Whole House Generators – Why They Are So Important

Whole house generators offer a vital supply and communication line to a household that has lost its connection to its main source of power. Approximately 3.5 million people lose their power in any given week.

It is an awful thing to have to experience, but chances are you may come up against the situation of not having electrical power to your home. A Whole house backup generator  is just what it says . This is a generator that will, in the event that you go off grid, provide most of the backup that you need to run your home and family smoothly during this time.

A loss of power can be caused by electrical shutdown, for maintenance or failure, or more likely the loss will be caused by weather. In either case, you will want to know that your living conditions will be disrupted as little as possible.  Whole house  generators will often be connected into your mains power, and while this is running it will be sucking and storing electricity from that source ready for when you need it.

You should consider a whole house generator as a very important investment.  It should be on your priority list in any home that you have.  Many people spend more time and effort picking a new tv than do on a backup power supply for their home.  Yet when they lose power their tv is absolutely useless.  Think of the potential loss you may incur during an outage,  your loss will not only be financial but it can be emotional too.  Being cut off from the outside world is frightening and can also be dangerous for you and your family.

Which Whole House Generator Is Right For You?

These systems are absolutely worth their weight in gold. The main focus should be on purchasing a unit that is adequate for your home. To do this, you will need to know how big your home is, if your heating unit and water heater are electric, this exercise is called whole house generator sizing.

The simplest way to do this is to list all the appliances you will want to run off your generator.  Start with the essentials first and go through room by room of your home. After that you can add on the extras.

When you have this list complete the easiest thing to do is to visit your preferred manufacturers website and take a look at their own sizing sheets. Use these to determine the wattage and size requirements for whole house generators.

If you are not going to be using a fixed generator that is connected to your mains then you will need to choose what fuel is best for you and your whole house generator.  This should be decided by availability and cost.  You can look at whole house diesel generators as good alternative. Robust and easy to maintain, they do cost a bit more initially but you can also investigate a used diesel generator which will be more affordable.

You want to make sure that the unit you purchase is enough to maintain your homes standards as close to the real thing as possible. If your home has gas heat and hot water heater then, of course, your generator will not be working as hard as if you were all electric. You can take this into consideration when purchasing.

You want to make sure that you are not taxing the efficiency of the model you choose by overloading it. If that happens, you now have an even bigger problem. Always adhere to the manufacturers instructions on how best to load your generator for home use.

Whole House Generators And Fuel

For fueling purposes, there are basically three types available. First are the typical gasoline or diesel engines. These are fine, but you will be forced to refuel on a continuous basis, day and night. For example, a standard 1000 watt generator uses approximately 1 gallon of fuel every two hours. Next, there are the ones that use LP or propane gas.

These can be connected directly to an LP or propane tank and as you will have power as long as the gas supply remains. It would be a good idea to maintain a higher level off gas in your tank going into the winter in case you also have to tap into it for generator purposes.

Whole house generators can take an emergency and turn it into a comfortable situation. They are an important part of helping to deal with a power outage.

A home backup  system can last you up to 20 years if maintained correctly and kept in the right environment.  Good well installed and maintained whole house generators will add value to your house if you are thinking about selling. This should be borne in mind when deciding on what type of standby generator you will need.

Remember always go for bigger than you need at this moment in time. Think of the future. Allow for growth and also allow for the things that you will have forgotten about.

Whole House Diesel Generators

Diesel is  a good option for a home generator.  You need to ask yourself how easy is it in your area to get diesel.  Diesel generators can be more expensive to buy up front, but they are built like tanks and very little can go wrong with them during their lifetime so they do pay for themselves.  Diesel is also a cheaper fuel so the running costs will be kept down.  However, if it is difficult to get hold of in your area or you have to travel to get it then this will not be the best solution for you.  If you are considering this option, be sure and check out used and second hand units.  If they have been professionally overhauled and come with a guarantee then you could possibly get a good deal.  Don’t just buy one from a friend or neighbor, go  to a certified dealer.

Sizing Whole House Generators?

The most common question asked about whole house generators is what size do I need? Well don’t make this harder than it really is. Talk to the manufacturers of the model you are thinking of investing in and get them to size it for you. Simple. You can even get someone to call around to you house and do a generator survey for you. These are free and come with no obligation, make use of them.

Choose wisely and you will be rewarded with many years of good service.  Whole house generators are an investment for life.