Losing power at your house is not fun. Especially when you have a freezer full of breast milk. A cat relying on an automatic feeder that’s plugged into the wall. And you’re out of town for a week. And the friends with the spare key to your house are also out of town. This perfect storm (ha!) of events happened to us in June when a severe storm called a derecho swept through the DC metro area. It didn’t stick around for much longer than an hour but the damage left in its path took weeks to clean up and our power was off for almost 4 days. Trust me when I tell you that throwing away 3.5 months of pumped breast milk is gut-wrenching.
With the progression of climate change, chaotic weather is on the rise and the need to be prepare for extreme weather events is a fact of life. Who knows how many more derechos or heavy winter snowstorms are headed our way?
After Jeromy and I cleared out the fridge and freezers we started talking about the need for a back up generator. Even though in this day and age we are constantly plugged in and using electronic devices, in the event of a power outage my concern won’t be to get on Facebook, but to keep our house warm {or cool, depending on the month}, especially since we have a little one running around. But honestly, the idea of being able to keep everything in our house working as normal is very appealing. Not having to take vacation days because of a power outage if you work from home? Sold.
There are two kinds of generators that would fit the bill, but one more so than the other. A portable generator, while compact and able to move from location to location, must be used outside of the home and have everything requiring power plugged into it with properly rated extension cords. Portable generators are powered by gasoline so having them outside of the house and well-ventilated it key to preventing carbon monoxide poisoning. The second is a standby generator, which is permanently connected to your home, just like a furnace or air conditioning system.
Standby generators are hooked into a fuel line that already exists in your home and automatically turn on when power is lost. The key factor for me? You don’t have to be home for the system to function. If we had a standby generator in June, I wouldn’t have lost 3.5 months of breast milk!
A generator is one of those things that you don’t really think about until you need it. Hopefully, we’ll be prepared next time.
Want to learn more about the differences between portable and standby generators and which is best for you? Visit Kohler Generators for more information!
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign.
All opinions are my own.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
So, if Sandy does make it’s way towards us, and it ends up being this perfect storm they’re talking about, will you have a generator in place? How are you preparing differently this time? My fingers are just crossed it hits way north of us
Unfortunately, no, we don’t yet have a generator. Even though we would very much like to get one, financially it’s not in the cards right now. Sandy sounds like it’s going to be an insane storm, hopefully its course will change.