Why Do You Need an Emergency Generator, and How to Choose the Right One for Your Home

While many people believe a backup generator is reserved only for hospitals and construction sites, more and more people are beginning to turn to electric generators for power in the case of an environmental emergency. As Mother Nature continues to pummel different regions throughout the United States, generators are becoming an increasingly popular method of insuring that your home is powered during an outage.

In January 2009 alone over 1 million Americans were left without power for upwards of 7 days during what has been dubbed the “Worst Ice Storm in a Decade”. Parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Ohio were among many of the states affected by this devastating ice storm. Portable and standby generators have been used throughout this region in an effort to stay warm during the sub zero temperatures.

Everyone recalls the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina. People in New Orleans were devastated by this category 5 hurricane and left without food, water, and power for weeks on end. Portable generators were used throughout the Louisiana in order to battle the outages, and now more than ever, residents have purchased emergency generators in preparation for the next big storm.

The problem is, in the wake of these disasters homeowners are scrambling to buy generators at the first hint of a storm. While this is a well advised precautionary measure, unfortunately many people are buying the first generator they find, without researching or determining which generator is right for their specific situation. There are many key points to address when in the market for a generator such as the wattage, size, and even the type of generator you need. Since there are so many options and styles available, people tend to become overwhelmed and purchase the least expensive generator that they can find. While this may be wise from an economical standpoint, there is little use in spending the money of a generator if it was not designed with your specific needs in mind.