Why do I need a generator? Does this sound like a question you may have asked yourself? Or better yet, how do I know which generator is right for me? In today's world, there are many "businesses" that will sell you a solution when there isn't a problem, or worse yet, the wrong solution for a big problem. Learn how to be sure this doesn't happen to you as well as understand some of the things to study when you decide to protect your investment with a backup generator.
When looking to protect your home, you should not always look at the bottom line upfront. There is such a thing as being penny wise and dollar foolish. Some "Dealers" and I use this term loosely will tell you that you only need the smallest unit on the market in order to protect your 5,000 square foot home with your M.R.I. machine neatly nested away in your basement next to the power switch to your own private airport.. Now granted, I am exaggerating quite a bit here, but I have seen some crazy installations in my time that were done by people who were supposed to be licensed electricians. Now understand before I proceed with this article, I am not trying to throw you some crazy sales pitch for some ocean front property, but rather explain some of the key differences in what seems to be an extremely confusing process. Let me start out by categorizing home generators by mobility. There are two levels of mobility. Portable, and then permanently installed. I will not cover the portables in this article since the majority of Americans do not purchase them any more simply because they have a hard time efficiently powering the modern home.
This leaves the permanently installed units which are composed of two categories:
Air-Cooled- This option is the answer to near 90% of the homes the average person owns. They are low maintenance, and usually fully automatic. An air cooled unit will typically provide between 7 kW of electricity to 20 kW of electricity. These types of units will start themselves one time per week to "exercise" and then shut off within 15 minutes and return to sleep until the next week. When the power goes out, the generator will start up on its own, transfer power via a transfer switch, power the appropriated portions of your home until utility power returns, then retransfer power when utility power returns and shut itself back off. This is a very straightforward approach for most people's homes and like I said, will work 90% of the time. These units also save you the headache of refueling since they run off you the fuel supply your home already uses... Either Natural Gas or Propane.
Liquid-Cooled- This is an option for small businesses, larger homes, and properties where long term power outages are frequent. Liquid-Cooled Generators offer all the benefits of an Air-Cooled Unit but produce electricity from 18kW and up. These units are typically powered by an automotive engine and therefore are designed to produce more power, and run for longer periods of time with lower maintenance costs. Liquid-Cooled units are a higher price up front, but sometimes are the only smart option. Such as when you are living in a multi-million dollar home with exotic electrical features such as radiant flooring, heated swimming pools, and multiple large air conditioning units on various furnaces. in cases such as this, lets face the facts... would you put your life savings in a shoebox? Conventional insurance is a product that only helps you when its already too late, and still costs you a deductible and lost treasured items. A generator is an insurance policy in its own right, and can actually lower your homeowners policy as much as 20% in some areas.
More about → How a Home Generator Can Benefit You
When looking to protect your home, you should not always look at the bottom line upfront. There is such a thing as being penny wise and dollar foolish. Some "Dealers" and I use this term loosely will tell you that you only need the smallest unit on the market in order to protect your 5,000 square foot home with your M.R.I. machine neatly nested away in your basement next to the power switch to your own private airport.. Now granted, I am exaggerating quite a bit here, but I have seen some crazy installations in my time that were done by people who were supposed to be licensed electricians. Now understand before I proceed with this article, I am not trying to throw you some crazy sales pitch for some ocean front property, but rather explain some of the key differences in what seems to be an extremely confusing process. Let me start out by categorizing home generators by mobility. There are two levels of mobility. Portable, and then permanently installed. I will not cover the portables in this article since the majority of Americans do not purchase them any more simply because they have a hard time efficiently powering the modern home.
This leaves the permanently installed units which are composed of two categories:
Air-Cooled- This option is the answer to near 90% of the homes the average person owns. They are low maintenance, and usually fully automatic. An air cooled unit will typically provide between 7 kW of electricity to 20 kW of electricity. These types of units will start themselves one time per week to "exercise" and then shut off within 15 minutes and return to sleep until the next week. When the power goes out, the generator will start up on its own, transfer power via a transfer switch, power the appropriated portions of your home until utility power returns, then retransfer power when utility power returns and shut itself back off. This is a very straightforward approach for most people's homes and like I said, will work 90% of the time. These units also save you the headache of refueling since they run off you the fuel supply your home already uses... Either Natural Gas or Propane.
Liquid-Cooled- This is an option for small businesses, larger homes, and properties where long term power outages are frequent. Liquid-Cooled Generators offer all the benefits of an Air-Cooled Unit but produce electricity from 18kW and up. These units are typically powered by an automotive engine and therefore are designed to produce more power, and run for longer periods of time with lower maintenance costs. Liquid-Cooled units are a higher price up front, but sometimes are the only smart option. Such as when you are living in a multi-million dollar home with exotic electrical features such as radiant flooring, heated swimming pools, and multiple large air conditioning units on various furnaces. in cases such as this, lets face the facts... would you put your life savings in a shoebox? Conventional insurance is a product that only helps you when its already too late, and still costs you a deductible and lost treasured items. A generator is an insurance policy in its own right, and can actually lower your homeowners policy as much as 20% in some areas.
