What Are the Advantages of Owning a Whole-home Standby Generator?

If you’ve ever experienced power outages or brown-outs, you’ve likely gained a greater appreciation for a dependable power supply going to your home.

Severe weather, lack of generating capacity or fire danger can quickly knock out power from the electrical grid that normally supplies your home’s electrical power.

Using a Whole-home Standby Generator vs. a Portable Generator

In a pinch, you could use a portable generator to provide some power during an outage, but portable generators are severely limited in power compared to whole-house back-up generators. You’ll also need to manually start a portable generator and then connect the appliances you want to supply with power. You’ll only be able to run a few appliances with a portable generator. You will also need to monitor the fuel supply and refill the gas tank of a portable generator during an extended outage.

With a whole-home standby generator, you’ll gain these advantages over using a portable generator:

• More power. Whole-house back-up generators provide enough power to handle heating and cooling loads along with powering your appliances. A common portable generator will only power a few essential appliances and a space heater or window air conditioner at best.
• Seamless transition. Except for a slight flicker in your lighting or a couple of seconds without power, you’ll often barely notice the transition from grid power to back-up generator power. Whole-home back-up generators use an automatic switch to transfer the power supply from the normal utility company supply to the generator supply.
• Fuel supply. A whole-house standby generator uses your homes natural gas supply or Propane gas supply to run the engine. You won’t need to monitor and refill the fuel tank during an extended outage.
• Automatic maintenance. A standby generator will periodically run to keep the engine seals and parts in top shape. During the periodic maintenance run, the generator will perform self-diagnostics to check for any problems so you can correct any issues before you need the generator for back-up power.
• Remote monitoring. Keep track of your back-up generator from anywhere using your smartphone or computer. Control your generator remotely and get notifications of any problems that arise. The home generator will also notify your Cummins dealer if any problems occur.
• Increased home value. Installing a whole-home back-up generator typically increases the value of your home by at least half its cost. Having a back-up generator in areas prone to severe weather or black-outs/brown-outs can be a significant selling point when you get ready to sell your home.

How Can a Back-up Generator Help Me Protect My Home?

Prevent these potential problems by installing a whole-home back-up generator:

• Food loss. Food stored in your refrigerator can begin to spoil within a few hours during a power outage. Avoid food spoilage and health problems by keeping your refrigerator running using a whole-home back-up generator.
• Heating and cooling problems. Keep your home comfortable by maintaining power to your home’s furnace or air conditioner during a power outage using a back-up generator. Avoid miserable conditions in your home when a black-out occurs during severely cold or extremely hot weather. You can also avoid spending money staying in a hotel if you keep the climate inside your home livable during a power outage.
• Avoid water damage and mold. You’ll want to have a back-up power supply available when you use a sump pump to keep your basement or crawl space dry. Water damage resulting from an inoperative sump pump can cause mold problems. Water damage and mold remediation typically involve expensive repairs and restoration. Don’t forget that melting ice in your refrigerator during a power outage can cause expensive floor and cabinet damage.
• Well water pump failure. Your well water pump won’t work without power. Once you use up water in the water storage tank, you’ll be without water during a black-out when you depend on a well for your water supply. Maintaining power to water treatment devices will also keep your well water supply safe.
• Health problems. Prevent health problems if you rely on electrically operated medical devices or when you have sensitive medications such as insulin that can spoil if not refrigerated.

Enjoy all of these advantages and even more benefits of a whole-home generator that you probably wouldn’t notice unless you encounter a power outage without a back-up power supply. Schedule a free in-home consultation with a house generator expert to install a Cummins back-up whole-home generator today.