Do you live in an area where there’s a chance of power outages? If that’s the case, you should think about a whole-home generator. That way, you can run some things even when there’s an outage.
But before you contact whole-home generator installation services, you want to consider what items you would power. That way, you can also make sure that you don’t tax it too much. Here are some items:
Refrigerator
This is crucial since an outage could last awhile, depending on the cause of the outage — if it’s something catastrophic like a hurricane, it could be weeks. You don’t want want your food to spoil. The generator will be able to keep your fridge humming along, keeping things cold and fresh.
You can put the freezer in this category, whether you have a joint refrigerator/freezer or a larger standalone one. If you need to put some things in there to keep them fresh longer, then you should do that.
Air Conditioner
If your power outage happens during a time of year when things are still really hot outside, you don’t want to be without air conditioning. Make sure that the generator you get can handle the BTUs and wattage that your air conditioner uses. A whole-home generator salesperson can walk you through what information you need to know.
Entertainment Systems
You’ve got to keep yourself amused during this outage. This can mean powering your television and laptop. That way, you can still binge-watch all of your favorite shows or movies — provided your internet hasn’t been affected, or you have the movies or shows already saved.
Lights
Of course, you want to be able to see when it’s dark out. Your generation should be able to handle the power needed to light things like lamps. Just make sure that you’re using the proper wattage for the fixtures that you’re putting the bulbs into. LED bulbs can also save a lot more energy than incandescent ones.
Smartphones
Provided that your cell phone towers or internet hasn’t gone out, you’re going to need to have your phone handy. You want to make sure that you’re able to fully charge it, since it could be very useful if you need to contact people about your power outage. The generator will let you do that.
Proper Usage
The main thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to overload the generator. If there’s an outage, the first thing you want to do is unplug everything. Then start the generator and start plugging in the things that you want to use one by one. Then turn them on one by one too. That way, your generator won’t strain with everything starting up at once. Also, make sure that you use the proper extension cords.
Proper Installation
This won’t be much of a concern if you have professionals do the installation. They will be well aware of any regulations, and they will also place it in an area where it’s safe for you to run without any worries about carbon monoxide or other safety concerns. Make sure that you follow all the instructions that the installers give you about maintaining it and also have it regularly inspected.
Whether you’ve lost power during the summer to heavy rain or during the winter while a blizzard rages outside, you want to be careful with your whole-home generator. It can mean the difference between having some minor inconveniences and being in a dangerous situation. The best thing to do when it comes to deciding what you should or should not keep running through the generator is talk with an expert when you have it installed. That way, you will be thoroughly prepared.