4 Reasons to Install a Home Backup Generator

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It’s common for businesses to rely on backup generators during power outages, but power outages can cause problems for households too. At best, power outages are minorly inconvenient, but at worst, they can be dangerous or even life-threatening. Here are four reasons you can benefit from installing a backup generator for your home.

To Keep Medical Equipment Running

If someone in your household is undergoing hospice or home health care, there’s likely a lot of sensitive medical equipment that relies on your home’s electrical system. You might not need the television or computer during a power outage, but medical equipment is another story.

Medical equipment like CPAP machines and pressure-relieving beds can’t lose power. CPAP machines provide life-saving oxygen to sufferers of sleep apnea, and pressure-relieving beds are crucial for preventing pressure sores in bedridden patients. Even a short loss of power, such as a couple hours, can lead to negative effects for people who suffer from these conditions.

With a backup generator, you can keep these all-important pieces of equipment running during a power outage.

To Store and Prepare Food

A lengthy power outage can lead to issues with food preparation and storage. A refrigerator without power is basically a large lunch cooler, and it won’t be able to keep your food fresh for very long. And if the power to the stove and microwave is out, there aren’t many options for keeping your family fed.

When you choose a backup generator for your home, you can continue to use your refrigerator, stove, and microwave to store and prepare food-and if you have young children, regular meals can prevent an emotional, hunger-induced meltdown.

If you have a standby generator, it will come on automatically when the power goes out. On the other hand, a portable generator can be used to power only essential appliances such as the refrigerator and stove.

To Keep HVAC Running

While a power outage during mild seasons might not be a big deal, a power outage during the dead of winter or the heat of summer can be deadly. In the United States, over 7,000 people died due to heat-related causes from 1999 to 2009, and cold weather is even more dangerous.

If you live in an extreme climate, it’s important to keep your home’s heating or cooling system running during a power outage. A backup generator can be used to keep your HVAC system running to prevent heat- and cold-related injuries.

A working HVAC system can be even more important if members of your household are elderly or young, as these individuals are more vulnerable to extreme temperatures.

To Protect Sensitive Items

Many homeowners have items they’d like to protect, whether a comic book collection, priceless original artwork, a collection of rare sports memorabilia, or personal financial documents. Just as you would want a climate-controlled storage unit if you were to store these items away from home, you’ll want to keep these things protected when you store them at home.

A backup generator allows you to keep these items safe at home, even during a power outage. If you have an especially valuable collection or set of documents, it might be a good idea to install a dedicated generator for that room of your house.

If you’re concerned about just one of these four areas, a portable generator can be a great asset. You can hook up the generator as needed to power only the parts of your home that need electricity during a power outage.

On the other hand, if you need to keep your refrigerator running in addition to life-saving medical equipment, a whole-house backup generator might be a better option.

To learn more about how your home can benefit from a backup generator, or for information about the installation process, contact us at Oak Electric Service. We’ll be happy to help.

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