Determine Your Needs Before Buying an Portable Electric Generator
Purchasing a portable electric generator is not a simple as running to your local home improvement store and just buying one. You need to determine your needs - why you need one and what you plan to power - before you set foot in a store or shop online. There are three basic reasons why a portable electric generator is desired: for leisure or entertainment, emergencies and for contracting or other professional uses.
Leisure or Entertainment Purposes
Campouts and tailgate parties are the first two reasons why someone might want a portable electric generator. It is not quite the equivalent of roughing it, but a generator can help you power up your coffee maker, waffle iron or whatever appliance you want to operate during your camping trip. As for tailgate parties, it's all about barbecuing and making drinks right? So chances are that you want to power up your little television as well as a blender at the very least.
A portable electric generator for leisure or entertainment tends to be a smaller choice than those for emergencies or professional purposes. Typically these smaller units produce 1,000 or 2,000 watts of power, enough to power from one or two appliances for the lower wattage to multiple items simultaneously for the higher wattage.
Emergency Situations
A portable electric generator must be powerful enough for the particular scenario whether it is for home use, a small business or any other situation. For instance, a small home may need a generator that produces at least 5,000 watts which will power up several appliances at the same time such as the refrigerator, freezer and maybe even a few fans or a microwave.
Unless you are prepared to pay big bucks for a portable electric generator for the entire house that kicks out 20,000 + watts for the possibility of loss of power just a few times a year, a smaller unit such as the 5,000 watt one should be fine. It is all a matter of what you perceive as important such as electric heat, basement pump to prevent flooding, security systems, life support equipment and more. You will want to determine the start-up and running wattage of each appliance that you deem important before shopping for a portable generator.
Professional Uses
A portable generator that is industrial or professional grade is only necessary if you are using it daily for jobsites that perhaps are not near electrical power sources. Heavy use as well as the number of items that you need powered is two conditions when a professional grade portable electric generator is necessary.
