Appliance running and starting watts
A refrigerator uses about 700 running watts and surges to roughly 2,200 when the compressor starts. A furnace blower runs near 800 watts, a well pump about 1,000, a microwave about 1,000. The chart below lists running and starting watts for common home appliances, so you can size a generator or sanity-check a circuit. Every figure reads from the same data the generator worksheet uses, so the two never disagree.
Refrigeration
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator or fridge-freezer | 700 | 2,200 | yes |
| Chest or upright freezer | 500 | 1,500 | yes |
Water & sump
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sump pump (1/3 HP) | 750 | 1,500 | yes |
| Sump pump (1/2 HP) | 1,000 | 2,100 | yes |
| Well pump (1/2 HP) | 1,000 | 2,100 | yes |
| Well pump (1 HP) | 1,600 | 3,200 | yes |
| Electric water heater | 4,000 | none | no |
Heating & cooling
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas furnace blower (1/2 HP) | 800 | 2,350 | yes |
| Electric space heater (1,500 W) | 1,500 | none | no |
| Window AC (10,000 BTU) | 1,200 | 1,800 | yes |
| Window AC (12,000 BTU) | 1,300 | 2,400 | yes |
| Central AC (2 ton / 24,000 BTU) | 3,800 | 5,800 | yes |
| Central AC (3 ton / 36,000 BTU) | 3,500 | 7,500 | yes |
| Ceiling fan | 60 | 70 | yes |
Kitchen
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microwave (countertop) | 1,000 | none | no |
| Coffee maker | 1,000 | none | no |
| Toaster | 1,200 | none | no |
| Electric range (one element) | 1,500 | none | no |
| Dishwasher (hot / dry) | 1,500 | 1,800 | yes |
Laundry
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washing machine | 1,200 | 2,300 | yes |
| Electric clothes dryer | 5,500 | 6,750 | yes |
| Gas clothes dryer | 700 | 2,200 | yes |
Lighting & electronics
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| LED light bulb | 12 | none | no |
| Incandescent bulb (60 W) | 60 | none | no |
| LED TV (50") | 100 | none | no |
| Laptop | 60 | none | no |
| Wi-Fi router and modem | 15 | none | no |
| Phone charger | 10 | none | no |
Comfort & medical
| Appliance | Running (W) | Starting (W) | Motor? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garage door opener (1/3 HP) | 725 | 1,600 | yes |
| Box fan | 200 | 250 | yes |
| CPAP machine | 60 | none | no |
Running watts vs. starting watts
Running watts are what an appliance draws steadily once it is on. Starting watts, also called surge watts, are the brief spike a motor pulls in the first fraction of a second as it starts. When an electric motor first gets power its rotor is not yet turning, which looks electrically like a short circuit, so it pulls a large inrush current until it spins up. That is why a fridge that runs at 700 watts can jump to 2,200 for an instant.
Resistive and electronic loads have no rotor and no inrush, so their starting watts equal their running watts. That is why heaters, toasters, ranges, TVs, and lighting show no separate starting figure.
To size a generator, add the running watts of everything you need at once, then add the single largest starting surge on top. You do not add every surge together, because motors do not all start at the same instant. The generator worksheet does this math for you.
Notes on specific rows
- Well pump (1/2 HP): Submersible well pumps draw a big inrush. Check the pump's data plate; a specific unit can surge higher.
- Well pump (1 HP): Running watts from the Franklin Electric AIM manual; the true locked-rotor inrush is higher. Check the data plate.
- Electric water heater: A 240V resistive load. Only one element fires at a time, so do not double it. Most backup setups leave it off.
- Gas furnace blower (1/2 HP): A gas furnace burns gas for heat but the blower motor needs backup power.
- Central AC (2 ton / 24,000 BTU): Manufacturer figures for a 2-ton unit vary widely. Check the condenser's LRA on its data plate.
- Central AC (3 ton / 36,000 BTU): Large startup surge (Generac lists a 3-ton at roughly a 100A locked-rotor draw). Check the data plate.
- Microwave (countertop): Draws more than its cooking rating; manufacturer worksheets list about 900 to 1,100 W.
- Electric range (one element): One 6-inch element. An 8-inch element runs about 2,100 W; the oven about 3,400 W.
- Electric clothes dryer: The heating element sets the running watts; the drum motor adds the surge on top.
- CPAP machine: CPAP draw varies a lot by model and humidifier setting, from about 7 W to 75 W. Treat this as a rough figure: read the wattage on your own device or its power supply, and confirm backup power with your doctor or equipment supplier before relying on a generator.
Figures we will not guess at
Some appliance figures have no clean manufacturer source, so rather than interpolate a number and present it as fact, we leave them off:
- 2.5-ton and 3.5-ton central AC: no sourced wattage (and the two Generac documents disagree on the 2-ton figure by roughly double).
- The exact draw of an 8,000 BTU window AC, and any 1/2 HP garage door opener: no manufacturer figure we could verify.
- A whole electric range running every element at once: no published nameplate load, only forum guesses.
For any of these, read the data plate on your own unit. It lists the running amps and, for motors, the locked-rotor amps, which is the real number for your appliance.
Where these numbers come from
The figures are typical residential values from the wattage worksheets that generator makers publish (Honda, Kohler, Generac, Champion), with well-pump running watts from the Franklin Electric application manual and CPAP figures from ResMed's device documentation. The methodology page lists the full sourcing and explains what these estimates do and do not cover. Last reviewed July 2026.