ACI Northwest Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Whole House Generators’

Why a Whole House Generator Is a Great Gift for the Family

Monday, December 4th, 2023
holiday-display-of-miniature-houses

There’s nothing worse than watching kids open gifts on Christmas and then realizing you don’t have the batteries they need, is there? What about having the power go out on a major holiday? That’s definitely worse! But if you had a whole house generator, a power outage wouldn’t even dim your Christmas lights. 

There are a lot of families realizing they have enough (or too many!) things in their homes already and considering giving gifts that improve the quality of life without filling their houses with more stuff. A whole house generator is a perfect gift, one that can keep everything running smoothly under challenging circumstances. Consider these benefits.

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3 Reasons Why Whole-House Generators Are a Great Investment

Monday, April 10th, 2023
workers-installing-a-whole-house-generator

Having your power go out is a huge hassle. Whether it’s ice and snow, a summer electrical storm, or a utility pole taken out by a car accident, power outages can happen at any time. Being prepared for this means having a backup generator. While many people use portable generators, we’d like to offer three reasons to consider a whole-house generator instead.

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Electrical Question: What Size Generator Do I Need?

Monday, July 23rd, 2012

Electricity has become so integrated with our day to day lives that it is easy to overlook the importance of a functioning electrical system. Like most other things, though, when your electricity isn’t working it becomes very clear very quickly just how much you rely on it. When your electricity goes out, whether from a storm, blackout or any other cause, a good generator can be a big comfort. Just as with a heating or cooling system, you should have a properly sized generator in order to get the best performance from it. Here are some tips to make sure you get the right generator for your Rathdrum home.

First of all, you must decide what exactly you’ll want to power when you lose electricity. What do you consider essential? This is important, so take your time and make a list. Any medical equipment is clearly a priority, but what about a full refrigerator? Your septic pump certainly needs to be powered, but does your climate demand heating and cooling power in your home? Once you have decided on the necessities you’re ready to get started.

It is important to remember that bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to a generator for your home. Larger generators are obviously more expensive, and if you’re never going to approach its capacity then you’re just paying for potential, not performance. Even the biggest generator will not provide enough power to service every electrical device in your home, so some restraint is necessary. Whole home generators do not require you to decide what appliances are necessities, but they will not power everything all at once. The best way to ensure that you’re covered in the event of an energy loss is to calculate the amount of energy that the appliances in your home use, and find a generator with the capacity to provide at least that much energy. Remember that some appliances have different starting energy requirements than running loads, and that some appliances are always running.

There are numerous energy calculators available online that can help you decide what size generator you need. To eliminate as much guess work as possible, though, we at ACI Northwest suggest having a Rathdrum electrician come to evaluate your home. We’ll help you decide exactly which generator best suits your needs, in addition to providing expert installation, maintenance and repairs for your device. Call today with any further questions you may have.

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