When was the last time you fired up your home generator and let it run for a while? When was the last time you had a home generator oil change in Great Falls, VA? If you can’t recall the data, odds are excellent that you’re overdue for at least one, and probably both.
If you don’t have a home generator yet, here’s another question for you: Why not? Sooner or later, you know that the grid in your area is going to fail. It’s not a question of if, but when. It’s inevitable.
It doesn’t really matter what causes it to fail. That could be most anything. An accident that takes down a power line, a winter storm, a hurricane or tornado, or even an act of vandalism, hacking or terrorism.
Whatever the cause, it all amounts to the same thing. Hundreds, and in many cases thousands, or even millions of people are suddenly left without power.
Who knows? Maybe the outage will be a short one, and you’ll barely notice. Maybe it’ll happen while you’re away from home, and the problem will be resolved when you get back, but it’s just as likely that you’ll be home when it happens, and if you are, you’ll suddenly feel as though you’ve been transported back to Colonial days.
It’s unbelievable how reliant we’ve become on electricity. In fact, the only thing more unbelievable than that is how few people have a contingency plan in place for when the lights go out and don’t come right back on.
Here are the most common ways of dealing with an event like that:
- Pack a bag and go stay with family and friends until the outage is over
- Go stay in a hotel until the outage is over
- Try to ride it out at home
- Or invest in a backup generator of some size
The first three solutions are extremely problematic. Even if you have a great relationship with the family or friends you’re staying with, that’s the kind of thing that can strain a relationship to its breaking point. The hotel idea sounds great, but can get expensive in a hurry, and of course, depending on the duration of the outage, living in a home without power can be a daunting challenge indeed.
That’s exactly why a backup home generator makes sense. It gives you the freedom and flexibility to stay in your home and still enjoy at least some of the comforts of modern life.
The extent to which that’s true, however, is dependent on a number of variables which we’ll talk about next.
The first is – how big is your generator?
If you’ve invested in a small, portable one, then the best you can hope for is to keep a few lights on, keep your smartphone charged, and maybe run one or two key appliances. You can get by like that if you’re facing a short-term outage, but if it stretches out much beyond a week, that solution is going to be wholly inadequate.
The flip side of that coin is to invest in a robust whole-home generator that can keep most, if not all of your appliances running, but there are two challenges on that front.
The first challenge is that high-capacity generators tend to be expensive. The second is that until and unless you know how much power you’re actually using from month to month, it’s hard to know how much generating capacity you actually need.
We can help on both counts! Not only do we sell a full line of top-notch Generac generators, but we can also send one of our talented techs to your home to perform a comprehensive home energy audit. This audit will tell you how much power you’re using and identify the major drivers of your energy usage.
Knowing those two and factoring in your budgetary constraints will help you zero in on the right generator for your home. Plus, if you opt to buy from us, we can install the system for you and instruct you and the members of your family on how to use it.
Even if you don’t purchase a generator from us, we can sign you up for our comprehensive generator maintenance program, which includes a home generator oil change in Great Falls, VA at periodic intervals to ensure your system is ready to go to work, any time the power fails.
Granted, performing a home generator oil change in Great Falls, VA is something any reasonably experienced DIYer can do, but the simple truth is that ongoing maintenance tends to get pushed to the very bottom of most people’s to-do lists.
That’s not so bad if it’s something like cleaning out the garage, but in the case of your home’s generator, it can be a real problem, because your generator is really a form of insurance. When the power fails, you just need it to work. You need it to turn on reliably and provide the power your family requires to get you through the outage.
It can only do that, though, if it’s had proper maintenance, including an annual inspection, powering the generator on at least every six months and letting it cycle to check the output and be sure there are no mechanical issues, and of course, a home generator oil change in Great Falls, VA as needed.
One final thing to be aware of is that if you purchased a small, portable generator as a backup several years ago and your circumstances and needs have changed, it may be time to consider reevaluating your current generator and upgrading. You can either sell the one you’ve got or keep it as a backup for your backup.
Even if you already own a generator, our skilled technicians are qualified to service all major brands, so again, if you’d rather outsource doing a home generator oil change in Great Falls, VA, we’ll certainly be happy to assist you.
What we’re really talking about is peace of mind. You get that when you know that even if the grid goes down in your area, you and your family are covered. The lights will still be on at your house, and depending on the size of the generator you’ve purchased, you’ll be able to run a few of your more critical, or even most or all of your appliances, and what’s not to like about that?
Of course, we do a lot more than just perform home generator oil changes in Great Falls, VA. We’re a full-service company, offering a broad range of electrical services. Have you recently purchased an older home that’s badly in need of a wiring upgrade? Did you recently build an expansion onto your home and need it wired like the rest of your house? Maybe you’re interested in expanding your home’s electrical system, or simply adding a couple of new outlets to a room that doesn’t have enough. In all of those cases and more, we’ve got you covered!
Here’s something else you may not have considered: Home automation. Yes, we do that too! In fact, there’s never been a better time to turn your home into an automated wonderland.
Not only is it incredibly convenient, but it’s got enormous practical value, too. For example, if you’re traveling for business or pleasure and you’re worried you might have left an appliance on, if your home is automated, you can check via an app on your phone, and if you did leave something on that you meant to power down, you can do it remotely.
It’s also a great way to track and monitor your home’s power usage in real time, which allows you to make fine-tuned incremental adjustments that can save you big on your monthly energy bills. If you’re excited about the possibilities, we’d love to sit down and talk with you.
Whatever your needs are where your home’s electrical system is concerned, from the basics to automation, to details like periodic home generator oil changes in Great Falls, VA designed to keep your generator in top condition and ready to work, should you need it, we’ve got you covered. Give our office a call today.