What size generator do you actually need?

Every May, Mississippi gets its annual reminder that hurricane season starts June 1. Every May, somebody's neighbor in Pike County buys a 12,000-watt generator the size of a small lawn tractor to power a refrigerator, two lamps, and a box fan. By August, that neighbor has spent $2,400 to keep their freezer cold and they have to wheel the thing around like a hostile vending machine.

You don't need that. Most Mississippi homes run on a generator a third that size, for a third the money, and they actually have a transfer switch hooked up so the lineman down the road doesn't get electrocuted. Here's how to size yours correctly.

The two numbers that actually matter

Every appliance has two power ratings, and confusing them is the #1 reason people end up with a generator that brown-outs the second the AC kicks on:

• Running watts (also called rated watts) — the steady power the appliance pulls while it's operating.
• Starting watts (also called surge watts) — the brief spike needed when a motor starts. For things with compressors (fridge, freezer, AC, well pump), this is 2–3x the running watts and lasts about a second.

You size your generator on starting watts, not running watts. Pick the appliance with the highest single starting wattage you'd ever need to run, add the running watts of everything else you'll have on at the same time, and that's your minimum.

Quick math for a typical Pike County home

Here's what a normal Mississippi household actually pulls during an outage. We're not running the central AC — that's standby-generator territory. We're running the essentials so the freezer doesn't thaw and the family can sleep with a fan on:

Add up everything you'd want running at once, then add the single biggest starting wattage on top. For most Pike County homes, that math comes out to 5,500–7,500 starting watts. Which conveniently is the size most homeowners should be buying.

The four sizes (and which one is right)

Generators come in roughly four common size brackets. Here's where each one actually fits:

3,000–3,500W (around $400)

Inverter-style or basic recoil-start — the Pulsar 3,200W inverter we stock falls in this bracket. Runs a fridge, lights, fans, and a TV. Will not start a well pump or a window AC. Good for short outages or as a "keep the freezer cold" backup. Skip this if you have a well or you live in Mississippi in August.

5,500W (around $700)

The honest sweet spot for most Pike County homes. Handles a fridge, freezer, well pump, lights, and either a microwave or a window AC (not both). If you're on city water and don't need to keep one room cold, this is plenty.

6,500–7,500W (around $900)

What we'd actually recommend for a typical Mississippi home. Adds enough headroom to run a window AC at the same time as the well pump and the kitchen — which matters when it's 96° and the storm just left. The 6,580W Pulsar dual-fuel we keep on the floor lands here.

12,000W+ (around $1,800+)

Whole-house territory. You'd want this if you're powering central AC, an electric range, an electric water heater, or running a small business out of the property. For a normal residential outage, this is overkill. For a homestead with multiple buildings, a workshop, or medical equipment, it's the right call.

Dual-fuel beats gas-only in Mississippi. Always.

This is the one piece of advice we'd put on a billboard if we could. Buy a dual-fuel generator. Not gas-only. Dual-fuel.

Here's why: after every named storm in south Mississippi, gas stations are dry within 6 to 12 hours. The pumps lose power, the trucks can't get in, and the ones still running have lines wrapping the block. Propane, on the other hand, stays available — most rural Pike County homes already have a residential tank, and 20-lb swap tanks are at every gas station and grocery store back-room within a day.

Dual-fuel generators (the Pulsar models we keep on the floor are a good example) burn either fuel by flipping a switch. You can run gas while it's available, then swap to propane when the stations dry up. The premium for dual-fuel over gas-only is usually around $100. It pays for itself the first time you don't have to drive to Brookhaven for gas.

Bonus: propane stores indefinitely. Gas in a can goes stale in 6 months without stabilizer. If you only need the generator twice a year, propane is the lower-maintenance fuel.

The transfer switch is not optional

This is the part most people skip. They run an extension cord through the back door, plug the fridge into the generator, and call it done. That works for a single appliance. The minute you want to power a hard-wired thing — well pump, ceiling fan, the bathroom outlet — you need to feed the panel.

You have two legal options:

• Manual transfer switch ($500–$900 installed). A subpanel that lets you flip individual circuits over to generator power. Cleanest install, easy to use during an outage.
• Interlock kit ($300–$500 installed). A sliding plate on your existing main panel that physically prevents the main breaker and the generator-feed breaker from being on at the same time. Cheaper, just as safe, but requires a generator inlet box on the outside of the house.

What you cannot do — and what some people still do — is plug the generator into a regular outlet to "backfeed" the panel. This sends power up the line and can kill the utility worker trying to restore service. It's illegal everywhere in Mississippi and it'll get you sued by the lineman's family. We've turned away customers who told us that's their plan. Don't be that customer.

The rest of the storm-prep stack

While you're at it, the things that always go fast in storm season and never seem to be in stock when you need them:

• Heavy-duty extension cords (12-gauge, outdoor-rated, 50-foot minimum)
• Tarps (real ones — 10x12 minimum, 8-mil heavy-duty, not the $4 lawn-and-leaf garbage)
• Fuel cans (5-gallon, with the modern self-venting nozzle that doesn't spill)
• VP Racing pre-mixed small-engine fuel for the chainsaw and the leaf blower
• Battery-powered work lights and headlamps (Milwaukee M18 floodlights are unreal)
• A chain saw with extra chains — there will be at least one tree on something
• Bottled water, batteries, and a battery bank for phones

Frequently asked questions