Generator Rentals and Rental Power Solutions by Anser Power Services

A power outage can happen for several reasons including storms, power surges, short circuits, and so on. When this happens, there is no supply of power to the building.

When there is a power outage and you need electrical power, you can resort to renting a generator. Visit here to learn more about power outages. Sometimes, the power outage may not be out of the blues, so you may have the time to prepare for it. Other times, it could be sudden and you would find yourself in an unexpected situation.

It doesn’t matter whether it is a matter of urgency or it was planned for, when renting a generator, you can expect the same thing despite the situation. Therefore, in this article, we will be discussing everything you need to know about renting a generator.

Why Should You Rent a Generator?

In the case of a power outage in your home, you can choose to wait out the outage with candles and flashlights. But when this happens in your business, you can’t halt your business for hours or sometimes days just because of this.

Rental generators will provide the necessary power you need at this time of emergency. This is especially true when you don’t know for sure how long the outage would last.

Safety Tips

If you rent a generator during an emergency, you need to follow these safety measures to ensure everything works safely and smoothly:

• Have Proper Grounding: ensure every National Electric Code regulation about earth grounding is adhered to so the chances of getting electrocuted are reduced.
• Properly inspect the equipment before it is used: ensure there aren’t loose threads or bolts or other issues that can cause injury or malfunction.
• Do the installation in a free and clear area: ensure the generator doesn’t operate near combustible or flammable materials. Also, ensure the area the generator is installed is open with enough ventilation and airflow. If there isn’t properly ventilated, it can result in carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Don’t overload the equipment
• Wear protective gears: whenever you need to operate the generator, make sure you wear protective gears. Especially goggles and boots.
• Use only recommended parts: do not use accessories such as cords that weren’t specifically approved by the Rental Company or manufacturer.
• Do not service the generator when it’s on: if you have to service the equipment, make sure it is not running before you do.
• Check for backfeeding: the equipment may generate excess power which gets fed back to the electrical grid. Backfeeding is not just dangerous but also illegal in certain states. So, always monitor the equipment for this.

Choosing the Right Size

When renting a generator, there are usually several sizes available for you to pick from. You can visit https://www.anserservice.ca/generator-rentals/ to learn more about the sizes of generators available for rent.

You can’t pick any size without considering the job you want to use it for. When the size that can carry the workload is used, the equipment will run better and last longer. But when the wrong size is used and the load is bigger than its capacity, it becomes susceptible to failures and shutdowns.

Some important factors that should be considered when deciding on generator size include:

1. Your Location Size

If the place you want to use the equipment for is big, then you most likely need a big one. But, if the place is small, you can opt for less wattage, so long as you won’t end up overloading it.

2. The Equipment to Be Powered

If you simply need to power a few appliances such as furnaces or refrigerators, then you can choose a generator that generates some thousand watts. But if a big area such as a construction site where heavy-duty equipment is used is to be powered, then a generator that generates more than a small number of watts should be used.

How to Calculate the Needed Wattage

Big areas like industrial operations and hospitals would need bigger wattage capacity and motor size. The motor capacity needed can be measured in the following ways:

• Utility bills
• Square footage
• Ammeter

You can read this post to learn more about wattage and how to calculate it.

3.  Load Type

We have different load types including reactive, resistive, lighting, and motor loads. These various load types typically have different demands. So, you would need to be sure of the load type you would be putting on the equipment you rent.

Other things to consider are:

• Phase type
• Voltage
• Surge capacity
• The power the equipment used draws

Questions You Need to Ask the Rental Company

Before you rent the equipment, you need to ask the rental company some very important questions. You need to learn how to confidently ask any question and get an answer as this is something that will be required in many different situations in life. Some of these important questions include:

• What are the daily rental rates?
• What are the per-hour rental rates?
• Will you provide the accessories?
• What are the technical services you offer?
• How do I properly maintain the equipment?
• In case of an emergency, how soon can you get the equipment to me?
• Will your company handle the installation?

You can also come up with other questions you think are important.

Conclusion

Power outages can occur at any given time. When this happens, business owners or even homeowners that can’t stand the blackout can rent power generating equipment until electricity is restored. However, before you rent one of these, there are some important things you need to know. Some of these important things are some safety tips, how to choose the right size, among other things. This article has discussed these alongside other important things you need to know about renting a generator.