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NorthStar 13000 Watt Generator on buy list
Ann, as you so rightly pointed out, 2hp for each kW, is just that, a rule of thumb.
There is a rather complicated formula to work it out precisely, but it includes all sorts of factors that are nearly impossible to calculate. One of the big factors people fail to realize is ambient temperature, you will get a surprisingly large swing in power output between a bitter cold night, a pleasant spring day, and a brutally hot summer afternoon.
Unless you have some very large power-consuming items in your house, I would say you will have no trouble at all with that setup. Bear in mind, with the split between 120v & 240v loads, that generator will produce somewhere between 50 & 100 amps at full power.
That is a LOT of power, even without factoring load shifting and reduced loads from shutting down non-essentials during an 'emergency'.
Best of luck.
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NorthStar 13000 Watt Generator on buy list
Ann, bear in mind too that generating power is an 'inductive load' but in reverse.
You are undoubtedly aware of how the current load changes as an electric motor for instance starts, then gets to running speed. A generator is the same, but in reverse, as a load is applied it will load up the genset, and of course whatever is powering it, then as the load is reduced, so too, and proportionately, is the work energy required to produce that load.
Unless you have some delicate electronics running, all that will happen as you start to approach (or momentarily exceed) either a) the upper limit of it's capcity, or b) the power supply of whatever is driving it, all that will happen is it will start to drop off a little, sort of the electrical equivalent of what the diesel does when you overload the PTO with say a snowblower.
There are many sites on the internet (in fact Northern may also have it) where they list the average load required to run various household electrical appliances. You just do an inventory of what you want to run, tally up how many amps (and whether 220v or 110v of course) and calculate how much draw that will be.
There are also lots of items which are 'intermitant loads' in a household too. Most of these are, luckily, both large loads, and easily manipulated. For instance, usually a fridge and or freezer, will keep food cold for many, many hours with no power at all. Likewise, a water pump can be cycled to avoid running it with other large consumption devices by filling a bathtub then shutting it off. Hot water heaters too will hold temperature for quite some time when switched off.
As an example, my house is fed by a 100 amp service, but even in the worst winter weather I used to "get by" with a 6.5 Kw portable generator for the first few years, no problem.
Now I get the neighbours teed off a little, I even have the yard lights going during a power outage! Hehehe....
Best of luck.
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10-04-2006, 08:40 
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