Load sequencer
Updated October 3, 2026.
Built by Jeremy Panasuk.
Use this when more than one load will be on the generator and you can keep some of them off during a motor start. The button compares that staged list with everything on at once.
Add a row, set running / starting watts, then pick a lane. Always-on stays up. Wait starts after motors settle. Never-overlap is kitchen and space heat.
What the button computes
GS.sequenced in assets/lab.js sorts each row into one lane:
- Always — left on. Its running watts are in every phase.
- Wait — allowed to run only after the motor start. It is in phase B, and its start gap can set phase A.
- Never overlap — kitchen or heat that is off during the motor start. It is only in phase C.
For a group of rows, extra watts come from the one row with the highest starting watts. Extra = that row’s starting watts minus its running watts. Quantity is multiplied into both numbers before the comparison. If two rows tie, the first row keeps the extra. That is the same rule as the home calculator. The lanes are still this page’s split, so a row parked in Never overlap is off during phase A and the buy class can differ from the home calculator’s everything-on recommendation.
- Phase A = always-on running watts + the extra from the highest start among the always rows and the wait rows. Never-overlap is off.
- Phase B = always running + wait running. No extra.
- Phase C = always running + never-overlap running. No extra.
- Sequenced peak = the worst of A, B, and C, times (1 + headroom ÷ 100). The form opens at 20. That 20 is the typed default, the same default as the home calculator. It is not a figure from NEC Article 220.
- Buy class = that peak rounded up to the next 500 W. The 500 W step is the script.
- Naive peak = (every row’s running watts + the extra from the highest start on the whole list) times the same headroom. Savings = naive minus sequenced, and never below zero. The button rounds each displayed watt figure to the nearest watt.
Honda’s wattage guide says not to add up everything you want to power, and points at its own power-management note. The three lanes are this script’s way of doing that split. NEC Article 220 (Article 120 in the 2026 NEC) is the code article for branch-circuit, feeder, and service calculations. It is not these three lanes, and this page is not a code calculation.
Worked example: Honda rows only
Type these three rows. They are on Honda’s chart. Fridge: 192 running, 1,200 starting, lane Always (192 is the top of Honda’s 132–192 running band for an Energy Star refrigerator or freezer). Furnace fan, 1/3 hp: 700 running, 1,400 starting, lane Always. Honda marks that fan 240 V. Microwave, the 650 W cooking row: 1,000 running, 1,000 starting, lane Never overlap. Headroom 20.
- Always running = 192 + 700 = 892 W. Never-overlap running = 1,000 W. Wait running = 0.
- The highest start among the always and wait rows is the fan at 1,400 W. The fridge starts at 1,200 W, so it does not set the extra. Extra = 1,400 − 700 = 700 W. Phase A = 892 + 700 = 1,592 W.
- Phase B = 892 W. Phase C = 892 + 1,000 = 1,892 W.
- The worst phase is C. 1,892 × 1.20 = 2,270.4 W, which the button shows as 2,270 W. Buy class = 2,500 W.
- The highest start on the whole list is still the fan. Naive = (892 + 1,000 + 700) × 1.20 = 3,110.4 W, shown as 3,110 W. Savings = 3,110.4 − 2,270.4 = 840 W, shown as 840 W.
The home calculator, with the same three rows all on, uses that same 700 W extra. Its peak before the 500 W step is 3,110.4 W, and it rounds that up to a 3,500 W recommendation. The sequencer’s buy stays 2,500 W because the microwave is in Never overlap, so phase A does not carry it. The two tools agree on which row supplies the extra watts. They do not print the same buy class when a row is staged off.
What “Sequence it” prints on the stored ranch list
The menu opens on “Well-pump ranch.” Those stored watts are not all Honda rows. Fridge 150 / 600: 150 is inside Honda’s 132–192 running band, and 600 is not Honda’s 1,200 W start. Freezer 200 / 600 is not a separate Honda row. Well 1,000 / 2,100 is not on that chart. Furnace fan 700 / 1,400 matches Honda’s 1/3 hp row. Lights 160 / 160 are not on that chart. Microwave 1,000 / 1,000 matches Honda’s 650 W cooking row, and the script parks it in Never overlap.
With headroom at 20, the button prints naive 5,172 W, sequenced buy class 4,000 W, savings 1,200 W, and phases 3,310 / 2,210 / 3,210. Always running is 2,210 W. The highest start on the always rows is the well at 2,100 W. That row is also the largest start-minus-run gap, 2,100 − 1,000 = 1,100 W, so this stored list’s button does not move when the extra rule matches the home calculator. Phase A = 2,210 + 1,100 = 3,310. Phase C adds the 1,000 W microwave to 2,210. Worst phase 3,310 × 1.20 = 3,972, which rounds up to 4,000. The home calculator with every stored ranch row on, including the microwave, uses the same 1,100 W extra and recommends 5,500 W after the 500 W step. The sequencer’s 4,000 W buy is the microwave sitting in Never overlap.
The city-bungalow menu does move. Its never-overlap row is stored as 2,000 W running and 2,000 W starting. That starting number is higher than the furnace fan’s 1,400 W, and the extra on a row whose start equals its running watts is 0. With headroom at 20 the button prints naive 5,652 W, buy class 5,000 W, savings 1,080 W, and phases 2,510 / 2,710 / 3,810. Phase C is 3,810 × 1.20 = 4,572, which still rounds up to 5,000. The travel-trailer menu does not move: the roof air conditioner is both the highest start and the largest gap, so the button stays naive 5,640 W, buy class 3,000 W, savings 2,760 W, phases 2,200 / 2,400 / 1,900.
Limits and a common mistake
Move that stored microwave from Never overlap to Always and click again. The well is still the highest start, so the extra stays 1,100 W. Always running becomes 3,210 W, phase A becomes 3,210 + 1,100 = 4,310 W, the worst phase times 1.20 is 5,172 W, the buy class becomes 5,500 W, and the savings figure becomes 0. The 1,000 W is Honda’s microwave row. The rest of that list is still the stored ranch rows. The lane, not a new appliance, is what changed the class.
The script does not know locked-rotor amps. A soft-start that you have not installed is not a lower starting wattage. Transfer-switch amps are on transfer switch sizing after the watts are known. Connecting the generator to the building takes a licensed electrician and a permit where local code requires one.
Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below. Spot an error? Email [email protected].