What Can You Run On 2000 watt Generator? (Beginner Guide)

If you live in an area where blackout is widespread, you are probably looking for a portable generator. An inverter portable generator is a handy solution during the blackout for camping, RV trip, and back up your home temporarily. 

You can run Refrigerator, Freezer, TV, AC, Well-pump, coffee maker, light, heater, electric cooker, and other small appliances separately with a 2000-watt portable generator. The condition is the starting watt of a particular appliance or the summation must be under 2000 watts.

A 2000-watt generator is not a light powerhouse indeed. You might be confused about which type of appliances you can run with a 2000-watt generator.

Here is an elaborate discussion of the question of what you can run on a 2000-watt generator. 

Let’s get started. 

Understanding The Portable Generator Wattage

You should have a clear idea of the rated and surge watt of the generator. Rated wattage, also known as the running watt, means the power output while running your generator. 

On the other hand, surge wattage or peak wattage is the initial power output after starting your generator. Usually, the surge or peak wattage is higher than the running wattage. 

You must ensure that your appliance’s running watt is less than the running watt of your generator. If you run multiple devices by your generator, then calculate the summation of the appliances’ wattage. You will understand whether your generator can take the load or not. To understand the running time of the generator, you could read this article.

List of the items to run with a 2000 watt Generator 

Home Appliances

Kitchen Tools

Tools

Office and Stationary

Entertainment

Real-Life Example 

For your convenience, here is a real-life example of running your 2000 watt generator smoothly. Before proceeding, I want to clear one point. You should not use more than 75% power of your generator at a time. It is crucial because it could damage your generator in particular cases. 

Let’s consider a power outage in a home, camping site, an RV trip to use the 2000 watt generator. 

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Power Outage In Home 

you will find up to 15000 portable generators these days to backup your house during the blackout. With a 2000 watt generator, you can not run all the home appliances at a time. 

But, if you apply your common sense, you can handle things smoothly. 

Do the calculation on a priority basis. Preserving food is the primary purpose during the hurricane season. So, it would help if you keep your refrigerator and freezer on. Yes, a 2000 watt portable generator can run a freezer and refrigerator at a time. 

Now, consider your Well pump. Usually, the Well pump needs 1200 watts. So, you could switch off your refrigerator and turn the sump pump switch on. 

Now consider the air conditioner and necessary house appliances. You ensure that your total running watt of appliances exceeds the watt of your generator. That’s all. 

Camp Site Generator Use 

When you are on the outing, you don’t need a lot of power. You could use the generator on a priority basis. 

Lighting is more important during the night. You could use an electric lamp, lantern, or string light in your camp. If you use one lantern and 1 set of string lights, it will not consume more than 100+50=150 watts. 

You could use the coffee maker that draws 750 watts, usually or an electric stove that draws more or less 1500 watts. So, here you have to sacrifice your comfort. You can not run both your kitchen appliances at a time. 

You could make the coffee in the morning fast then unplug the coffee pot. Then make your breakfast. 

RV Trip With A 2000 Watt Portable Generator 

A 2000 watt portable generator is not enough for a comfortable RV trip. When you are on a trip, the Air conditioner and refrigerator are some of the essential tools. 

To run your medium size refrigerator, you need at least 700 watts. But the fridge needs an additional starting watt that is almost 1000 watts in most cases. 

On the other hand, the large BTU air conditioner you use, the more power you need to feed your generator. Apart from these two items, it would help if you charged the batteries and other appliances run with the generator. 

So, a 2000 watt p portable generator is not fit for a long trip with an RV. 

Summary 

A 2000 watt generator is suitable for temporary use. If you are on a small budget, you could go for a 2000 watt portable generator. If you plan to run a sensitive device like the laptop, desktop, or charge the mobile, you should buy a 2000 watt inverter generator. 

If you already have a 2000 watt generator and now you need more power supply, you could check whether your generator supports the parallel connection or not. If supported, you could go for another 2000 watt generator and connect each other. That means you will get a 4000-watt generator.