Whole-Home Generators Keep You Powered Up If The Grid Goes Down

Without permanently installed whole-home generators, the threat of a power failure is a serious matter for today’s “wired” residences. Unfortunately, statistics show that extreme weather combined with over-stressed local power grids are making such events more likely than ever. During 2011 alone, more than 20 million Americans found themselves without electricity for a span exceeding 24 hours due to a power outage.

What Will You Do When The Lights Go Out?

Breaking out a few flashlights is hardly suitable to maintain a safe and secure—much less livable—home environment. Unfortunately, neither is the option of relying on a small portable generator. If a power outage persists beyond a few hours, residents with no better options may need to relocate until electricity is restored.

A Better Solution

Whole-home generators are permanently mounted beside or behind your residence and directly hard-wired into your electrical panel by a professional electrician. Most run on natural gas already piped to your home. Whole-home generators continuously monitor utility electrical power. When an outage is detected, the unit automatically starts and switches house circuits from grid power to the generator. When grid electricity is restored, the system switches the circuits back to utility power, then shuts down the generator.

The Right Size

Whole-home generators are sized according to wattage output. With three broad categories of house generators available, almost any level of home power needs can be ensured if electricity is interrupted.

• Critical circuits only. With ratings ranging from 7 KW to 12 KW output, these models can power a limited number of essential circuits to keep the house habitable such as lights, cooking equipment, refrigerator and communications.
• Managed output. These mid-sized house generators deliver 12 to 20 KW and incorporate intelligent technology that detects changing load demands in the household circuits. The generator continuously reallocates wattage to keep the maximum number of circuits powered up at the same time.
• Whole-house power. With wattage outputs up to 50 KW, these large units can completely replace all grid electricity and accommodate the power demands of all circuits in the home.

For more information on the safety and security of uninterrupted electrical power provided by whole-home generators, contact the professionals at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal.

We’re here to keep Northwest Arkansas homeowners informed about the latest solutions to home comfort issues including HVAC technology, standby generators, geothermal and air quality.