Backup Generators to Prepare Your Texas Home Before Hurricane Season

Hurricane season may still be a couple of months away, but it’s never too early to prepare your Houston, Texas home. In fact, the earlier, the better. As many Texans know by now, it doesn’t take a hurricane to cause a power outage.

 

By June 1, hurricane season in Texas will be in full swing. After this past winter’s weather fiasco, most of us want to avoid a similar scenario of no lights, uncomfortable temperatures, and refrigerated food spoiling and going to waste.

 

With that in mind, now’s a good time to have an electrician install a backup generator for your home. As the warmer season descends upon us, electricians get busier than ever. The earlier you set up your appointment for your generator installation, the better prepared you’ll be.

The Inconvenience of Not Being Prepared

Let’s face it. Electricity has made many conveniences possible for us and makes our world a happier and more productive place. While we’ve had better weather than we saw just a few weeks ago, none of us knows when the next big weather event will occur. It doesn’t take a tropical system to wreak havoc with our infrastructure and make life a lot more inconvenient for us.

 

Electricity powers every facet of our lives:

 

• Keeps our food fresh in the refrigerator
• Helps with long-term storage of our favorite foods in the freezer (imagine all your hunting meat spoiling and going to waste)
• Keeps us cool in the summer and warm in the winter
• Allows us to charge our electronic devices, computers, and cell phones
• Powers our entertainment devices, televisions, and video games to distract our kids
• Enables us to continue working without interruption
• Keeps us connected to the outside world
• Gives us a way to contact emergency services if the need arises

 

If you’ve lived in Texas long enough, then no doubt you understand the inconvenience of an extended power outage. On many levels, it can be outright disastrous!

 

The electrical experts at Illuminations Lighting Design would love to make your life better in the event of a worst-case scenario with your home’s electricity. Having us install a backup generator in your home can offer more assurance that your comfort, safety, and needs are met during hurricane season and all year long.

What’s a Backup Generator, and How is it Different from a Portable Generator?

Many of us grew up hearing noisy, gas-powered portable generators throughout our neighborhoods after a major hurricane or other storm system. Those smaller generators can only power one or two things at a time. They have small engines and tanks, which also means they need to be refueled often. They also aren’t as safe as a whole house generator.

 

Backup generators, or whole house generators, are a much better option. They help prevent the destructive power surges that occur when the power zapps off and on.

 

They’re powered by propane or natural gas and are programmed to come on automatically when they detect a power failure or when the electrical grid goes down. They have a large external tank that provides continuous power for most, if not all, of your home for at least 48 hours or more at a time.

 

When the electricity comes back on, a backup generator will turn off and allow your home’s electrical system to take over again.

 

Backup generators provide your home a constant source of power and are much safer and more efficient than portable generators. And, if you rely on medical equipment at all in your home, they’re a literal lifesaver.

Why is it so Important to Have a Generator Before a Hurricane or Storm?

We’ve already touched on several reasons how a whole house generator benefits your home, and quite frankly, your life, during and after a storm.

 

Wind, water, rain, and other elements during a hurricane produce devastating effects that impact your access to electricity.

 

Added to that, it’s virtually impossible to reach an electrician or other contractor that can help right after a storm. Nearly all of them receive non-stop calls and can only make it to so many homes a day.

 

So limited access to the expert help you need can prolong the misery and leave you without power for days or even weeks.

 

Being prepared is everything, and early preparation well before a hurricane is on your doorstep is even better and offers greater peace of mind.

The Takeaway

Keeping you and your family safe and comfortable are your top priorities in the event of a hurricane or storm. Who knows what the upcoming hurricane season will bring? It’s been a year for the record books for sure, so chances are, almost anything goes.

 

Illuminations Lighting Design has more than 17 years of experience serving homeowners and businesses in the Houston region and many other areas of Texas.

 

We can install a whole house generator well before hurricane season is here so that your home stays powered during hurricane season, and all throughout the year.

 

Contact our licensed and experienced electricians at 713-863-1133 to set up a consultation.