'm looking for a generator and everything is in kW. What kW do I need for the generator to power a house that is 150Amps Service? I would like the generator to power the whole house. Thanx a lot for all the help

Kermit

[Space]

A kilowatt is 1000 Watts,
and a Watt is the unit to measure power.
Your house appliances should say somewhere how much power they require.
You usually just have to multiply Volts and Amperes to get Watts, but with alternative current it can get more complicated than that.

Where does the "150Amps" come from? What does it mean? 
If 150 squared is the average value of your total current squared, 
then I suppose you can multiply 150 and 110 to get the power needed ( 16.5 kW ). But I can't guarantee that...

[Clanad]

kermit911, we also live in the U.S. and have a generator for emergency useage.  Of course, our voltage here is standard 115 at about 400 Hertz.  To install a generator to run everything electrical in the standard household, you'll find it prohibitively expensive.  Rather, running essentials like refrigerator, some lighting, and perhaps the furnace blower motor will take about 3,500 KW.  A good 4,500 KW generator is affordable and will keep the above listed items running during an emergency.  Don't expect to run high draw items like the water heater, electric oven or clothes dryer, however...

[gen2]

My goodness Clanad, No wonder the Americans get the reputation for being gas guzzlers and energy wasters.  Surely you must be joking!  How can it require a 4.5 Megawatt (4,500 KW) generator to supply just the essentials to one house?  Do you have your own particle accelerator in the basement?  That much power would run a small village over here.

I agree with Space's calculations and for a 115V supply at 150A (rms), that would require a 17.25 KW generator. (His figures were based on a 110V supply).

[Peter Pedant]

yeah Clanad, my eyes went wide when I read you had a 4500 KW portable generator.

I mean Christ what do you carry it around in ?

4 KW sounds a bit low - two two-bar fires, although that would just about run a few lights, your ice maker, electric shaver and so on....

[gen2]

P.S.
Clanad, where do you get your "400 Hertz" from?
Here in the UK we have 50 Hz.  I thought most of the US was on 60 Hz. So where abouts in the US do you have a mains frequency of 400 Hz?

[Clanad]

For both Peter and gen2... that was a test for your attention and.... you've both passed superbly... What can I say... after reading the question and seeing the reference to KW, I answered in like... obvioulsy it should have been 4,500 Watts.  The largest capacity standby generator I've seen available is about 11,500 Watts... Obviously there are larger, commercially available, diesel engine driven generators.  My reference to 400 hertz was taken from Boeing 727 aircraft AC gens, which do run at 400 Hz. Having just completed a 6 months PC check in this aircraft, my mind was still attuned to that mode. The generators each produce three phase, 400 hertz, 115 volt AC electrical power.   As gen2 has astutely observed, standard U.S. power runs at 115 volts 60 Hz.

Sincere Thanx for your help...

[Gibboman]

the formula is:      

                                          W

                                      I   x   V

W = Watts

I   = Current (Amps)

V  = Voltage in Volts

 So using this formula 150 x 110 = 16500

16.5 Kw

            

[mike0s]

hey, I know this is really old, but.

1 HP = 0.746 kilo Watts (kW)
1 HP = 3500 BTU / hour.
So just add up the fans refrigerators heaters etc you want to run. I know you said the whole house, but generally when you�re on the standby you won�t NEED anything like that, so put in a unit that allows for your needs in times on power outage.

Mike