Will a 3500 watt generator run my well pump?

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asked Nov 4, 2022 in Other-Home/Garden by lordbean (1,520 points)
Will a 3500 watt generator run my well pump?

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answered Mar 1, 2023 by Wenja921 (26,070 points)
A 3,500 watt generator will run your well pump if it's under 3,000 watts.

If your well pump is 240 volt and your 3500 watt generator has a 240 outlet then you can easily run most well pumps with the generator.

The size of generator that you need to run a well pump and a refrigerator is a generator with at least 5,000 to 7,000 watts as the refrigerator and well pump will need extra wattage to start up.

The larger the generator wattage the better it will run the well pump and generator without risk of damaging the well pump or refrigerator.

A generator can damage a well pump if the generator is not sized right with enough wattage or if generator malfunctions or produces dirty power or if the generator slows down.

A proper sized generator that is working properly should not damage the well pump.

The size of generator you need to run a 1.5 HP well pump is a generator with at least 2,238 watts to allow enough power to start the well pump.

The larger the generator wattage the better.

When using a hand pump to pump water from a well the well can only be as deep as 25 feet.

A hand well pump can only pump water from depths of 25 feet and any further than 25 feet the hand pump won't work to draw water up.

If your well is deeper than 25 feet then you need a submersible pump.

The HP you need for a water pump to lift water to a height of 60 feet is at least 1 HP.

A 1/2 HP water pump can lift water to a height of 35 feet and a 1 HP water pump can lift water to 60 to 70 feet.

Your well pump can keep tripping the breaker when there are cracks or leaks in the housing which allows water to get into the pump motor and causes it to short circuit.

The well pump may also be going bad and the windings in the motor could be bad and shorting out as well.

Or if you have a cracked or frayed wire that is grounding out and causing the breaker to trip.

A 240 volt well pump uses 3,600 watts of electricity when starting up and then when running the 240 volt well pump uses around 1,400 watts.

You can run a water pump on an inverter if you have a big enough inverter to power the water pump and enough batteries with enough charge to supply the water pump.

Most water pumps use between 1,000 to 1,500 watts so you need at least a 2,000 watt or higher inverter to power your water pump.

A 1 HP water pump or well pump can push water up to 34 feet at seal level.

However if you're pumping water horizontally, 100 feet of distance should not be an issue with the 1 HP pump pushing water.

A 1 hp water pump uses around 750 watts of electricity.

However the 1hp pump will typically draw 20-50% or more power than just that calculation based on real life usage, efficiency and power factor.

A 1.5 HP well pump can go as far as 390 Feet deep.

Powerful flow of the deep well pump can achieve 24 GPM, and the head can reach 390ft.

A 1 hp well pump uses around 1,400 watts of electricity while running or around 9 amps.

A 1 hp well pump that is submersible will require a 2.5 KW internally regulated generator to operate the pump.

The amount of electricity that a well pump typically uses per month is around $5.00 to $50.00 per month depending on how much your well pump runs.

Well pumps do use a lot of electricity as most well pumps use around 1,200 to 1,400 watts of electricity.

However well pumps don't run all the time unless you're using water so it should not add much to your electric bill.

A well pump will not work without electricity unless the well pump is a hand pump.

If your well pump is a well pump with a motor such as a submersible pump or non submersible well pump then it requires electricity to operate.

You can pump water from your well without electricity by using a hand well pump.

You can also use a solar well pump or power your well pump off of solar and inverters or use a solar well pump.

You can also power your well pump with a portable generator in the event of no electricity being available or during a power outage.

During a power outage you can power a well pump with a portable generator.

You can hook a portable generator up to the well pump power connection to power the well pump or hook the generator up to the whole house system to where it will power the house and well pump with a transfer switch.

Well pumps can also be run off a large enough solar panel and solar power system.

A generator typically uses around 1/2 gallon of gas per hour although some generators may use 1 gallon of gas per hour if it's a larger generator and you have a good load on it.

Small generators may not even use a 1/2 gallon of gas per hour.

For example my 2 stroke generator uses around 1 gallon of gasoline in 5 to 8 hours depending on the load on the generator.

Most generators run between 8 to 10 hours on 5 gallons of gas depending on the size of generator and the load of generator.

If you need to run a generator all the time and at night as well you may want to top off the gas tank before you go to bed or wake up in the middle of the night and then top it off again.

However if I refill my generators gas tank before going to bed then it's still running when I get up the next morning because the load is lighter on the generator.

My 7,000 watt generator will run for at least 10 hours at half load through the night and around 8 hours when I put more of a load on it during the day.

A 7,500 watt generator will usually run for around 10 hours on 5 gallons of gas although it may only run for 8 hours when you have more of a load on the generator.

The more load on the generator the more gas you'll use and the less load on the generator the less gasoline you'll use.

But you should get around 8 to 10 hours on 5 gallons of gas running a 7,500 watt or other large generator.

A generator will usually run about 8 hours to 10 hours on 5 gallons of gas for larger generators.

Smaller generators can usually go 5 hours on a gallon of gas which means it will use around 5 gallons of gas in 24 to 25 hours.

The larger the generator the more fuel it's gonna use and the more load you put on the generator the more gasoline it's gonna use.

Adding gas to a generator while it's running is not recommended although it can be done safely.

The reason why you're not supposed to add gas to a generator while it's running is because you could spill some gas on the hot engine, hot exhaust etc and cause a fire or explosion.

I have however added gas to my generator while it was running for a long time and never had any issue.

I just make sure to pour the gas in slowly and be careful about it.

During a wind storm that took out the power for a week I had a generator running all the time to have electricity and about every 3 hours I would go out and top off the gasoline tank to keep it running.

Never once did I shut the generator down to refuel and it kept running all that time until the power came back on and I shut it off and checked the oil which was also fine.

If you're not sure if you can go without spilling gasoline then it's best to shut the generator off for a few minutes or so and allow it to cool down while you add some fuel.

Although generators can run for a long time it's okay to give it a break once in awhile and it will save you money on gasoline if you don't need it running constantly.

If you don't have enough fuel then you should only run it as much as you need too.

But if you have enough fuel then you can run it all day and all night if you need to or want too.

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