Unless you live in an area prone to hurricanes or heavy snow and ice storms, the possibility of frequent power outages might not worry you.
Did you know it’s not only hurricane-force winds or ice encrusted power lines that cause the power to go out? It’s the squirrels! Yes, the little rodents can chew through power lines and take down an entire neighborhood. Sure, it’s a bit dramatic but it’s happened.
If you had a backup generator, you wouldn’t worry about a little old squirrel.
While even the best home generator can’t stop a squirrel, it can prevent inconvenience, damage to your home, and threats to your life. Today’s post talks about the benefits of backing up your home with a generator. Take a minute and read through our short guide to generators and how they can take care of you when the grid can’t.
Table of Contents
Save the Food
Unless you eat nothing but freeze-dried food products, your refrigerator is your lifeline.
In a power outage, your refrigerator only keeps food at a safe temperature for about 4 hours. This isn’t great news for meat, milk, and eggs, especially if the outage occurs during the summer.
Many people keep a second refrigerator running or have a chest freezer. Most people use chest freezers to store meat. Imagine the financial loss when an entire freezer full of meat and fish goes bad!
A backup generator ensures your food remains at a safe temperature for the duration of a power outage.
Generators Keep You Comfortable
If your area experiences a power outage due to a storm or other natural disaster, you won’t have heating or cooling in your home. Depending on the severity of the storm, you could lose power for a few hours or several days.
A generator can power your HVAC system.
Be careful when choosing the generator you plan to use for a backup to your heating and cooling system.
One number counts when determining whether your HVAC system and generator can work together. Check the starting wattage required by your HVAC system against what the generator can handle. If you attempt to power an appliance with a need larger than what your generator can manage, you risk overloading the generator.
Power for the Sump Pump
If you have a basement and live in a flood-prone area, you likely have a sump pump. Sump pumps run on electricity and some (but not all) use a battery backup. Your sump pump runs defense on the water attempting to get into your home.
If your home flooded pre-sump pump installation, you already know the financial and emotional impact of a flooded basement. Most homeowners take the sump pump for granted because it’s tucked away in the basement and you don’t usually hear it running.
The day the power goes out and you have flooding, you’ll pay close attention to the sump pump.
Installing a standby generator can save more than carpets and furniture. It could save your home’s structure from water damage. If you don’t want to go to the extreme of a whole house generator, you should still invest in a portable model.
Keeps the Water Running
Winter in some areas means heavy snow, freezing temperatures, and sometimes heavy ice buildup on power lines. It’s not uncommon to experience a power outage in the winter, which can spell disaster for your home’s plumbing system.
Even though your furnace doesn’t directly heat the pipes, it does keep the air temperature warm enough to prevent them from freezing. Without enough warmth, pipes may freeze and in extreme cases, can burst.
Not only will a generator keep your furnace running, but you can also use it to power a small space heater in the area where you have plumbing pipes located against exterior walls, or in the basement or attic.
Anyone Can Use a Generator
If you can read an instruction manual, you can operate a portable generator. You can also handle a whole house generator without calling for help.
Since portable generators use fuel, you’ll need to find a fuel source. Most towns have a propane dealer and a gas station. Portable generators run on either gasoline, propane, or natural gas.
With little effort, you should have no trouble powering up and using one. You’ll either pull a recoil or press a button (if yours has an electric start).
Generator maintenance is also simple. Pay attention to adding oil and changing it per the manufacturer’s instructions and you should get hours of use.
The Unobtrusive Power of Generators
Most people love the mobility of portable generators. They go anywhere in your home and allow you to plug in whatever appliances need power. Noise, however, presents a problem, especially when using them in a residential area.
When you shop for a generator, you’ll notice most come with a label indicating their decibel rating. It’s something you’ll need to pay attention to since your neighbors and possibly your city won’t appreciate the noise. Some cities even have ordinances, which prevent using noisy generators at night.
Don’t be that annoying neighbor with the loud generator. Read these reviews on the quietest generators before you buy one for your home.
Generators Save Lives
If that statement sounds dramatic, imagine if you had a health condition and it required you to use medical equipment powered by electricity. Or maybe you take medication and you need to store it at a cold temperature.
A generator keeping your refrigerator running also preserves your medications.
Even if you don’t need your medications refrigerated, you do need light in your home to prevent falls and other accidents. Generators provide the safety net in more ways than one.
Generators give light and they power your TV and radio. You’ll have enough light to see your way around your home or to evacuate if necessary. Using the power of your generator, you can also keep up with weather and emergency announcements on the TV or radio.
Do You Have the Best Home Generator for Your Needs?
As you can see, a generator in your home offers a wide range of benefits. Generators prevent damage to your home and its contents. They also minimize danger to you and your family during a power outage.
Choose the best home generator for your needs and you won’t need to worry next time there’s a threat of a power outage.
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