If you live in the Northwest, you’re most likely bound to experience a power outage at one point or another. Once fall and winter arrive, most locals expect some sort of crazy weather storm to affect their power.
In fall of 2015, there was an intense wind storm that left hundreds of thousands of people within the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area without power for days and even weeks.
Hundreds of trees had fallen down, destroying power lines and transformers around the entire city! Crews were brought in from surrounding states to help restore the power.
Imagine bringing a flashlight into your bathroom to take a cold shower, or stock-piling blankets to make sure you had enough warmth to get you through the night?
These are all things we try to avoid! Thankfully, generators were created for this very purpose!
Types of Backup Power Options for Your Home
Some people have standby generators for their homes or businesses that serve as a more permanent backup power supply source.
Others keep a portable, temporary generator handy to supply power to certain respective items during the event of a power outage.
If you work from home or have a small office, having an uninterruptible power supply or UPS would most likely be the most beneficial for you!
There are three main types of backup power options for your home, keep reading to find which suits your needs best.
Permanent or Fixed Generators
Permanent or fixed generators are designed to have the capacity to power an entire house or building!
No need to worry about starting these bad boys up if your power goes out! They start up automatically and typically run quiet, so you’ll hardly notice.
Although they are usually more expensive than portable generators, you’ll be glad you invested in one when you don’t have to refuel your generator for days or even weeks!
If you’re a business owner, a standby generator is one of the best investments you can make!
By deciding to install a fixed backup supply of power, you’re preventing any loss of inventory or income if the power in your business goes out.
There are a number of quality generator manufacturers out there that we love to install; however, Briggs & Stratton and Generac stand out amongst the rest!
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton is one of the most well-established manufacturers of generators in North America, with over 100 years of experience.
These automatic generators are installed permanently outside your home and do not require refueling!
Briggs & Stratton can easily supply power to your high wattage appliances when you need it most!
Generac
If you’ve seen a standby generator, there’s probably a good chance that it was a Generac generator considering they are the #1 selling brand of home backup generators.
Similar to Briggs & Stratton, these generators are automatic and do not need to be refueled because they run on your existing natural gas.
Portable Generators
Are standby generators out of your price range?
Don’t fret! Portable generators are another fantastic backup supply of power for half the cost!
While portable generators are not automatic, some do have the capability of powering almost as much as a home generator does!
This type of power supply will need to be set up and connected to a transfer switch in the event of a power failure.
Your portable generator will eventually run out of fuel, so having some on-hand is important! You’re probably wondering what the best portable generator brands are on the market.
DuroMax and Champion are a couple of the best-known and most fuel-efficient portable generators currently available!
DuroMax
Serving as the industry’s leader in Dual Fuel portable generator technology, DuroMax offers an extensive portfolio of portable generators, giving you endless options to meet your specific requirements.
This company offers next-generation power systems to tackle the toughest jobs! And we enjoy being able to install them on site for our customers because we know they will do a great job for them in case of an emergency.
Champion
Champion manufactures portable generators for multiple different uses!
Whether you’re looking for a generator to power your RV, power tools, or outdoor equipment, Champion is ready to give you the tools you need to get the job done!
Their website is a wonderful resource and tool for helping you select and customize your portable generator!
Uninterruptible Power Supply – UPS
Do you work from home or have a small office?
Installing an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS could end up saving you in the long run.
Imagine you’re wrapping up an important project for work and then…BAM! The power goes out unexpectedly and you have now lost the final touches of your masterpiece.
This is why UPS’s were made. Because computer systems don’t have batteries like laptops, having a UPS for your computer could be a life-saver!
Not only do they back up your power supply for your computer, but they also prevent power surges and help to protect your hardware from unclean power or bad electricity.
Tripp Lite and CyberPower are some of the highest quality uninterrupted power supply systems available in 2020.
Tripp Lite
Tripp Lite has been in business for more than 95 years, manufacturing more than 4,000 products to help power electronic equipment.
While Tripp Lite’s headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois, they maintain a global presence with offices and partners worldwide. Like us!
This company offers a variety of single and three-phase UPS systems to meet and exceed all of your expectations.
CyberPower
CyberPower presents numerous UPS systems for a variety of scenarios such as medical-grade UPS systems to help power hospital equipment.
They also offer PFC Sinewave UPS systems that are guaranteed to protect individual work areas.
Their Intelligent LCD UPS systems are designed to protect equipment like modems and routers, as well as home theater equipment and gaming consoles.
CyberPower’s options are limitless!
Backup Power Supply Installation
After selecting what type of power supply suits your needs best, the next step you’ll need to think about is the installation process.
It’s critical to choose the right installation company to get the job done properly!
If you decided to hire the cheapest option available or do the install yourself, you could end up damaging the expensive equipment you just bought, electrocuting yourself, or causing a hazardous situation like a fire or explosion.
Most likely, you don’t want to find yourself in any of those situations, which is why you need to seek out and hire the right professional for the job.
VPC Electric is certified, trained, and experienced in installing generators in commercial buildings and residential homes.
Our generator experts are here to help you select the right generator for your personal needs in an efficient, organized, and professional manner during the pre-installation, commissioning, and post-installation processes of installing your generator.
We uphold all safety measures to ensure there are no dangerous situations and your generator is left ready to run smoothly in case of a power emergency.
Our technicians are also licensed and insured in both Washington and Idaho, giving us the opportunity to serve communities within Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and surrounding areas.
How Much Does it Cost to Install a backup generator?
Once you’ve chosen your installer, you’ll want to make sure that you have enough funds saved up before purchasing a generator; they don’t always run cheap!
Depending on what you want, standby generators can range anywhere from $1,000 to over $30,000. The more expensive options are usually commercial and are designed to power an entire building.
Purchasing a fixed generator also means that you’ll need to have some funds set aside to pay for the installation process. This is an additional fee on top of the cost of the generator, usually priced around $400 to $3,000 depending on what type of system you choose.
If you’re looking at purchasing a portable generator, you can usually find one for around $400 to $3,000. Their wattage runs lower than standby generators, so you’ll want to make a list of the appliances you want to power with the portable generator.
Their size is also significantly smaller than your average fixed generator, giving you the convenience of transporting the generator wherever you may need.
UPS Systems are on the least expensive side of backup power supply systems. Prices vary anywhere from around $50 to $400 depending on what systems you choose to power.
Portable generators and UPS Systems do not require an additional installation fee because they are not permanent fixtures, and can be easily transported to your desired locations.
VPC Electric has certified electricians in Spokane, Washington, and Coeur d’Alene.
24 hours, weekends, or holidays we are here. So, when the power goes out everything comes on and stays on.
Call (855) 527-4376 to speak with a certified electrician.
