Do you need a portable generator or a standby?

Portable electric generators come in all sizes and levels of quality. They can provide you with emergency power to run virtually any electric appliance in your home. They can also provide electric power for picnics, camping and construction needs. However, if you plan to power a whole house air conditioner or heat pump, you are dreaming. These large electrical devices will overwhelm an average or large size portable generator.

A standby generator monitors your utility power around the clock. When power is disrupted, your generator automatically switches on and supplies electricity to your home or business within seconds - often before you even notice there's a problem. Your lights stay on, your appliances and computers keep running, and your security alarm, home medical devices and other critical equipment continue to operate.

Sizing a generator for your household emergency needs can be a bit complicated. You need to calculate the total amount of watts (electrical load) you might have connected to the generator at any one time. Appliances and motors have labels that tell you how many watts the appliance requires while operating. In addition, certain appliances require significantly more power at start- up than while actually running. Refrigerators, furnace blower motors, freezers, washing machines, etc. are examples of these appliances. If you have ever seen your lights temporarily dim while your refrigerator starts up you know what I am talking about.

For power outages, permanently installed stationary generators are better suited for providing backup power to the home. Even a properly connected portable generator can become overloaded. This may result in overheating or stressing the generator components, possibly leading to a generator failure.