Things to consider before buying an Electric Power Generator

Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday July 16, 2014 at 11:43:7:

Buying a Power generator is a bit different than going shopping for clothes and shoes or paying for things like a meal or bus fare. You can do those things every other day but things like a generator are what you do once in a while. It also requires a substantial amount of capital to be set aside in other to acquire it becomes it doesn't come cheap.

Due to the fact that buying something like a Power generator is more like an investment and not the regular shopping activity, it would be a wise thing if you first put some certain things into consideration before spending that money.

Things to consider before buying a generator
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1. Power requirement: How much power do you really need? This is the first question you really need to ask yourself. If the generator is just need to power a few number of computers and lights, a smaller generator would be okay but you might need a more powerful one when trying to power machines for a manufacturing company. It depends on how much power you really need and it can vary depending on how many electronics you are using and whether it's for home use or office. Just powering little things like a fan, tv and light bulbs requires just a little power but you'd need more power to electrify things like a washing machine, fridge, microwave and others. Your Power requirements is normally expressed in volts or Watts and will help you determine what power of generator you should look for.

2. Cost: How much capital do you really have to spend on a generator? This will depend on your budget and how much you want to spend. Since you already know the power requirement, you can just go ahead and look for a generator that can supply your power needs. If you can afford it, you should go ahead to buy it or else you can cut down your cost to a price you can afford depending on how much money you have. A 5KW Generator can do some work but not as much as a 10KW Generator and the latter also costs more.

3. Space: This is another thing to consider prior to buying and installing a generator at home or work place. How much space can you spare? Generators are not meant to be placed inside the home or office but outside and in an airy or well ventilated place since it normally gets hot and releases gases. You need to decide on a point to place the generator and also ensure that the space is sufficient for the system.

4. Fuel Type: Some Mechanical machines like power generators normally require an input source of power such as fuel in order to be able to do their job and so you have to consider which type of fuel is easily accessible to you at that location. Would you prefer buying a generator that uses diesel, Gasoline or Petrol as it's fuel? Nowadays, even some generators run with Bio-Fuel which ordinary people can manufacture in their own homes. So, you just need to decide on what fuel type of generators you want. Some people prefer Diesel generators because it's less flammable than Petrol. So, it depends on a lot of things such as availability of the fuel type, the market price and safety.

5. Warranty: Does buying the generator come with any warranty? It's not wise to just buy a capital intensive equipment like a Power generator without having some form of insurance in case it develops any faults within the short term. A warranty is basically a legally binding written agreement by the seller to the buyer to replace or repair the purchased item within a specified period of time if the said item develops any problems. So, if a power generator comes with a 3 years warranty, it simply means that the seller would replace or repair the generator if it has any problems within those 3 years after purchase. Serious generator sellers normally offer a warranty to their buyers and I only advise that you should not buy a generator without a warranty from the seller.

6. Payment terms: Since buying generators is not an everyday thing and requires some substantial amount of capital, one of the main things to consider before ordering for it is how you are going to pay for it. First of all, It's not good to pay cash for machines like these. You should rather pay with cheque or bank transfer in order to make your bank the third party witness. Another thing is that you can take advantage of a monthly payment that also comes with a warranty rather than paying the entire money at once. Paying instalmentally helps to reduce the effect of the bill on your monthly income and also gives you something to hold onto in case the generator develops any problem within the warranty period.

6. Installation: How are you going to install the generator at the location? Does the seller offer you a free installation of do you have to pay for that separately? If you are the kind of person that can't do it yourself, you need to inform the seller to help you in doing it so you don't make the mistake of destroying the machine during installation. You might also get an electrician to set the wiring for you at the location.

7. Access to Maintenance: It's one thing to buy an expensive machine like a generator and another thing to provide it with adequate maintenance and/or repairs. New Generators can go for a long time without having to breakdown but with regular maintenance, it might never break down and even when it does, it can easily be repaired. You can't buy a generator without considering how you are going to carry out periodic maintenance of the machine unless you don't want it to have a long lifespan. You need to do a bit of research to see if there is availability of generator experts in your area who you can call to maintain or repair the generator from time to time so that the machine keeps working well for a long time. It won't make sense buying a generator that cannot be repaired by the local generator experts. There are different brands of generators and not all local generator experts have knowledge of all of them. It's normally a good thing to buy a generator that is mostly easy to be offered maintenance and repairs by the local engineers.