How To Find The Best Generator To Power Your Home In An Emergency

Life is uncertain, and so is the power supply. No matter how lavish place you live, if you haven’t backed the home with an emergency generator, the chances are you may also face the consequences of power failures. The house, getting too cold or warm due to lack of heater or air conditioner, food getting stale and electronic gadgets getting discharged will become apparent.    

This is when an emergency generator comes in handy. People who live in areas which are prone to power outages get the generator sooner or later. Other than this, the purchase of generators also goes high when the meteorological department announces that major storms are around the corner. However, the one mistake they make is investing in the generator without proper research or planning.

Rushing into a store and getting any random generator sometimes become a regretting decision in life. If you are unaware, a majority of people die every year due to carbon monoxide poisoning coming from the generators. So now you know how dangerous it could be?

Source: Only Top Reviews

To rule out all your dilemmas, here we will provide detailed information on generators and how you can find the best one to power your home in an emergency.

Know The Different Types Of Generators For Home

There are three types of generators viz., home standby generators, portable generators and inverter generators. As their name implies, home standby generators get installed once and work efficiently as a great backup source. Although it is a wonderful product to own, too much noise makes it not a highly recommendable one for the small houses.

On the contrary, portable and inverter generators could become a great choice due to many factors like

• Relatively smaller in size.
• Portable and easy to place anywhere.
• Less expensive than the home standby generators
• Much quieter and do not disturb people in the home or surroundings

However, the only drawback of portable and inverter generator is they work with gas, unlike home standby that operates on propane. Propane is considered less risky than natural gas or gasoline on which the other two generators work. Therefore, if you are buying the portable or inverter generators, you not only have to keep an eye on the propulsion of gas but their stocking up as well.  You can get a fair idea about different generators and their working module on this website.

Know The Devices You Will Run With The Generator

How much power you will need is one of the deciding factors of your purchase of the generator. If you only want the lights and fans to work with a generator, you can get a device with less power delivery.

It is advised to make a list of the appliances which are essential for living a normal life in the absence of power supply. If you live in a warm climate, you might need to include refrigerator and window air conditioner along with the fans. On the other hand, heaters become necessary for those living in a cold climate. Similarly, if your work involves the use of computers and other office gadgets, including them as well becomes crucial as well.

Once you know your priorities, make a list and write how much wattage each appliance needs to run. On the basis of this list, you may finally get a generator depending upon the power it can supply.

Source: Bergey’s Electric

Know Its Features And Functions

A generator is a complex device that may offer more than what you think. There are a number of features in a generator. While some are highly essential some can be skipped. So let us know more about some of the important features you must have in your generator.

1. How Does It Start

There are two ways a generator may start- one is automatic, and another is electric. Obviously, the automatic start is more preferred where the device goes on as soon the power supply goes off. You don’t need even to move from your place as it doesn’t require any human intervention.

Most of the portable models need to start with a push button. It starts the engine and makes the device functional instantly. Some are powered by the battery as well where the need for pushing the button also ceases.

2. What Are The Alternative Fuel Options

If your generator can work on multiple fuels a lot of your troubles reside. Although most of the portable generators work with gasoline, some are well-accustomed with propane and natural gas as well. With this, you get different options to make your device functional on whatever fuel is available. You can find more useful information on thsenergy.com.

3. Can It Prevent Its Damage

There are two things which are essential to maintaining the upkeep of a generator. The first one is the ability to see the fuel, and another is the low-oil shutoff feature. If you can take a glance at the fuel tank and know how much is still there, it can prevent the device from putting exertion on the engine and damaging it. Low oil shutoff feature works in the same manner.

Source: Anderson Power Services

Final Words

If your generator is equipped with all the above features and you have selected it as per your priorities, half of your trouble vanishes in the days of power outages. So research thoroughly in the market, get complete know-how of the generators and only then make the purchase.