During hurricane season in Baton Rouge, LA, many homes can be left without power for hours, or even days, at a time. At Big Family, we want to help you prepare your home for any type of emergency that might knock out your electricity and leave you scrambling for solutions.
Having an emergency power generator is the best way we can think of to make your home ready for any crisis. However, finding the correct type of generator for your home can seem like a confusing process for many homeowners. If you’re looking for more information about what you need for your home, you can lean on our team here at Big Family. We’ve lived in and served the Baton Rouge, LA, area for many years and we know what homes in this climate need. We’re here to answer all of your questions about backup generators in Baton Rouge. We know all about the best generators for home power outages.
How To Choose a Generator for Your Home
You’ll need to consider a few different things when you’re choosing a generator for your home. First, you’ll need to decide if you want a whole house generator that is always ready to kick on or a portable generator. Here are two of the most common types of generators:
Portable Generators
These are small generators that can power a few devices for a short amount of time. As the name implies, they are portable and can be stored in the garage and taken out when you want to hook them up to your devices. They can be plugged directly into your circuit breaker using a transfer switch. When the power goes out, you simply take your portable whole house generator, plug it into the transfer switch, and switch the power over to the generator.
Portable generators are a good idea for families that only have one or two appliances that they want to be able to keep running during a power outage. They are a more affordable option for someone looking for more minimal protection.
Whole House Generators
When you have a whole-house generator, also called a standby generator, you won’t have to do anything to get power to your home when the electricity goes out. That’s because this type of home generator will kick on automatically as soon as the power goes out. They are also typically big enough to keep everything running in your home, from your refrigerator to your air conditioning system.
You can get whole house generators that power up to 30,000 watts or more. They run off of natural gas or propane and can power your home for a long time. You won’t have to worry about having power even if it takes days for the utility company to turn the electricity back on.
We recommend whole home generator installation in Baton Rouge for families that want to be able to keep their entire homes running for days in the event of a power outage.
How to Decide on the Right Generator
When you are trying to decide which kind of generator is best for your home, you can go through these four steps:
Step 1: Decide Which Systems You Want to Power During an Outage
If you only want your generator to power the most essential devices that you have, you may not need the biggest generator on the market. However, if you desire to run your house like normal, you’ll need something that can handle a little bit more. Make a list of what you want to power in case of an emergency.
Step 2: Decide How Long You Want to Be Able to Support These Systems
Do you want to be able to run these systems and appliances for a couple of hours or a couple of weeks? The answer to that question can affect what kind of system you get. The best generators for home power outages are the ones that can keep your systems running until the power comes back on.
Step 3: Calculate the Wattage That You’ll Need
A microwave doesn’t need as much electricity as your HVAC system does. Check the manual for each of the systems that you want to run, add up the watts, and then multiply it by 1.5. That’s the number you’ll need to remember when searching for a backup generator in Baton Rouge.
Step 4: Choose Your System
Even with all of the information you’ve put together, it can still be hard to choose a generator. Big Family can help at any stage of the process. We can even calculate the wattage if that’s something that seems overwhelming to you, and help you find the best generators for home power outages. Your local electrician in Baton Rouge can help you find the best standby generator for your appliance needs.
Our Whole House Generator Services at Big Family
If you want a whole house generator or a portable generator for your home, you’ll need a company that you can rely on to install and service your new generator. At Big Family, we do everything from helping you decide on the type and size of generator you need to providing quality installations, repairs, and maintenance. Give us a call if you want more information about how to prepare your home for emergencies.
For more information on our emergency generator services in Baton Rouge, LA, and the surrounding areas, or to schedule service with one of our professionals, contact us online or give us a call at (225) 218-6700.