What Is A Standby Generator?

Most people get their power from the local electric grid. While this is quite useful, it is not always dependable. A particularly bad bit of weather can easily knock out the power to your home or business, and even a mistake on the lines might leave your home dark for days. While this is an annoyance for most, it is far more dire for those who need to have power twenty-four hours a day. Whether you are worried about keeping an oxygen machine going for a loved one or you do not want to risk losing the food in your refrigerator, you may want to look for a standby generator to alleviate such power problems.

A standby generator is a handy product that makes sure that loss of electricity from the utility company does not mean that electricity will be lost to your home or your place of work. Rather than depending on the traditional electric grid of power, most of these devices make use of some form of gas power, generally through natural gas, propane or even diesel power. These generators can often work for several hours at a time, and the only real limits on the power of these generators is their source of fuel. Though not meant to be a replacement for electricity, these generators can be quite useful in an emergency.

The average standby generator differs from other emergency generators due to the fact that its activation is usually an automatic process. The generator itself is hooked to an automatic switch, a device which can sense whether or not power is still flowing in from the electric company. Once the power goes out, the switch is triggered and the standby generator will kick in. When power returns from the utility, most generators will likewise be powered down by the same switch. This leads to less time with power lost during emergencies and less fuel usage when the generator is not needed.

Most standby generators are used by those who are required to have them. Hospitals are the most common owners of such equipment, as are nursing homes. Other required owners are those who own high-rise apartment buildings, as the elevators are generally required to have power even in an outage. There are many others who simply choose to make use of the generators, though, noting the sheer utility of the products. Many major food chains keep standby generators available to make sure that their refrigerated units do not lose power, and even some homes make use of standby generators to keep important appliances or even life-saving equipment online.