Growing Trend of Home Standby Power Generators to Take Care of Power Outages
Old Man Winter is here and has already given us a surprise with some cold temperatures. Some of us are already getting prepared for the upcoming power outages that are inevitable. We are turning to home standby generators.
About ten years ago, many people got hooked on backup generators. We realized that most of the electricity we get from our electric providers are pretty reliable, you just cannot rely on mother nature sometimes. Severe weather can come at any time of year, but it’s more frustrating to be without power because of an ice storm because it can get cold in your house very quickly.
According to CNN.com, the United States’ consumption of electricity has risen thirty five percent in the past decade. Newly generated electric power has risen by only eighteen percent. In addition, the Alliance to Save Energy has been reporting that a continuing trend of severe weather in the future will play a bigger role in producing more power outages.
Unlike smaller portable generators, home standby generators don’t require an extension cord, gas or diesel, or manual hookup. Home standby generators are able to run more appliances and electronic equipment, operate more safely using liquid propane or natural gas, respond more quickly to power outages and produce less noise than portable generators, typically about the same decibel level as a central air conditioner.
Cummins Onan has tips on choosing a home standby electric generator. According to Cummins Onan, the best match for you will depend on the power requirements of your home and the available fuel types. Some appliances with electric motors (such as refrigerators and air conditioners) require up to 2 to 3 times the listed wattage. The generator you choose should be at least 20% larger you’re your calculated requirements. Also, additional capacity allows more circuits to be added for future use.
Generators produce AC voltage, very similar to the voltage available in your home, however while your electric utility company produces sufficient power for all your electric powered devices, a home standby generator is limited in power output directly related to the engine horsepower. The amount of power that a generator can produce is rated in watts. Rated power is less than peak power as certain components lose efficiency as they are heated from use.
Many standby power generators use propane for their power. Recently, we’ve seen a lot of commercials on television that say that propane is a reliable alternative to electricity. While propane is a good source of fuel for your home standby generator, it will certainly not replace electricity to power your home or business while the “power is on”.
The Propane site also talks about how standby generators work:
Standby generators are designed to automatically provide electricity to your home during a power outage. The automatic system constantly monitors utility power 24 hours a day. When power from the utility line fails, the automatic transfer switch (ATS) will safely disconnect the utility feed wires and connect the generator feed. This eliminates the harmful back-feeding of electricity from the house’s generator power to the utility lines. A signal is sent, starting the generator and powering up your home’s circuits. Automatic generators continue to monitor utility power and reverse the “switch” when the power outage ends. They return to standby mode, waiting for the next outage.
While a standby generator is definitely a good thing to have, it is important to remember that portable generators and home standby generators are just that: they’re standby generators. It is important, as well, to choose an inexpensive, yet reliable, power company that you can rely on such as SuperCheapElectricity.com to provide you electricity to your home or business.
Tags: power generator, power outage, Power Outages