How we research

We don't test products

We don't test units ourselves; figures come from manufacturer spec sheets and the sources linked. We never claim hands-on testing.

Where the numbers come from

Product figures come from manufacturer spec sheets. Appliance watts are typical figures from generator makers' published wattage charts (Champion, Honda, Westinghouse), motor makers' manuals and ENERGY STAR data. Every figure lists its source, and rows we haven't checked yet are marked "Specs being verified".

How the maths works

• Running watts = the sum of each appliance's running watts × quantity.
• Starting watts = total running watts + the single biggest start-up surge. This assumes you start big appliances one at a time.
• Headroom: we add 20% as our rule of thumb, and show the number with and without it.
• Power station runtime = Wh × efficiency (85% default) ÷ load in watts.
• Fuel runtime is interpolated between the maker's published 25% and 50% load figures.