I have a 120/240 volt generator with an output of 3250 watts peaking at 3750. I want to be able to power my well water pump but I'm getting conflicting answers on whether this generator packs enough power. I'm also unsure how large my well pump is but everything else in the house is pretty standard so I'm going to say between 3/4 and 1 hp.
Consumer reports says a well pump runs about 700 watts. Multiply that by 3 to get a rough estimate of the starting wattage for the pump and you run about 2100 which still leaves plenty of wiggle room in terms of wattage.
Consumer Reports Wattage Report
Doing some other research online there are a lot of folks saying you need at least a 5k watt generator to power a well water pump. Obviously that's a far cry from what consumer reports is listing and well below the output of my generator.
I don't want to just plug it in and ruin my water pump or generator so I'm trying to find a solid answer or direction before doing so.