As a coastal community, the Wilmington, North Carolina area is at high risk for hurricanes. In fact, more than 90 hurricanes have affected this area since 1930. The typical hurricane season runs from the beginning of June until the end of November. While there have been others outside of these months, the primary months for hurricanes have statistically been August, September, and October. The good news is that with modern weather prediction methods, we are able to get advance notice so that you can stock up on groceries, batteries, and other supplies. Unfortunately, if the power is out for an extended period of time, life can get pretty miserable.
It is not uncommon for those in hurricane-prone areas to invest in a generator so they can keep their food from spoiling, have lights in the evening hours, keep their phones charged, and be able to have some semblance of normal activity while the power company works diligently to restore power. There are two ways to go about this: a portable generator and a whole-house generator. In both cases, it is recommended that you work with an experienced electrician. They will provide the proper outlet and system to plug in a portable generator or install a whole-house generator that comes on automatically whenever the power goes out.
An electrician can also gauge which type of generator you need based on what you wish to be able to power during an outage. A portable generator typically uses gasoline, is operated manually, and the styles range from 6,000 to 18,000 watts. A whole-house generator comes in various sizes ranging from 7kW to over 41kW. It typically uses liquid propane or natural gas, although there are some that can be powered with diesel.
If you would like to have peace of mind not only during hurricane season but for any other cause of a power outage, give us a call at Maguire Electric to discuss portable or whole-house generator installation.