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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/beirut-beirut-lb/will-it-run
When the state grid (EDL) is off — which in Beirut is most of the day — nearly every building runs on a private neighbourhood diesel-generator subscription (the ishtirak), sold by amperage. The hard part is knowing what a 5-amp or 10-amp line actually lets you run at once: a 5-amp line carries only about 1,150 watts, so a single electric water heater or a split AC nearly fills it on its own.
355 W
Running at once
≈ 1.5 amps at 230 V
With this selection
This fits a 5 amp subscription.
About 795 W to spare before the line is full.
Subscription
Can carry
Your selection
5 amp
1,150 W
Fits — 795 W to spare
10 amp
2,300 W
Fits — 1,945 W to spare
Leave room for motors starting
Most Beirut buildings run a water pump to lift water to the roof tank, and a fridge year-round, and in summer a split AC — all three are motors. They draw their heaviest current the instant they switch on, so a line that looks just full enough on paper can still trip when the pump, the fridge or the AC compressor kicks in. Leave some headroom.
Motors — the fridge, the water pump, the washing machine, the air conditioner — pull several times their running watts for a second or two when they switch on. A subscription that is only just big enough can trip at that moment, so leave headroom rather than filling it to the line.
A guide, not a guarantee
The watts here are typical figures. Your own fridge, pump or air conditioner may use more or less, so treat the result as a guide rather than an exact reading.
Your generator operator sets the size and the price of each subscription. The amperages and fees here are the local norm, not a quote — confirm with your operator.
This estimates the electrical load. It is not an electrical-safety check: for wiring, breakers, or anything that smells hot or feels warm, ask a qualified electrician.
Worth knowing
Why the subscription is sold in amperes
A generator can only push so much current down each home's line before it trips, so operators sell capacity in amperes, not by the appliance. At Lebanon's 230-volt mains, 5 amps is about 1,150 watts and 10 amps about 2,300 watts. This page turns the appliances you'd run at once into watts, and back into amps, so you can see what actually fits on each line.
Summer is when the line fills up
Beirut's heaviest generator demand is the summer, when air conditioning goes on across the city. A split-unit AC and an electric water heater are the two loads that fill a small line fastest — running either one alongside the fridge and the water pump is often what tips a 5-amp line over. If your summer evenings keep tripping, this is usually why.
This planner sizes the line; the bill is a separate question
This tool is for deciding which subscription you need. To check whether your operator is charging over the official monthly per-kilowatt-hour ceiling for the electricity you actually used, use the Generator Bill Checker on Beirut's page — the two tools answer different halves of the same question. Operators set the fixed monthly subscription fee themselves, and it varies block to block, so this page shows what fits each line rather than a price.
Check the tariff and your bill
Generator Bill Checker — Beirutthe other half of the question: is your operator charging over the official per-kilowatt-hour ceiling for what you used?