Emergency situations such as hurricanes often result in thousands of Southwest Florida homes being left with no power. You can remedy that situation with a generator, but many homeowners don\u2019t know what type of generator to buy or what size they actually need.<\/p>\n
Knowing what size generator your home needs can be a bit tricky. You don\u2019t want something too small that won\u2019t provide enough power, but you also don\u2019t want to pay for something larger than you really need to power your home.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re looking for a generator during the middle of a busy hurricane season, your choices might be limited. That\u2019s why it\u2019s best to prepare for such an emergency in advance. You\u2019ll need to determine whether you want to power your home\u2019s central air conditioner or just provide enough power to keep the lights on and the food cold.<\/p>\n
It might sound good to keep all the power on, but it might not be practical and will likely be quite expensive to do so. You may find that just some power is enough so you can see, have fresh food, and charge your phone and other devices.<\/p>\n
The two main types of power generators are portable and stationary, or standby. Portable generators are less expensive but require fuel and maintenance. Stationary generators require professional installation, but they automatically start up when the power goes out.<\/p>\n
When it comes to wattage, you\u2019ll want to think about everything you want to stay powered in your home and add up that wattage. You might want to consult with an electrician and purchase a generator with slightly more wattage than you estimate needing just to be on the safe side.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a quick breakdown of what each size generator can power:<\/p>\n
Small Portable (3,000 to 4,000 watts)<\/p>\n
Refrigerator
\nMicrowave
\nSump Pump
\nSeveral Lights
\nTelevision
\nMidsize Portable or Small Stationary (5,000 to 8,500 watts)<\/p>\n
Everything previously mentioned plus:
\nPortable Heater
\nHeating System
\nComputer
\nSecond Pump
\nMore Lights
\nLarge Portable (10,000 watts)<\/p>\n
Everything previously mentioned plus:
\nSmall Water Heater
\nElectric Range
\nCentral Air Conditioner
\nLarge Stationary (10,000 to 15,000 watts)<\/p>\n
Everything previously mentioned plus:
\nClothes Washer
\nElectric Dryer
\nTo protect your home against hurricanes, give Storm Smart a call at 239-274-2700.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emergency situations such as hurricanes often result in thousands of Southwest Florida homes being left with no power. You can remedy that situation with a generator, but many homeowners don\u2019t know what type of generator to buy or what size they actually need. Knowing what size generator your home needs can be a bit tricky. …<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-featured"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n