Charlotte, NC is the most populous city in North Carolina and serves as the county seat of all of Mecklenburg County. Home to over two and a half million people, Charlotte is a bustling center of commerce and industry.
Generally, everyone has enough power to serve their home surroundings, but occasionally, there are unexpected outages. While Duke Energy does get power back eventually, you’ll probably be in the dark for a bit. That is unless you have a generator installed.
When there is a prolonged power outage, having a backup generator can provide peace of mind and increased productivity. In many neighborhoods, the internet is provided through underground connections, meaning that remote employees or business owners can continue to stay connected to the internet once their whole home generator kicks in.
A generator also provides greater comfort in the event of a power outage. With a properly sized generator, air conditioning can continue to run. The refrigerator can continue to keep the food cool, and the home security system can stay online.
Types of Generators
There are two major classes of whole house generators that are available for residential use: standby generators and portable generators.
Standby Generators
Standby generators are built to supply power to an entire house. The professionally installed transfer switch, will immediately engage the generator and restore power to your house when it detects a power outage. In this way, it can be useful in preventing brownouts from damaging your appliances by ensuring there’s always a constant supply to your home. They are typically installed at the exterior of the house. It’s usually connected to the gas line or propane tank to ensure continuous operation in case of losing power. While the system is designed to power an entire house, the generator installation can be modified to electrify a single portion of the building. However, if that’s what you need, a portable generator might be a better option.
Any appliance with a 240-volt cord should have a dedicated outlet and breaker. Fortunately, the team at LiveWire Electrical has the skills and experience to wire your appliance correctly the first time.
Portable Generators
Portable generators use a fuel source that is independent of the home. They usually run on kerosene or gasoline and require you to plug them into your electrical outlet or your panel. Some portable generators come with their own outlet switches that can be used to provide power directly to some appliances. They don’t automatically switch on when power dips or power outages happen and need to be started manually. They also need the user to monitor the fuel levels to ensure that the system remains fueled.
Why Install a Generator?
A backup generator is a bit like an insurance policy against power outages. Power outages are funny things that can take anywhere between minutes to hours to resolve. It’s a loss of productivity or entertainment and something that can even damage appliances. Backup generators can be wired into your home system to power the entire house or merely a portion that you’d want to remain on supply. Standby generators especially provide a safety net for appliances and can continue running for as long as you need power. Standby generators are also designed to power as much or as little as you need. If you’re only interested in powering a small portion and aren’t that concerned about regular brownouts or outages, then a portable generator is a better idea.
Choosing the Right Charlotte Electrician
As Charlotte’s premier electrical contractor with years of experience, we have a lot of experience with generators. Installation of standby generators is a job for a professional. Because of the nature of electrical systems, trying to install a standby generator yourself is a risky operation. Let the professionals do it for you. At LiveWire, we provide generator services to the Charlotte, NC community, including Cherryville, Concord, Cornelius, Gastonia, Huntersville, Indian Trail, Matthews, Mooresville, and Hickory. LiveWire has skilled personnel that is dedicated to taking care of your electrical installation needs. Book your Generator service call. Call us today!
