Choosing the best standby generator for your home is one of the most important things you can do to help protect your family in times of emergency, especially in northeast Ohio where power is often lost during summer and winter months.
Power outages in Ohio can be brutal in the summer which can knock out your air conditioning on hot and humid days making for uncomfortable and sweaty days. During the winter? If you are completely reliant on power to heat your home in the winter months, a power outage can have serious health and safety implications for you and your family.
So, how do select the best standby generator for your home? This question isn’t the easiest one to answer since not all homes and their electrical power requirements are created equal, but we’ll do our best.
The size of your home and its energy consumption requirements will heavily dictate the type and size of generator you’ll need to back up your power whether you’re only looking to back up the main appliances such as A/C or the furnace or the house in its entirety.
For an average sized home of under 1,500 square feet with electrical backup power needs for an electric convection oven, a small central A/C unit and a furnace, you’ll probably be best served using a 7.5 kilowatt (kw) automatic standby generator. A 7.5kw unit should be able to power all of the major appliances and potentially your whole home depending on the electrical draw your whole house requires.
For medium-sized homes at 1,500-2,500 square feet, you’ll be looking at 16kw-22kw+ units to power your whole home. Again, it will depend on the types of appliances (gas vs. electric) and the total electrical draw your home requires. However, if you’re only looking to power major appliances and not the whole home, you may be able to get away with a 7.5kw-9kw unit to accomplish that.
Larger homes of 2,500-4,000 square feet will probably be candidates for much more substantial standby generators that, depending on your needs, will probably range anywhere from 22kw-36kw+ in size. Just like all other home sizes, the total electrical draw and what you’re looking to back up powerwise will ultimately determine your generators kw rating requirement for your home.
You can look at buying a standby generator no different than building a home or buying a new car. You have specific desires and requirements you want to have met. In order to meet those needs, your new home or new car needs to be customized and quoted accordingly.
When you’re looking to buy and install a standby generator for your home, please be sure to look at companies that will include ALL of the following:
- Assess your kw rating needs for your home
- Provide a free quote for sales and installation of your standby generator
- Acquire all of the appropriate permits from local governments, HOA’s, etc.
- Installation of your new generator
- Standby generators backed up by a multi-year warranty
- Provide ongoing maintenance of your new generator to ensure it lasts for 10-15+ years
Generator One is NE Ohio’s #1 Generac generator dealer headquartered just east of Cleveland in Mentor Ohio. We currently serve all of NE Ohio, including Cleveland, Ashtabula, Akron, and everything in between.
