How Emergency Generators Function...The only efficient way to supply power to your home or business during power outages is by using emergency generators of the appropriate size for your needs. The power can be transferred into your house via two ways: 1. Extension cords - You can run these into the house and connect them to the chosen appliances. This is not always the best way as it is messy with cords everywhere and there are safety issues that need to be addressed with cords. However, it is probably the most common way that people use their portable emergency generator.
2. Transfer switch - This is a much safer system where you will need to have an electrical contractor install a special device which is connected to the house's main electrical panel. When the emergency generator is started, you then run just a single cord into the switch and this powers the circuits through the main circuit breaker. This prevents any risk of "backfeeding" into the power lines, which can result in electrocution of utility workers repairing the lines. Emergency generators come in all various sizes which can then also be used for recreational use such as camping. It seems that the camper is always the most prepared when these times come, because he has known the value of a generator for many years in making his trips away from home more civilised. As it is, the smallest of these emergency generators can be counted on to run small appliances and lights and small refrigerators. The bigger the units the more you are able to run, but it is recommended that 4500 watts is the minimum needed to run a normal household - this means refrigerator, freezer, lights and TV. For those people that can afford it, home stand-by emergency generators will restore power to the house within about 20 seconds. These emergency generators use sensors to detect power outages and then they automatically fire into action. Once again you are able to choose different sizes - enough to power the entire house including air conditioning, or smaller units designed to power just a few of the emergency selected circuits such as sump pump, furnace fan and refrigerator. These types of emergency generators come with their own housing and are designed to be installed outside but connected through the main electrical panel. Emergency generators of this type are fueled by natural gas, LP or diesel fuel. To make it even easier, many of them are able to be connected to the home's natural gas line which means that there is no messy filling of tanks or storing of fuel. In a commercial situation, emergency generators can provide up to 200,000 watts of power. These are essential to places that can not survive without power, such as nursing homes and refrigerated plants. They are generally water-cooled diesel engines and most people are probably aware of seeing these large metal boxes at concerts, or other venues where extra power is required. There is great peace of mind knowing when you are out or away on vacation, that if by some chance the power does go out then the technology provided by emergency generators is going to keep everything A1 in your absence. |
