All modern houses and commercial buildings alike need electricity to run, and they tend to get their power from public power grids, supplied by power plants. Some buildings and houses may have solar panels on their roofs for self-contained power supply, and some sunny communities get power from local solar panel arrays in the countryside. But the risk of a power outage is very real, and the United States power grid often suffers from mass outages that may last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, or more. Fortunately, homeowners and business owners alike can have whole house generators or standby generators installed to take over whenever the main power supply is lost. Such emergency generator installation requirements may vary somewhat, but an interested homeowner can evaluate their own home and use online references to correctly gauge their emergency generator installation requirements. Then it’s time to choose a generator model and have it installed.
Houses and Electricity
Not even a modern nation like the United States is immune to power outages; in fact, they becoming more common as time goes on. Federal data for power outage rates dates back to 1984, and from then to the year 2014, the rate of power outages has climbed 285% or so. In the first six months of 2014 alone, a total of 130 grid outages were reported. For a homeowner, a power outage can be inconvenient and a real hassle, since nothing will function there. In winter, this means no heating, and the occupants must find other ways to stay warm until the power comes back on. Meanwhile, food in the fridge should also be checked during an outage, since the fridge and freezer can’t perform any cooling. If the power outage extends beyond four hours, the homeowner should start checking the food regularly wi9th a food thermometer, and throw away whatever they must. But scenarios like these can be avoided if a homeowner considers emergency generator installation requirements, and gets the hardware installed. How might this be done?
Gauging Emergency Generator Installation Requirements
How much power is the homeowner going to need from their future power generators? This number should not be estimated, since a too-small generator cannot provide enough power, and a too-large generator is a waste of money. So, the homeowner should look over all utilities and appliances in their house, and add up the wattage of each item that should be running during an outage. Light bulbs are easy to evaluate, since they have specific wattages printed on them, and the same might be done for a PC, TV, game console, and more. One kilowatt is made up of 1,000 watts, and 1,000 kilowatts constitute one megawatt. With this information in mind, the homeowner can look for desirable generator models online and at local hardware stores.
Nearby hardware stores may be convenient to visit, especially if the homeowner will need some guidance for this process, so they can consult the hardware store’s staff. Once a generator is purchased, installation may be done, and some homeowners may want professional crews to help them with this. Also, some generators are designed to endure sudden flood waters without suffering from exposure, so a homeowner in a flood-prone area should look for these. Overall, a generator is able to take over the power supply once the main supply is lost, and in some cases, the transition is so smooth, the homeowner might not even notice it. Places of businesses, especially hospitals, make good use of standby generators, since they absolutely cannot afford to spend any time without running electricity.
Generators can be portable, and smaller ones are useful in other contexts. Someone who goes camping can use a portable generator to do anything from recharge a laptop or smartphone to powering the lights in a cabin. Such generators might run on gasoline. Small generators also prove popular at tailgate parties, where a TV and sound system need power while they are positioned inside or near a parked vehicle.
