More people are in the market for generators, with their popularity rising over the last years due to many areas becoming higher risks for potential power outages.
It can be hard to know exactly what you are looking for though when buying a generator, especially if you’ve had no experience buying one as there are many things that you will need to take into consideration when purchasing one.
Everyone once in their life has probably experienced a power outage whether that’d be in your home or a place of work. Either way, you know exactly how annoying it is.
There could be several reasons why you experience a blackout whether it’d be extreme weather conditions or scheduled maintenance, the problem is that you may not know how long you will be without power – it could be some minutes, hours, or days or even in some cases weeks.
Not only can this be a major inconvenience for everyone involved but it can also be dangerous as well with appliances such as freezers not working that can cause a flood in your home. That’s why you must have a backup power source on hand ready to go and that’s where generators come in!
Being able to call upon a generator in a time of crisis can help you out of so many sticky situations and that’s why they are known to be a highly reliable piece of equipment but the first step is finding the right generator for you. There are many factors that you need to think about such as size, budget and most importantly health & safety.
We’ve written this article to help potential buyers with things to look for when buying a generator so that you can get the ideal generator for your situation and have a handy backup power source for any circumstances that may come up.
What Exactly Is A Generator?
Before you purchase one, it may be good to get some knowledge on what is a generator. In short, a generator is an appliance that is capable of supplying electricity to appliances whether that’d be in your home, work site, camping or many more.
A common misconception is that they create electricity but that is not the case they take forms of energy and convert them into electricity for you to use.
There are many different types of generators available on the market ranging in various sizes & uses plus different types of fuel as well, that’s why it’s key to do some research beforehand.
What To Look Out For When Buying A Generator
When it comes to choosing a generator, you’ll first need to know about the types of generators that are out there.
Standby Generator
Standby generators are seen as more of a permanent solution than something you’d use on the odd occasion. They are a lot larger than other types of generators and will cost a lot more. Instead of being able to carry your generator, this type of generator is installed at your home or workplace.
The reason it is installed is that it can automatically detect when your power goes down so it can turn on to continue providing power to your appliances as if nothing has happened.
Many homeowners see standby generators as a good investment as when installed in your home, not only will you have a great backup source but the value will increase on your property by having it.
Portable Generator
As the name says, you can easily transport this generator as it’s portable. You will find that these generators have wheels plus handles which means you can move them easily from place to place if need be.
These types of generators are a lot more affordable than your standby generators but that does come with lesser power as many portable generators only can run just some appliances in a power outage.
Inverter Generator
An inverter generator is quite similar to your portable generators but they are known to be much lighter and easier. They are extremely quiet and well-meaning you will most likely find these types of generators for activities such as camping that require low noise levels. Due to this, they will produce less power than your portable generator.
What To Consider
These are the most important things you will need to consider when purchasing a generator.
Power Requirements
When looking for a generator, you’ll first need to know what are you going to be using it for. Are you purchasing a portable generator to have just in case you need to power a few appliances through a blackout or are you requiring something as large as a standby generator to be able to power whole households?
By knowing what you are trying to power, you’ll be able to look for a generator that is capable of powering the watts needed for your appliances.
Fuel Source
There are many different types of generators on the market that run on different types of fuel. Gas & diesel are most commonly used for portable generators whereas propane is used to fuel your standby generators. You can even use natural gas to fuel some standby generators but not with portable generators.
Budget
A big factor when it comes to purchasing a generator is finding one that is available at your price point. If you have a much larger budget and you want a more hassle-free convenient way of powering your home through a blackout then it may be best for you to be looking into purchasing a standby generator for your home.
That doesn’t mean just because you have a big budget that you should go for the most expensive option as you may only require a portable generator which is a lot more affordable with a range of different models on the market but if you are running on a smaller budget then it will make more sense looking into purchasing a portable generator that will be able to power the needed appliances.
