There was a time when enduring a prolonged power outage just meant starting the fireplace and lighting a few candles. It’s not that simple anymore. The 21st century lifestyle that has its roots on the last 20 years of furious technological advances just can’t tolerate a few hours or even minutes without electricity. You can’t power-up your mp3 gadgets and cellphones, engage your sweet home entertainment system, get the water heater to start or microwave your favorite TV dinner. In more sophisticated homes, security systems and door locks will fail, and any home business thriving on computers will surely grind to a stop.
The modern man takes electric power for granted. It’s a utility fixture at home you hardly think about, because it’s always there. You don’t realize how much you need it until it’s gone.
In general, homeowners prefer not to wait out until the power comes up. They consider emergency generators in the suitcase form factor a necessary accessory every home should have. But before picking up that nice suitcase generator at Macy’s, do some simple math and a little research on the net to learn what emergency power back-up generators are available out there at the price you are willing to pay that is adequate for your needs.
A Little Planning Before Plunging
First, take stock of your home’s electricity needs with the bare minimum of appliances that you think will keep you going for the duration of a power outage. What appliances can’t you live without even for a few minutes when at home?
If the outage happens at night, what areas or functional rooms must remain lighted? If you do work at home, the computer and the internet need to be powered. For a typical American household, you would need the kitchen and bathroom appliances powered as well. The food in your ref will go stale. You need the water heater to run. List down what needs to be powered but be aware that power outages only last a few minutes to an hour. Anything longer than that can be considered a calamity. Unless you are prepared to spend a fortune to back-up your entire home’s electricity needs to the hilt, just focus on the essentials and even a modest suitcase generator can be very useful.
Sensible Portability
Emergency generators come in various capacities and styles. The more popular portable suitcase generators are the most appropriate for home and small office use if you need to power only the few essential appliances and then move on to another part of the house to power something else. For computers and sensitive appliances, they do an adequate job.
What Not To Get
For sure, you don’t need professional industry-grade power generators that are used to back up offices and small factories. Unless your home has the power consumption equivalent to one that you want supported, that would be overkill. Another you shouldn’t get are those tiny recreational generators used to power portable lights and cookers for picnic or camping. For the typical American household in the city and the suburbs, you can safely eliminate these two extremes and go for suitcase generators.