WHAT SIZE GENERATOR DO I NEED FOR A PARTY?
"Just get a big one" is how you end up paying for power you never use — and "the small one will do" is how the breaker trips on the first bass drop. Sizing a party generator is three steps: list the gear, add the watts, leave headroom. Here's how to do it for a Jamaican fete, and when our 6.5 kW or 8 kW silent diesel is the right call.
Step 1: list everything that plugs in
Walk the event in your head from the gate to the bar. Sound, lights, fans, fridges, freezers, blenders, the coffee urn, the photo-booth, the phone chargers behind the DJ. Every item gets a line. The ice, happily, gets none — a cooler bin full of tube ice stays cold all night with zero watts.
Step 2: add up the running watts
Every appliance has a rating on its plate, usually in watts (W) or amps (A). If it's in amps, multiply by the voltage (110 or 220) to get watts. Typical figures for the gear that shows up at Jamaican events:
| Gear | Running watts (typical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Powered speaker (top) | 300–800 W each | Peaks higher on drops |
| Powered subwoofer | 500–1,200 W each | The hungriest part of the rig |
| Amp rack + passive stack | 2,000–5,000 W | Big-sound territory |
| DJ controller, mixer, laptop | 100–200 W | Negligible |
| LED par light | 30–60 W each | Twelve pars ≈ one fan |
| Moving head / hazer | 150–500 W each | Add up the whole rig |
| String / festoon lights (per 20 m) | 100–300 W | LED strings are far lower |
| Industrial outdoor fan | 300–700 W each | Motor — surges at start |
| VEAC evaporative cooler | ≈1,200 W each | Cools a whole section |
| Fridge / drinks cooler | 150–400 W | Surges 2–3× at start |
| Chest freezer | 200–500 W | Surges 2–3× at start |
| Blender (bar) | 500–1,500 W each | Short bursts, but big |
| Coffee urn / kettle | 1,500–2,000 W | Resistive — full draw whenever on |
| Phone charging, POS, Wi-Fi | <100 W | Ignore |
These are planning figures, not guarantees — when a number matters, read the plate or ask the vendor who owns the gear. Sound engineers and caterers know their draw to the watt.
Step 3: leave headroom for the surge
Anything with a motor or a compressor — fans, fridges, freezers, coolers — pulls two to three times its running wattage for a moment when it starts. If three fridges and four fans all cycle on together while the subs are working, a generator sitting at its limit trips. The rule of thumb: take your running total and add 25%. If the answer is under about 5 kW, a 6.5 kW set is comfortable. Between 5 and 6.5 kW, take the 8 kW. Above that, take two.
Three worked examples
- Yard party / cooler fete (about 100 people). Two powered tops + two subs (≈2,500 W), eight LED pars (≈400 W), two industrial fans (≈1,000 W), one drinks fridge (≈300 W), a blender (≈800 W). Running ≈ 5,000 W — but the blender and fans don't all run flat-out together. Realistic load 3.5–4.5 kW plus surge: the 6.5 kW handles it.
- Garden wedding (150 guests). DJ rig (≈2,000 W), festoon + up-lighting (≈800 W), two VEAC coolers (≈2,400 W), two catering fridges + a freezer (≈1,000 W), coffee urn (≈1,800 W), blender. Running ≈ 8,000 W at the peak of the reception: the 8 kW, and keep the urn off while the blenders run — or take two units and split catering from entertainment.
- Stage show / big-sound fete. Amp racks and a full stack (4,000–5,000 W), moving heads and hazer (≈1,500 W), fans, bar fridges. Two 8 kW sets, sound on one, lights and bar on the other — a lighting fault can never silence the music.
110V or 220V?
Both of our sets have 110V and 220V outlets on the panel. Sound, lights, blenders and chargers are 110V; fridges, freezers and the bigger coolers are usually 220V. Keep the motors on the 220V side where the current per circuit is lower, and run the sound on its own 110V outlet so a fridge starting up never dips the music.
Placement, fuel and noise
Level ground, outdoors, never inside a room or closed tent. Exhaust pointed away from guests and downwind of the food. A silent-type canopy keeps the engine to a background hum, so behind the stage or beside the caterer's tent is fine. Diesel burns slower than petrol and a full tank carries a long night — consumption depends on load, so tell us what you're running and we'll advise on fuel for your rental period.
Rental periods and prices
Our silent diesel sets rent by the day, the weekend (Friday to Sunday on one rate), the week and the month. The 6.5 kW is J$9,000 a day or J$20,000 for the weekend; the 8 kW is J$12,000 a day or J$26,000 for the weekend. Up to two units per order. Delivery is J$5,000 and free when the same order has qualifying ice or a party bin — which, if you're throwing a party, it will.
Pick the size and the period on the order form, set your date, add the ice, bins, fans, tables and chairs, and the whole event arrives on one truck.
QUICK ANSWERS
Add the running watts of everything you will plug in (sound, lights, fans, fridges, blenders), then add about 25% headroom for startup surges. A yard party with a two-speaker powered rig, LED lights, two fans and a fridge lands around 4–5 kW, which a 6.5 kW silent diesel covers. A full sound system with amp racks, stage lighting, several fans and bar fridges is 8 kW territory.
Yes for a typical yard-party or small-fete rig — two powered tops and two subs draw roughly 1.5–3 kW running. A large stack with separate amplifier racks, monitors and a big LED wall should go on the 8 kW so peaks on the bass drops don't trip the breaker.
Compressor motors in fridges, freezers and fans draw two to three times their running wattage for a moment at startup. If several start at once on a generator that is already near its limit, the breaker trips. That surge is why you leave headroom.
A silent-type set puts the engine inside a sound-dampening canopy, so it runs far quieter than an open-frame generator — comfortably in the background behind music or speech. Place it downwind with the exhaust pointed away from guests and it is barely noticed.
Ice Makers JA rents a 6.5 kW silent diesel from J$9,000 a day and an 8 kW from J$12,000 a day, with weekend (Fri–Sun), week and month rates. Delivery is J$5,000, free when the same order has qualifying ice or a party bin.
6.5 kW or 8 kW silent diesel, by the day, weekend, week or month — delivered with your ice and party rentals across Kingston, St. Andrew, Portmore & Spanish Town.