When the power goes out in Northeast Pennsylvania, you don’t want to be left wondering whether your generator can keep up. Whether it’s an ice storm in January, a summer thunderstorm, or one of those unexpected outages that always seem to happen at the worst possible moment, the right Generac generator means the difference between a minor inconvenience and a major headache.
But here’s the question every homeowner asks us first: What size Generac generator do I actually need?
At Buselli Solutions, we’ve been helping families across Honesdale, Wayne County, and the surrounding NEPA region answer that question for decades. The short answer is that there’s no one-size-fits-all number when it comes to protecting your home with a whole-home generator. The right size depends on your home, your lifestyle, and the appliances you absolutely need running when the lights go out. This guide will help you understand how the Buselli team decides the right size generator for your individual home needs.
Why Generator Sizing Matters
Picking the wrong size generator is one of the most expensive mistakes a homeowner can make.
Go too small, and your generator will struggle to start your central air conditioner, your well pump, or your sump pump when you need them most. You may trip the unit, damage appliances, or simply end up sitting in the dark wondering what went wrong.
Go too large, and you’ve spent thousands of dollars more than you needed to. An oversized generator also runs less efficiently, which means more fuel consumption every time it cycles on for its weekly self-test.
Proper sizing is about finding the sweet spot. Have enough power to handle everything you want running during an outage, plus a healthy margin for future growth, without paying for capacity you’ll never use.
Step 1: Decide What You Want to Power
Before we talk kilowatts, you need to decide what kind of backup experience you want. Most homeowners fall into one of two categories:
Essential Circuits Coverage
This approach powers only the systems you can’t live without typically your refrigerator, furnace or boiler, sump pump, well pump, a few lights, and key outlets. You can still cook, sleep warm, and protect your basement from flooding, but you might lose central air conditioning or some lesser-used appliances.
Essential circuits coverage usually fits comfortably in the 10–14 kW range and is a smart, budget-friendly choice for smaller homes or homeowners who simply want peace of mind during a storm.
Whole-House Coverage
This is the seamless experience most people picture when they think of a standby generator. The power blinks, the unit kicks on within seconds, and life continues exactly as before — central A/C, electric ranges, hot tubs, home offices, EV chargers, and all.
Whole-house coverage typically calls for an 18–26 kW unit for an average home, with larger or more demanding properties needing 27 kW and up.
Step 2: Understand the Generac Lineup
Generac offers air-cooled home standby generators in a range of sizes designed to match different home power needs. Here’s a practical breakdown of how the most common Generac generator sizes:
10–14 kW: Small Homes & Essential Circuits
These units are built for homeowners who want to protect the basics. Think small homes (under 2,500 sq ft) without central air conditioning, cabins, or households that simply want to keep the heat, the fridge, and a few lights running through an outage.
Best for: Essential circuits, small homes, vacation properties
18–22 kW: The Whole-House Sweet Spot
This is where most of our installations land. An 18, 20, or 22 kW Generac can power a typical 2,000–3,500 sq ft home, including central air conditioning, electric water heaters, well pumps, and most major appliances running at the same time. The 22 kW Generac Guardian, in particular, has become one of the most popular residential generators in the country for good reason — it handles whole-home loads for the vast majority of homes in our service area.
Best for: Most single-family homes in NEPA looking for true whole-house backup
24–26 kW: Larger or Higher-Demand Homes
Step up to 24 or 26 kW when your home is larger (3,500+ sq ft), has multiple HVAC systems, an electric range + electric dryer + electric water heater, a hot tub, an EV charger, or a finished basement with significant additional load. The 26 kW unit features Generac’s True Power™ technology for cleaner output to sensitive electronics.
Best for: Larger homes, all-electric homes, properties with EV charging
30 kW and Up: Estates, Farms & Light Commercial
Once you cross 30 kW, you’re typically looking at large estate homes, working farms, multi-family properties, or small commercial buildings. These are usually liquid-cooled units rather than air-cooled, and they require additional installation considerations.
Best for: Estate homes, agricultural properties, small businesses
Step 3: Add Up Your Actual Wattage
If you want to dial in your sizing more precisely, the math isn’t complicated but this is almost always up to the experts, like Buselli Solutions, to handle. At our core, we believe in transparency so here’s the basic process we follow:
- List every appliance and system you want to run during an outage. Be realistic — you don’t run the dryer, dishwasher, electric range, and central A/C all at once on a normal day either.
- Find the running watts and starting watts for each item. Running watts are what an appliance uses during normal operation. Starting watts (sometimes called surge watts) are the brief spike many motor-driven appliances need when they first turn on. Air conditioners, well pumps, sump pumps, and refrigerators all have higher starting wattages than running wattages.
- Add up the total running watts.
- Add the single highest starting wattage to that total. (You typically only have one big motor starting up at any given moment.)
- Divide by 1,000 to convert watts to kilowatts.
- Add a 20–25% safety margin for future growth and to keep the generator running comfortably below its maximum capacity.
That final number is your minimum recommended generator size. From there, round up to the next available Generac model.
For most NEPA homes, this exercise lands somewhere in the 18–26 kW range — which is exactly why those sizes dominate our installations.
Step 4: Don't Forget Future Loads
Here’s a tip we share with every customer: size for the home you’ll have in five years, not just the home you have today.
Are you thinking about adding central A/C? Finishing the basement? Buying an electric vehicle? Putting in a hot tub or pool? Switching from oil heat to a heat pump?
Every one of those changes adds to your electrical load. It’s much cheaper and easier to install a slightly larger generator now than to replace an undersized unit a few years down the road. That extra 10–20% buffer pays for itself in flexibility.
Step 5: Consider Your Fuel Source
Generac home standby generators run on either natural gas or liquid propane. Both work well, but they affect sizing slightly differently with natural gas typically delivering slightly less power than propane on the same unit. If you’re on propane, you’ll also need to make sure your tank is sized appropriately to keep up with the generator’s fuel demand during an extended outage.
In our service area, many homes rely on LP because natural gas isn’t available everywhere. Tank sizing, regulator sizing, and fuel line routing all matter and they’re all things our team handles as part of a complete installation.
The Smartest Step: Get a Professional Load Analysis
Online calculators and rules of thumb are a great starting point, but they can’t see your electrical panel, measure your actual usage, or evaluate your home’s unique layout. A professional load analysis from a Generac Dealer will give you a confident, accurate answer and ensure your generator is sized correctly the first time.
When the Buselli Solutions team comes out for a free consultation, we walk through:
- Your home’s existing electrical panel and circuits
- The appliances and systems you need to keep running
- Your fuel source and tank or line capacity
- Future plans that might affect your power needs
- The best location on your property for the generator
- Any permits, inspections, or code requirements specific to your township
You walk away with a clear, honest recommendation, not a sales pitch for the biggest unit on the lot.
Why Homeowners in NEPA Choose Buselli Solutions
We’ve been a locally trusted, family-owned contractor since 1984, and we’re a Generac-specific dealer. That means our technicians are factory-trained, our installations meet Generac’s most rigorous standards, and we back every install with our 10-year warranty.
When you work with Buselli Solutions, you get:
- A free, no-obligation consultation to determine the right size for your home
- Professional installation by our own team — never subcontractors
- Generac Fleet Monitoring so we know when your unit needs attention
- Annual maintenance and service to keep your investment running for years
- Flexible financing through Synchrony Bank to make the project manageable
Most importantly, you get a local team that answers the phone when you call.
Ready to Find Your Perfect Generac Size?
Don’t guess at one of the most important investments you’ll make in your home’s safety and comfort. Let our team help you size, install, and maintain a Generac generator that’s exactly right for your property.
When the next storm rolls through Wayne County, make sure your home is ready. We’ll help you get there. Call now to schedule your free estimate.