If the power goes out, what is the ONE standard household appliance you’re most concerned about? If your answer is the refrigerator and freezer, you’re correct. When you’re investing in a generator, you’ll want one to cover everything that’s crucial in your house, with the refrigerator/freezer at the top of your list. You don’t want to worry about all of your perishable food going bad when the power goes out. That could easily be hundreds of dollars you’ll have to throw away. Here’s how to determine the best generator for keeping your perishables safe.

How to determine the wattage?

Every electrical appliance has a certain amount of wattage it needs to operate. Full-sized refrigerators have a higher wattage because they need to run 24/7 to keep the food from going bad. A refrigerator needs about 1,000 to 2,000 starting watts to stay on. In that case, your generator should be able to handle at least 2,000 watts, especially if you have a separate freezer. If you can though, try to get over 2,000 watts to give yourself a little wiggle room.

Could a generator damage the fridge?

There are definitely sensitive electrical devices out there that have issues with generators. For example, laptops, computers, home audio systems, etc. sometimes have issues with the connection isn’t correct, there’s too much power, or other similar issues. Thankfully, your refrigerator isn’t like that. It’s built to be able to handle high wattages that might come off a portable generator. Now, it’s not recommended to strictly use a generator for months on end, but in emergency situations, your fridge will perform perfectly!

What’s the best generator?

At Automated Home Generators, we have two portable generators that will work perfectly for not only the refrigerator and the freezer, but a few extra appliances as well. Both of them run between 4000 to 8000 watts. They are:

• XG Series Generators
• XP Series Generators