Severe weather is an all too frequent occurrence in the Kansas City area. And storms often lead to power blackouts, leaving people literally in the dark and without heating, air conditioning, refrigeration and electronic communication.
If the storm covers a large enough area, some residents can be left without power for days. This can be costly, due to spoiled food and/or a lack of productivity. It can be uncomfortable or even dangerous, in the case of a snowstorm or heat wave. And it’s certainly no fun, with no entertainment devices or even a reading light to pass the time.
Keeping the power on
None of this has to be a problem, though, if you have a standby generator installed ahead of the storm.
Standby generators automatically provide electricity to your house when the utility power goes out. A standby generator is connected to your home’s electrical system, so it can sense when there is a service interruption and immediately turn itself on to ensure you are not without power. It then turns itself off again when utility power is restored. These generators are usually tied directly to your natural gas or propane line, so there’s none of the hassle of manual refueling.
Generator sizes
Standby generators come in different sizes to fit the electrical needs of different homes, or to fit different personal preferences and budgets. For example, you can choose to get a smaller standby generator that only powers essential items, like the refrigerator and HVAC system. Other people prefer large whole-house generators, which can power all of your electronic devices. Or standby generators are available that will just power the circuits you’re using at a particular time.
At Overland Park Heating & Cooling, we carry standby generators that range in size from 12 kilowatts to 30 kilowatts. To determine which standby generator will best fit your home, you will need to consider the power requirements for your appliances. These can be found on the energy labels of most electrical devices. Of course, you can always call on us to come out and help you calculate your energy needs.
To learn more about standby generators and how they can help you make it through our next Kansas City storm, please contact us at Overland Park Heating & Cooling. We will be happy to answer your questions.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Overland Park, Kansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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