If you live in an area where power outages are, unfortunately, quite common, you know just what an annoyance they can be. Sometimes, homeowners have portable generators they can plug a few appliances into so that they can stay at home. But for some longer outages, families have to leave their homes.

An automatic standby generator can power your whole house automatically! We recommend this to anyone who’s ever had to put up with a days-long outage, or for those who worry they one day will.

Portable generators can be useful during a power outage, but not for long. Fuel capacity is limited and depends on how much you can store at your home. The number of lights and appliances a generator can power is very limited, especially for larger homes and households.

Automatic standby generators use a transfer switch to detect a loss of current flow and automatically restore power to your entire home. You won’t have to do a thing!

Yes, a generator can cost a lot of money upfront. But the good news is that you’ll have it in your home for many, many years. It pays for itself if you save on losing refrigerated items, spending money on fuel and battery-powered appliances, or even hotel costs from moving out of the home for a day or even weeks.

Your home is a lot safer when you have a whole-house generator to protect it from flooding, burst pipes, and other issues. Keep the heat on to protect your pipes, continue operating your sump pump, and know that your home is safe.

In many cases, being without power for too long can actually lead to major safety hazards. Going without lights can be dangerous, particularly if you have kids or elderly family members. And many people with health issues can’t get by for long without heating or air conditioning—or without lifesaving medical equipment.

Generators make an important line of defense against natural disasters and power outages. With a generator, you don’t have to worry about keeping the food in your refrigerator cold, or powering your heating system when the temperatures drop. When installing a new generator, it’s important to select one that is the right size for your home. By size, we mean the power it’s capable of creating, not the physical size (though that can enter into the equation depending on where you plan to put it). In Lynnwood WA, electrical repair services can often advise you on how to size the right generator for your home, but it pays to know the basic before you give them a call.

The first step is to perform an energy audit for your home, determining how much power each appliance or electrical device uses, and then prioritizing them for use during an emergency. Medical devices usually come first on the list, followed by refrigerators and freezers which store your food. Next is your home HVAC system, followed by the lights in your home. Computers, radios and entertainment systems are usually on the bottom of the list: useful for keeping connected with the outside world, but otherwise non-essential in an emergency.

Once you have that list, you can determine two things: how much power is required to run your whole house and how much power is required to run the bare essentials during an emergency. The former number is preferable and if you can afford a generator of that size, then you should probably purchase it. The latter is less ideal but can do in a pinch if you’re on a budget and still want to keep your household running when the power goes out. In that case you need to carefully monitor which appliances are hooked up to the generator so you don’t overload it when the time comes.

When it comes to home repair and renovations, many people attempt to handle their home improvement on their own when it should be left to the experts. Due to the abundance of television shows depicting do-it-yourself couples attempting to renovate old properties and the consistent bombardment of commercials from big box home improvement stores, fixing anything around your Des Moines home seems like something you should be able to handle yourself. Whether you are a seasoned handyman who has been handling home repairs on your own for years or an inexperienced homeowner working the kinks out of your first home, there are a number of tasks that absolutely must be left to the professionals because errors and mistakes could lead to severe injuries that could even prove to be fatal. Many of these scenarios require the work of a residential electrician, and a common one is electrical trenching.

Electrical trenching is the excavation of your property to prepare for electrical installation, and it could end in tragedy if you do not call an expert. While digging a ditch does not seem like something that would require a residential electrician, it is especially necessary when handling electrical issues. A residential electrician will not only be experienced in handling the electrical trenching, but they are also aware of the safety precautions. Under your lawn, various utility lines are running ranging from water to gas to electric. And if you were to damage one of these services, not only would you be at fault, but you would also be placing yourself in grave danger.

Do not start digging up your yard without first consulting an expert residential electrician. When you need electrical trenching in Des Moines, call the Electrical Guru’s at 515-446-7040 so we can safely and professionally handle the electrical trenching for your home.

You’ve packed the swimsuits and the sunscreen, the bug spray and the camera, but did you remember to properly lock up and secure your home? While making that long vacation “to-do” list, don’t forget to include the proper safeguarding of your home on your list before you head off on your summer getaway.

If you’ll be away from your home for an extended amount of time, you might want to consider hiring a house sitter. Someone actually living in your home can help keep it safe from thieves, and your house sitter can also water your plants, retrieve your mail and newspapers, mow your lawn, or even take care of your pets while you’re away. And because your home will continue to look lived-in, it can hold less of an appeal to burglars. Hiring a house sitter is not the cheapest option for home security, but it can solve many problems at once and it is likely to be a solution that will give you the most peace of mind while you are away from home.

Nothing says “I’m not home” more than yellowed newspapers on your doorstep and mail overcrowding your mailbox. If you’ll be leaving your home for an lengthy holiday and if you don’t have someone you can ask to retrieve your mail and newspapers each day, you can ask for a stop delivery on both. The United States Postal Service will stop delivery and will hold your mail for up to 30 days for free, and you can either cancel your newspaper subscription or choose a stop delivery on your newsprint for however long you’ll be away. All you have to do is ask, whether in person or possibly even online.

With social media and online networking an ever-present entity in modern times, it’s easy to want to brag about your upcoming cruise or your month long road trip across America to all your online friends and family. But you may be unwittingly letting criminals know when your home will be an empty and easy target. Keep in mind that online information can be read by anyone, often even if your accounts are private, and you probably don’t want the entire world knowing that your property and home will be unattended during your vacation.

Don’t make your home a tempting target for possible criminals. Remembering to secure your home while you’re away can help keep your home and property safe, as well as help relieve any possible worries you might have so that you can actually relax and enjoy that much-needed vacation.