Power outages can wreak havoc on a household, a neighborhood, or even an entire city. You have no lights, no air conditioning, and you can’t open your refrigerator, or else your food will spoil. Not to mention the safety concerns and simply not feeling comfortable in your own home. This is where home generators come in.

What is a generator?

A generator is a device that is powered by gasoline, propane, or diesel that converts this fuel into electrical energy. Depending on the type of generator you have installed, it could power your entire home for days or even weeks at a time.

What causes power outages?

There’s not just one cause for power outages, especially in the state of Florida. In fact, there are several factors that commonly cause power outages, including:

Weather: We’ve all experienced a stormy night with high winds, and lightning and the subsequent power outage in the aftermath. The weather might be one of the most common causes of power outages, especially in Florida, where hurricane season is expected, and power outages are the norm.
Vehicles: Car accidents and collisions with utility poles are another common cause of power outages and can happen anywhere and for many different reasons.
Natural Disasters: Disasters such as earthquakes, no matter how large they are, can damage power lines, utility poles, and even entire facilities leaving the surrounding area with no power.
High Demand: During a heatwave or a time when power is in high demand either to light the home, cool it or heat it, there’s a lot of stress and pressure being put on a limited number of cables, transformers, and other electric equipment which can cause it to fail.

What kind of generator should I get?

There are a few different types of generators you could have installed at your home. The two most common are the portable model and the standby model.

Portable Generator

A portable generator is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a more temporary solution for your home that has the potential to power a few of your main appliances like the refrigerator, freezer, lights, and maybe even the air conditioning for a short while.

They can also serve a purpose outside of your home for things such as camping, or hosting an outdoor event with lighting. Another benefit of portable generators is the price point. They are much more affordable when compared to a standby generator, but this is also because they are capable of much less.

Standby Generator

A standby generator is perfect in all situations, but especially sudden emergency situations when you’ve had no time to prepare in advance for the power outage. These types of generators deliver consistent power after lines have failed, whatever the reason may be. Unlike a portable generator where you can only power a few appliances, a standby will let you operate your house as usual. They can also be used for several days or even weeks at a time, depending on the capacity of the unit.

The few disadvantages of a standby generator include the price; they are far more expensive than their portable counterparts, and the installation. These are permanent devices, which means they can’t be moved around and take a bit more time to set up compared to a portable.

If you have generator questions or general electrical questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Sarasota based experts at ACS Home Services. All you have to do is fill out a contact form or give us a call at 813-213-3537.