Scherer Electric Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Whole-House Generator Installation’

The Causes of Power Outages in Your Home

Monday, April 11th, 2022

Even with the best electrical grid available to provide power, power outages can still occur in homes. You’ve almost certainly experienced loss of electricity to at least one house you’ve lived in—maybe for a few hours, maybe for days. 

Although you can take steps to avoid losing power in your house because of malfunctions with your own electrical system, there are many external causes you cannot avoid. In these cases, your best tool is preparation, such as having a whole-house generator installed as a backup and having surge protection in place to prevent damage to appliances due to a catastrophic event (weather, downed power lines) creating an outage.

In this post, we’re going to explain in more depth the types of power outages and their sources. 

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How Long Can a Whole-House Generator Last?

Monday, December 6th, 2021
generator-residential

A whole-house generator is a great investment for a home in Western New York. Extended power outages have become a more common problem in the last two decades, and a whole-house generator is your best defense against future ones. The right generator can help your family stay comfortable and safe in a well-lit house until the power comes back on. 

Whole-house generators aren’t magical devices, of course, so they can’t run forever. There are two ways of looking at the question in the title of this blog: “How long will a generator run when there’s a power outage?” and “How long will a generator installation last before it needs to be replaced?” We’ll look at both versions of the question so you know what to expect from a whole-house generator—whether you already own one or are considering getting one.

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Whole-House Generator vs. Portable Generator

Monday, September 27th, 2021

New York State got a bit … wet … this month. And whenever a major storm strikes the East Coast, it’s an important reminder of how easily whole neighborhoods can lose electrical power for long stretches of time. Western New York is at high risk for extended power losses, and this is something we at Scherer Electric want to protect our customers from. We install whole-house generators to help homeowners make it through a power outage of any kind in safety and comfort.

But when it comes to generators, we often hear people say something like this: “What about just using a portable generator in Buffalo, NY? Do I really need to go with a full whole-house generator installation?” 

Portable generators have their uses—such as on camping trips, or to keep in the car in case of emergencies. But if you want peace of mind about getting through an extended blackout in your house, a portable unit can’t hold up to a permanent standby generator. We’ll explain why.

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6 Ways to Tell You Need a New Generator

Thursday, May 20th, 2021
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Many homes in Western New York have generators to help them through power outages. Weather and grid failures have become increasing problems, and an effective generator can make it easy for a household to make it through an extended blackout in comfort and safety. 

Even though generators do not run regularly—in fact, people hope they don’t have to use their generator—they still age and run down until they need a replacement. If you have a generator, you’ll want to get ahead of its eventual replacement, since you don’t want to find out you need a new generator when your current one completely fails. We’ve put together a list of six ways to tell it’s time for a new generator.

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A Power Outage! What Do You Do?

Monday, February 15th, 2021
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Winters in New York can be beautiful as long as you have a home with a good heating system, the right insulation, and a steady supply of electricity. But with our low temperatures, a sudden loss of electrical power to your house can mean a serious emergency. Storms, power plant accidents, power surges, even accidents within the home’s electrical system can leave you trapped without the electricity you need to get by. 

Our first message about power outages is not to panic. There are steps you can take, and in many cases a professional Angola, NY electrician can provide you with the help you need. Below are steps you can take when the power suddenly goes out in the winter.

ONE: Check on your electrical panel

It’s possible the reason that you’ve lost power to the house is that the main breaker in the electrical panel has tripped. Check the panel to see if all the breakers are in the “on” position. If they are, test the main breaker switch to see if this restores power. 

An important note of caution: an older breaker panel may be the source of the electrical failure, and we recommend calling us to investigate if the panel needs to be replaced. 

TWO: See if this is a municipal problem

In other words, go talk to your neighbors to discover if they also have lost electrical power. If this is the case, then you aren’t dealing with a specific problem in your home, but an issue with the municipal power supply. 

THREE: Call the power company

If you determined in step two that the issue is municipal, the next step is to call the power company to see the extent of the problem and how long you can expect for it to continue. In fact, the power company may not even know the problem has occurred, so you’re doing the community as well as your home a service by alerting them to the outage so they can take care of it.

FOUR: Unplug major appliances

Those appliances may not be receiving any power at the moment, but when power is restored it can bring with it a surge that can damage them. This is mainly a problem for precision electrical appliances such as computers, the microwave, and the entertainment system. 

FIVE: Don’t try to do any DIY stuff

If you suspect that you might be able to fix some of the electrical problems that caused the blackout, please resist. Electric services need to remain in the domain of professionals. Once the power is restored, you’ll have an idea of what needs repairs, and you can call our team to handle them. Otherwise, please leave the tools alone. You might make a mistake, and when the power does come back on, it could create a major hazard.

SIX: Think about getting a generator

This isn’t so much a step as it is an important moment for reflection. If you have a whole-house backup generator, you wouldn’t be in this emergency situation right now. We recommend you call us once the power is restored to schedule an installation for a whole-house generator—one of the best “insurance policies” you can have against this problem occurring again. 

Scherer Electric is Western New York’s Favorite Electrician! Call us for 24/7 emergency service when you have electrical problems.

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Why a Whole-House Generator Is the Best Generator Option

Monday, July 6th, 2020
generator-residential

Are you looking to get a generator as an electrical back-up in your house in case of a power outage? Good plan. In Western New York we don’t only suffer from blackouts during stormy seasons. The heat of summer puts immense strain on the power grid because of air conditioning systems, and this can lead to widespread power failures that trap people without cooling during the hottest times of the year.

But if the generator you’re considering is a small portable unit, we want to steer you a different direction and draw your attention to a whole-house generator in Buffalo, NY. We strongly advise consumers to use these generators if they want to help out with residential power outages. They are a bigger investment than a portable generator, but they’re also more beneficial long-term solutions—and you’ll be glad to have one when the time comes.

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Gas, Diesel, And LP: Fuel Sources for Generators

Monday, January 6th, 2020
emergency-home-generator

We strongly recommend our customers in Western New York invest in a whole-house generator. Long-term power losses due to bad weather or stress on the electrical grid are becoming more common, and the best defense against being trapped for hours or even days without power is to have a back-up power source.

A whole-house generator in Buffalo, NY is the best way to provide back-up power. Portable generators aren’t powerful enough to handle the needs of an entire house, and they can also create dangerous fumes inside the living spaces.

So whole-house generators are great for back-up energy. But you’ll need to make a choice about the source of energy for a whole-house generator. There are multiple options, but the three most common are natural gas, diesel, and liquid petroleum (LP).

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