During a utility power outage, an automatic standby generator provides numerous advantages over a portable generator. Here are 5 standby generator advantages:

1. With an automatic standby generator properly installed outside, your home is protected from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning, which is a risk with portable generators.
2. Refueling every few hours is not necessary when the generator is running on the home’s natural gas line or LP fuel system, plus the chance of a gasoline fire during refueling is eliminated.
3. Automatic standby generators start within seconds of a power outage and eliminate the need to haul a portable generator outside or run extension cords throughout your home.
4. Automatic standby systems are designed to be installed and run outdoors.  This means it can provide backup power during storms and can safely be run in the rain, unlike portable generators.
5. Portable generators are not constructed to allow them to be run in the rain or in any type of enclosure.  Portable generators should never be run in a garage or even a semi-enclosed area; both scenarios provide danger of electrocution and affixation.

Stand by generators last decades & here’s why: Generators are constructed of standardized engines and components designed for continuous use in construction and industrial applications. Generators used in a standby capacity see relatively little use over the period of a year. Here’s an example:

• Standby generators have a standard exercise time of 15 hours per year, and then given 7 full days of outages, the total yearly run time would be little more than 180 hours.
• Contrast these few hours of run time to units of the same type that run in excess of 5,000 hours a year in sever conditions.  That represents nearly 28 years of life as a standby unit.
• The conclusion – Standby generators can last for decades if properly maintained.