Are you ready for the next power outage in the area? If you have not already done so, are you planning to take advantage of our backup generator installation service in Manassas, VA? If not, we’d like to recommend that you reconsider that. Here’s why:
The next outage is going to happen. It’s a mathematical certainty. It’s not a question of if, it’s merely a matter of when.
When it does, people without a backup plan in place generally do one of three things. They’ll either:
- Try to ride out the outage by ‘camping’ in their powerless home
- Flee to a family member’s or friend’s home that’s outside the outage area
- Or flee to a hotel that’s outside the area impacted by the outage
Unfortunately, none of those are great options. Let’s take a closer look at why.
First, camping out can work if the outage is a relatively short one. You’ll probably be fine if the power company gets the lights back on in a day or two. The trouble is, when an outage begins, it’s usually not readily apparent how long it will take to get the lights back on. Maybe it’ll just be a couple of days. Maybe it’ll be a week. It could be a month or more, depending on the severity of the outage.
What’s your house going to smell like on day three? What about day six? What about at the end of week two? You get the idea, and it’s not a pretty picture.
Staying with friends and family who are outside the impacted area can work and is at least a little better than simply trying to camp out in your living room, but it’s not much better because, as Ben Franklin said, “fish and visitors start to smell after three days.”
The longer the outage grinds on, expect tempers to flare. We’ve seen and heard about longstanding friendships being destroyed by one family overstaying their welcome due to an outage. You have to ask yourself, is it really worth the risk?
The hotel idea can also work, and in fact, you can ride the outage out in style if you have the money, but that’s the catch. Do you have the money? Can you afford to throw a hundred bucks or more a day away, waiting for the power to come back on? And that’s what you’ll pay if you’re lucky.
Remember, lots of people are trying to do the hotel thing too, in the aftermath of an outage, and the rates will be higher. Depending on how long the outage lasts, you may wind up paying more in hotels fees than you would have if you’d just purchased a home generator and taken advantage of our backup generator installation in Manassas, VA, which would have allowed you to ride the outage out from the comfort of home and without missing a beat.
The question then, is how do you go about buying a backup home generator, and how do you know that the one you select will be a good fit for your home?
Those are fair questions, and we’ll step you through the process we recommend next. Before we do that though, you should know that there are a simply mind-boggling number of generator options out there. The process below will step you through finding the one that has a sufficient level of power generating capacity to meet your needs but even with that, you’ll find that you’ve still got some decisions to make.
For instance, do you want a generator that runs on unleaded gasoline? Diesel? Propane? Do you want a solar generator or one that is capable of accepting multiple types of fuel? You can find all of those generators, and more, so you’ll need to think hard about what you really want in a generator and which fuel types are most readily accessible to you.
While you’re thinking about those things, let’s take a look at the process of right-sizing a generator for your home:
The Home Energy Audit – Your First Step
Before you even think about taking advantage of our backup generator installation service in Manassas, VA, it pays to better understand exactly what you’re your power needs are. A home energy audit accomplishes that goal for you. It’s a careful assessment of every appliance in your home and how much power each one uses.
The process of doing a home energy audit is fairly simple, and you’ll find walkthroughs and spreadsheets online to help you track your home energy usage. If you’d prefer to outsource the duty, we can help with that. Home energy audits are just one of the many services we provide to our customers.
Once the energy audit is complete, you’ll not only have a better understanding of your total energy usage, but you’ll also be able to spot the biggest drivers of your monthly energy bill and start making medium and long term plans to retire certain appliances when they reach the end of their useful life and replace them with much more energy-efficient models, dramatically lowering your energy footprint and thus, your generating needs.
Crunching the Numbers
Armed with a completed home energy audit, you could buy something big enough to meet all of your energy needs and let us handle the backup generator installation in your Manassas, VA home, but honestly, that’s not the most efficient approach.
During an outage, you can probably get by without some of the appliances you’d normally use, so it pays to spend some time reviewing your energy usage and make some hard decisions about which appliances are the most crucial, and what things you could probably live without for a few days until the power company gets the grid back up and running again.
The more you cull the list, the less generating capacity you’ll need, which means you’ll be able to get by with a relatively smaller generator, which will save you money.
Buying a Generator
Finally, once you’ve come up with a good plan about which appliances you’ll want to run in the aftermath of an outage, it’s time to go shopping for a generator that has the capacity you need, and that won’t dent your checking account to acquire.
There are scores of models to choose from, and they come in all shapes and sizes. At this point, the search can become overwhelming for a great many people. We totally understand that and can help make the process easier.
In addition to offering backup generator installation services in Manassas, VA, we also carry a full line of world-class Generac generators and would be more than happy to help you find the right one for your home and family, making a professional recommendation based on the results of your home energy audit.
Once you’ve made your selection, we can install it for you and instruct you on its use in the event of an outage. If you like, we can even put your generator on a preventive maintenance program so that when the day comes, and the lights go out, you won’t have to wonder if or whether your generator will turn on and do what you need it to do. Of course, it will because we’ve helped you keep it in optimal condition, so it’s ready to get to work when you need it.
The bottom line is, sooner or later, the power in this area is going to fail. It has happened before, and you can be assured that it will happen again. When it does, you want to be ready. You want to be able to continue living your life with a minimum amount of disruption, and a properly sized whole home generator can help make sure that’s possible.
When you’re ready to get started, we’re just a phone call away, and we’d love the opportunity to work with you.
