A whole-house generator can be a literal life-saver for a home during an extended power outage. If you have a whole-house generator, you want to know that you can trust it to work when necessary.
Since no mechanical device can last forever, you might wonder when you’ll need to have your older generator replaced. This is tricky because you don’t use the generator often—in fact, you hope you don’t have to use it at all—and so it’s difficult to determine when it’s declining.
We’ll look into the question of when to replace a whole-house generator, and when it’s better to arrange for generator repair in Clarence, NY with our electricians.
Generator service life expectations
A generator’s service life is connected to how often it runs. For high-quality generators like Kohler models (which we install), you can expect a service life of 1,500 to 3,000 hours. How many years of service this means depends on how much you need to run the generator. It also depends on how well-maintained the generator is. Generators should have annual maintenance from professionals, and neglecting this will severely reduce a generator’s life expectancy.
However, even without significant use, a generator will start to wear down from age. If you have a generator that’s more than 20 years old, we recommend having professionals inspect it and give you an idea of its condition and how many more useful years you can expect from it.
Generator no longer meets your needs
You may outgrow your current generator, especially if you’ve had it for more than a decade. Adding onto your house, adding more electrical appliances, and expanding how you work from home can require more electrical power than the generator’s capacity. You can have experts analyze your power requirements to see if your generator is still matched to them.
Manufacturer no longer supports your model
Another indication that it’s time to look for a new generator is if your current one has technology that’s so outdated the manufacturer no longer supports it. This makes it more difficult to repair the generator and keep it going year after year, but it’s also a sign that it’s time to move on to superior technology.
You no longer trust the generator
This is a more subjective marker of a time to replace a generator, but it’s an important one. The point of the whole-house generator is to provide peace of mind that you and your family will have power in case of an extended outage. If you’ve had recent trouble with the generator (such as having it fail when you needed it) or you feel concerned that it’s too old to remain reliable, then we strongly recommend arranging for our team to inspect the unit. We can determine if the generator is ready for a replacement or if repairs can keep it going and restore your trust in it.
Whatever service you need for a trustworthy and powerful whole-house generator you can entrust to our team of licensed and experienced electricians.
Scherer Electric Is Western New York’s Favorite Electrician! Contact us for help with your whole-house generator.
