Brrr, it is chilly out there in the Metro! Not to mention everyone around us in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota! Although cold weather in these regions is nothing new, you may love, hate or even just tolerate it, the season requires more preparation in many different parts of our lives and also with our standby generators.
Standby generators sit outside during all sorts of weather and temperature changes just waiting to activate and provide back-up power to your home in the event of a power outage. In the subfreezing weather, emergency power keeps the furnace running to keep you and your family warm and pipes from freezing and bursting during an outage.
Here are just a few cold weather tips for a happy standby generator:
– Keep your standby generator clear from snow and ice and ensure that the air intake vents do not become clogged or obstructed by debris.
– Don’t forget to replace old batteries. A marginal battery during the summer and fall may or may not seem like an issue. Every week the standby generator wakes up and starts its exercise cycle. All seems well, despite controller alerts that the battery is near the end of its life. Now that winter has come, that marginal battery may not have the power to start the engine when temperatures fall below freezing.
– Waking up at 1 am in the morning to a power outage is not the time to realize your battery cant start the engine in cold weather! If your battery is near the end of its expected life, or if the generator monitoring system tells you it is time to replace the battery, please purchase a new one and install it before winter.
– Another item to note is the use of battery warmers for your generator. Batteries produce electricity through a chemical reaction. So the strength of that reaction is partially dependent on the temperature of the battery. As the temperatures fall, the amount of current the battery is capable of producing declines. Battery warmers are a basic cold weather kit you can purchase for your generator. A thermostat will automatically sense when to turn on to warm the battery in below freezing temperatures.
– Colder temperatures may also require a low viscosity oil for easier starting. In the summer, a higher viscosity oil works well to lubricate the engine, but can be too thick in the winter months. Midwest Electric & Generator’s certified technicians will recommend the right oil for your standby generator.
Please don’t hesitate to call Midwest Electric & Generator today. Because we have contractors located all around Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, we can arrive at your location quickly. We also offer 24/7 emergency services for when you need your generator but something may not be working correctly. We will take care of the problem as quickly as possible so you can go about your day in the most stress-free way possible.
Midwest Electric & Generator wants you to get the most out of your generator and will always be here to ensure that for you.