Who Needs a Standby Generator?
Most of us take electricity for granted.
When we flip the light switch, we expect the light to turn on.
When we plug in the electric grill, we expect it to be ready before the neighbors arrive for the backyard cookout.
If there's a power outage, everyone immediately calls the electric company to complain and ask how long they'll have to wait before the electricity comes back on.
But what happens when the electricity goes out for days at a time, like when a hurricane or other natural disaster destroys the power lines?
Or what happens in a place like a hospital, where even a short power outage could cause the failure of a life-sustaining respirator or a doctor's operating tools, resulting in the death of a patient?
What about the thousands of food manufacturers, grocery stores, and restaurants, which might have to throw away thousands of dollars worth of refrigerated food every time the electricity goes out for a short time?
The answer for all of these situations is a standby generator.
Basically, a standby generator is a stand-alone system that can produce a limited amount of electricity for a limited amount of time.
In addition to a generator itself, the system usually includes an engine, a fuel tank, an engine speed regulator and a generator voltage regulator.
Many units are equiped with a battery-powered automatic starting system.
Larger units, especially those in hospitals and commercial businesses, are usually connected directly to the building's wiring so that when the electricity goes out, the standby generator automatically comes on.
A standby generator can also be wired into your home's electrical wiring, but it is not a "do it yourself" job; it requires installation by a qualified electrical contractor.
You might also need to get a permit from your local building inspector's office.
Standby generators come in a wide range of sizes, from small portable units that can supply several hundred watts of power, to large industrial units that can supply over a million watts.
Most units that are designed for emergency use in the home can supply between 15 and 45 kilowatts and can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $25,000 or more, depending on how many electrical appliances you want to run for how many days, and how big of a fuel tank you want sitting in your yard or buried under it.
Most of the smaller units are fueled by gasoline, while the larger units use liquid propane, natural gas or diesel.
During the recent hurricanes in Florida, there were news reports of homeowners whose standby generators supplied electricity to their homes for a week or more.
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Power Freight Systems Opens New Portland Facility, Doubles Service Capacity
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Power generator > No More Wet Basements During Power Outage - New Sump Pump and Sewage Pump Power Backup Unit Introduced
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Power generator > The Official Movie Plot Generator Lets Readers Act the Part of Hollywood Screenwriter