An early, fall storm swept through the area some years ago dumping massive amounts of heavy snow which completely paralyzed the entire region. Trees still had their leaves which captured even more of the wet snow. Branches were quickly overburdened and snapped like twigs under the tremendous weight taking out power lines, roofs, cars and anything else underneath them.
By evening, power was out in the neighborhood and most surrounding areas. As the winter blast subsided, a strange, eerie darkness descended upon the storm ravaged area. Candles and flashlights cast fleeting shadows in homes up and down the icy street.
When the power went out in our house, a Generac Guardian standby generator came on within moments and supplied power to dedicated circuits energizing lights, the furnace, refrigerator/freezers along with a few nonessential items such as television sets and computers.
Half the homes in the neighborhood were without power for at least three days and almost a quarter of those homes had no electricity for over a week. Food spoiled, basements flooded and some people were actually forced to abandon their homes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that there will be a 7% annual increase in utility outages over the coming years with costs reaching $1.5 billion per year. Emergency backup power can not only bring peace of mind, it can also save time and money.
Standby generators work on a pretty simple premise. An electric utility grid supplies power to people’s homes. The utility grid gets its electricity from generating plants which in turn derive their energy from nuclear, hydro or fossil fuels.
A home, standby generator is essentially an internal combustion engine which runs on either natural gas or propane. This engine powers a generator which produces electricity. The backup system comprises a generator and a transfer switch which is hard-wired directly into the residential electrical system. (Portable generators are rarely hard-wired directly into a home’s electrical system. They’re often mounted on wheels and easy to move around.) The standby generator is located outside the home usually near the utility power lines. The transfer switch is placed near or integrated with the main circuit panel inside the home.
The backup system constantly monitors utility power. If there is any loss or interruption of this service, the transfer switch disconnects the home electrical system from the utility grid and transfers it to the standby generator. The generator then starts up and supplies power to a set of dedicated home circuits. When utility power returns, the transfer switch reconnects utility power to the home and the generator shuts down returning to a quiescent standby mode.
The first step in selecting a home, standby generator is to determine how much power you might need, if there is a general utility outage. What devices do you want to operate including lights, furnace, refrigerator/freezer, televisions etc? Most devices are clearly labeled with their wattage ratings, so it’s fairly easy to add them up to calculate your total power needs. After a determination is made on how much power is required, it is simply a matter of finding and installing the right size generator.
Generac Generator dealers can assist you in finding the right solution for your home or business.
Looking for more information on Generac backup power systems, then visit Standby Generator today!
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