Hurricanes and other natural disasters such as floods, ice storms, and heat waves strike more often now a days. They come and wreak havoc on the lives and businesses of entire communities and leave in their wake destruction. Those of us who live in areas prone to hurricanes, flooding, and ice storms, know all too well that the initial disaster is only the beginning of the trouble. After evacuating in order to avoid personal harm we often come back to find broken windows, fallen trees, and more often than not downed power lines. In order to get life back on track it is necessary to have power and that is why many people decide to own or rent a portable generator. These simple machines can be a lifesaver when it comes to getting back to life and business. However, like all things they are not all created equally and as such there are a few important things to look for when purchasing or renting.
First of all one must decide how much power they realistically need to get things back up and running. To gauge this you will need to determine what types of appliances you need to run and how much energy they need. You will need to find out what sort of wattage the heater needs, or if it is hurricane season the air conditioner, also the refrigerator, water heater, and any other appliances in the house. When you add up all the wattage needed for these appliances it will often be much higher than what you realistically need.
Many appliances require a large amount of energy to start but not to run continuously. Others use the same amount whenever they are on. If you stagger your usage and don’t turn everything on at once you can often operate on a much smaller unit. Another important part of this is the willingness to compromise on unnecessary appliances. For instance leaving off the TV and the lights saves enough power to run a refrigerator and a furnace. On the other hand if it is necessary to have all of the appliances in the house all on at the same time and don’t want the hassle of picking the most important you will want to buy a larger generator. The tradeoff will be that the larger the unit the more gasoline it will consume.
Fuel efficiency is something to consider when choosing a generator because the availability of more fuel is not always guaranteed during a disaster. Smaller inverter types are more efficient than the larger higher wattage units. These inverters are best for delicate electronics like computers because they control the output in order to keep a steady stream with little or no spiking.
The last thing to consider is the amount of noise the generator puts out. Although not strictly a functional issue there is a quality of life issue to this matter. If you have a home fairly far from neighbors then noise is less of an issue but if you live in the city there are other people to consider as well as your own comfort. Gas engines can be loud and as such a smaller quieter model is preferable even if it comes at the expense of some power output.
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