Sales of portable generators are surging throughout Australia, the United States and the UK as families prepare for more bad weather. Learn more about Generators for home use.
Fearing long power outages, plus a refrigerator full of spoiled food, more and more storm-weary families are purchasing power generators that will produce enough electricity to run many of their essential appliances.
Generators have long been a back-up for homeowners in rural parts of Australia. But in recent years, they have also become popular with households in metropolitan areas, especially in those places on the east coast that have been have hard hit by recent storms, floods, cyclones and bushfires.
With utility companies struggling to keep up with the power failures after storms, and some even suffering power outages without the storms, homeowners are increasingly taking matters into their own hands.
Indeed, each time a storm hits, people in droves purchase generators for home use. Soon before and immediately after the storm, people tend to purchase portable generators. For month after, sales remain high with people harbouring a fresh memory of the turmoil they faced without power.
And generator sales are expected to keep growing, in part because of the increasing number of severe storms expected in coming years, as well as the ageing population, which tends to be less tolerant of spending days without power.
Another contributing factor is the falling prices of power generators. For as little as $319, consumers can buy a 800-watt Inverter Generator that will keep a few small essential home appliances running for several hours. Plus the inverter technology makes this type of generator ideally suited for use with sensitive electronics like computers, tablets, mobile phones, stereos, and TVs, as the generator produces a clean sine wave of energy with no surging. Inverter Generators range from 800 watts through to 6300 watts and are most popular for running small to medium sized domestic appliances.
The larger the house, the more appliances you'll want to power. So you may require a bigger, more powerful generator to keep your refrigerator and other essential equipment like pumps running. These days, there is such an extensive range of Backup Generators available to suit almost any power requirement during a blackout. There are larger AVR Generators from 6kVA upwards including this popular Yamaha EF7200E - these types of generators are great for running lots of appliances and larger pieces of outdoor equipment if required. Then there are auto-start generators which can be connected to your house mains to automatically start up when the grid shuts down and restore power to your whole house. There are petrol, diesel and gas powered auto-start generators.
Leading manufacturers such as Yamaha, Honda and Generac have reported said sales have been unusually strong in the last few years. In the US, they note that the trend has increased steadily immediately following storms such as Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene. Similarly, the same can be said of generator sales in Australia, where the states of Queensland and New South Wales have taken a severe battering from the weather.
While people in their droves are going out and buying generators, the distributors want to make sure they know how to use them safely. For example, there's been a number of people suffering carbon monoxide poisoning – a fatal accident that is easily avoided by ensuring a generator is always used outdoors in a well ventilated area and away from open windows.
Another reason for the purchase of generators is a rise in households wanting to live “off grid”. With the price of utilities rising and people looking to live more ‘green', a growing number of people are living with solar power. Generators provide the backup power they need – just in case the sun fails to do its job. In fact there are now specially designed Auto-start Generators which automatically kick-in to provide power when the solar set-up runs low.
For anyone thinking of purchasing a portable generator, it pays to do your research and find the best generator for your individual needs.
For more information visit My Generator or give us a call on 1300 400 122
DISCLAIMER* Please note, this advice is general in nature and we strongly recommend consulting the product manual and where relevant, a professional installer.
