All things considered, an 8 000 watt generator can run a 2.5 ton home central air conditioner, but a 10000 watt generator would be better.
Air conditioners tend to draw a lot of power compared to other household appliances and draw even more power when they start up.
However, you can use a generator to power your home’s central air conditioner as long as the generator is strong enough. For a 2.5 ton air conditioner, a 10 000 watt generator would be ideal.
Air conditioner power consumption
Air conditioners have become commonplace appliances in many homes across the country and particularly in places with warm and humid weather; they are seen as a necessity for living comfortably in your home.
It is also a well-known fact, though, that air conditioners are some of the appliances that draw the most power in homes.
This is exacerbated by the fact that air conditioners not only use a lot of power while they are running, but they often use even more power just to start up. This is a massive power draw, even for energy-efficient models.
Will an 8 000 watt generator run a 2.5 ton home central air conditioner?
If you use a home generator to power your appliances, it may be difficult to determine whether it is safe to use a generator to power your air conditioner since they consume so much power.
It is safe to power your air conditioner with a generator, as long as it is the correct size and has the necessary specifications for the air conditioner that you want to power.
Central air conditioners are usually much more powerful than portable or window units. This is why the power or capacity of these bigger, more powerful air conditioners are measured in how many tons of air they can cool down.
You need to compensate for this additional power-consumption by having a stronger generator that can handle this air conditioner’s power draw based on its wattage.
Some of the general strengths advised by professionals, when it comes to what generator wattage will be suitable for these bigger air conditioners, are as follows:
| Air conditioner unit size | Generator size |
| 1.5 ton | 6 000 watt |
| 2 ton | 8 000 watt |
| 2.5 ton | 10 000 watt |
| 3 ton | 12 000 watt |
| 3.5 ton | 14 000 watt |
This means that although an 8 000 watt generator, like this Champion portable generator, will technically be able to run a 2.5 ton central air conditioner.
A 10 000 watt generator, like this DuroMax Gas Powered Portable Generator, will be more efficient and recommendable. Especially since it can start with 10 000 watts to compensate for your air conditioner’s initial draw.
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How to find the right size generator for your air conditioner
The amount of power that your central air conditioning unit uses to cool down the air in your house is measured in watts per hour. This number will be unique to every individual air conditioning unit.
On average, a 2.5 ton central air conditioner uses over 3 500 watts of power per hour. This is excluding the initial start-up power draw, for which you can double the number of watts required.
This is why it is important that you avoid buying a generator that is not powerful enough, because it could cause lasting damage if it has to overwork to compensate for the vast amount of power that your air conditioner draws.
Considering other appliances
If you have frequent power outages or interruptions in the local power supply for any reason, the chances are, you will want to power other appliances in your home in addition to your central air conditioner.
To do this, you need a generator that can power the wattage that your air conditioner requires to start up and run, as explained above, as well as the power that the other appliances need.
Generators that are over 17 000 watts, like this Generac Home Standby Generator, are strong enough to power most of the necessary appliances in your home, along with your air conditioner.
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Other considerations for buying an 8 000 watt generator to power a 2.5 ton air conditioner
If you do decide to go ahead and purchase the lower-power 8 000 watt generator, it is important that you, or a professional, install a power transfer switch, which is used to transfer the power supply from the central line to your home generator.
It is also important to bear in mind that as a generator’s power goes up, the size of the generator also goes up, which means that you will need to make space to keep a powerful generator of 8 000 watts or more.