To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Anyone who lives in a region or neighborhood prone to lengthy and frequent power outages might want to consider purchasing a residential generator.

“People need an uninterruptable supply of power or they want one. That's what has brought about the popularity of home generator sets although they've existed since 1920,” said Emergency Generator Specialist Dwight Mathusa.

Which type of generator is right for you? It depends on a few factors, size of your house, how many and what type of electrical appliances you want to run. First of all you should know that home generators are either portable or fixed. Those of the portable variety can be found at any of your big box home improvement stores, but Mathusa cautions that their use is limited.

“You can walk out with a generator and go plug it in. It will work, if you can figure it out. It will work. But they're not as reliable. They just aren't made for it. They're a trade on price as opposed to quality,” said Mathusa.

If you're looking to maintain a level of comfort and convenience in your house or if you have sensitive electronic equipment like home medical aides, then you might consider investing in a permanent, standby generator.

“Depending on the size of the generator and how we connect it, you can make it so that every appliance in your home can be operated at the same time,” said Mathusa.
Obviously, if you want to still be able to run everything in your house it's going to cost you.
Those systems aren't cheap. But the one thing nowadays, that even the lowest priced systems offer, is ease of use and quick response time.

Over the last 10 years or so these have improved significantly. This generator set is worry free. It starts in 10 seconds. It's connected to the natural gas in the home. It tests itself every week.

When it senses a power outage to the house it automatically starts. It takes about ten seconds
to spool-up and then it switches the load over to the generator from the utility. When the utilities return it does the reverse and shuts itself down,” said Mathusa.

Mathusa reminds folks that generators are internal combustion engines and should never be run indoors.