Choosing the Right Generator

Your Most Important Decision: Generator selection

Canter Power understands that customers who make their first appointment with a Canter Power Generator Specialist expert will expect expert guidance through a complicated process.  During that first appointment, your specialist will focus on how important choosing the right generator is for the safety and security of your home. With your input about details of your home, we will expertly guide you in carefully choosing the size of your home backup power generator.  This first step in the process will be your single most important decision. 

Why speak to a Generator Specialist?

As mentioned above and in our buyers guide, installing a generator is a complicated process that requires thoughtful planning.  Our experienced installers train for many years to understand the amount of electrical service required in a single-family residence. Peak load demands and multiple appliances running at the same time will directly affect the performance of your generator. Peak load is the highest amount of energy that a consumer draws from the electric grid in a set period of time. Understanding peak load is essential for any installer to determine a generator that meets a home’s specific requirements.

To learn more about peak load and residential energy consumption, the U.S. Energy Information Administration offers a wealth of information. 

Your home is unique: power capacity and why is it important

Every home is different.
Your neighbor’s house might be the same square footage as yours and even have similar design and construction.  But your neighbor’s home energy consumption profile will likely be very distinct from your own.  Your profile includes a number of factors and considerations, including all of the appliances in your home, how much energy those appliances consume (including starting loads – not just the running loads) and when and how much electricity members of your household use throughout the day.

Many homeowners don’t realize how many appliances are consuming power in the home: water heaters, lights, refrigerators, heating and air-cooling units, televisions, cooking appliances, clothes washers and dryers, pool pumps, dehumidifiers, etc. And most homeowners have a growing list of consumer electronics including computers, tablets, smartphones, video game consoles, and internet streaming devices.

Other factors affecting the amount of energy an individual household uses includes:

• Geographic location and climate
• Type of home and its physical characteristics
• Number, type, and efficiency of energy-consuming devices in the home and the amount of time they are used
• Number of household members *

Your Generator Specialist will calculate the specific requirements of your home to determine the correct generator size.  This determination is an absolutely vital part of the process – an overloaded generator will put undue stress on the unit and even damage some of the devices connected to it. A correct size is vital to safely enjoying ALL the comforts of home as if the power never went out.

Trust in the knowledge your generator specialist has when calculating the size of your generator’s wattage.

Once you have decided on a generator, It is time to move on to Choosing and Preparing a Location.

*Source: US Energy Information Administration