What a storm it was in Douglas County!

    Well it certainly was a windy cold one. Many are still without power, we rented every generator we have, and fixed at least a helf dozen others for the owners who had them but couldn't get them started. I thought it might be nice to discuss some of the generator options out there.

   When it comes to choosing a generator, there's really a lot that goes into getting it right. Some things to ask yourself are;

• What are you going to want to power with it? Most crucial are typically a well pump for water. Some lights for safety, especally if there are kids in the house. Refridgerator and freezer to keep food from spoiling.
• The things that help keep life somewhat normal are computers for communication, TV to keep the kids calm, and heat can be nice. Heat is a real power hog, it isn't too hard to run a circulation system, it is creating the actual heat thats the hard part. Gas stoves, pellet stoves, wood heat, oil stoves are all examples of heat sources you could run off of a typical mid sized portable generator, though you wouldn't have a lot of power for anything else while some of these options were running.
• Other handy circuits are; the garage door opener, water heater (again a power hog, but its nice to be able to take a warm shower).
• Do you want the generator to be automatic? Should it start itself and transfer power away from the power lines which is critical for the safety of the lineman working to repair your power lines? Should the fuel source be regular gasoline, propane or natural gas? Unless your running your generator frequently, gasoline powered generators tend to have the fuel go bad, and not work when you need them.

   Once you know the answers to these questions you can quickly narrow down your choices. If your looking for the most inexpensive method, a portable gas generator, appropriately sized can work. Plan on frequently running the generator to keep the fuel fresh, and running the appropriate sized extension cords to your appliances when the time comes to use it. The more significantly dependable method is a permenant standby generator. These systems can be professionally installed, and run either just the basics or nearly a whole home depending on size. The more common systems will exercise themselves as scheduled once a week, and run off either natural gas, which has an endless supply as long as the gas infastructure is functioning, or propane which is stored in a container on site. Container size dictates how long the generator will run.

   Tim Allen Equipment is an authorized Kohler Home Generator Dealer, we'd be glad to discuss how a standby generator can bring some peace of mind for your household. We're also able to perform service and repairs on most other gas or propane powered generators either at your site or in house.