Diesel generator sales in Essex are increasing, but do consult a professional to calculate your power requirements before you buy.
We have never been more dependent on electricity than we are today. Without electricity, virtually everything will stop. Most homes will have no heat or light, businesses will lose computers and communications, pumps will not work and transport will grind to a halt. It is a scary prospect and what makes it even more worrying is that it is just a matter of time. In essence, as a culture, we seem determined to put all our eggs in one basket with no Plan B.
Some organisations can’t afford an interruption of even a few minutes. Brief outages can disable life-support equipment, critical cooling systems, traffic control systems and corrupt vital data. Most (we hope) have good UPS systems in place, but for longer interruptions, a backup generator is the only sensible insurance.
Even for businesses that can afford an extended tea break, backup generators are a wise investment in a world more dependent than ever on communications. In times of increasing economic uncertainty, a generator could literally be a lifeline.
Diesel generator sales in Essex
Diesel generator sales in Essex is strong, with many schools, businesses and homeowners realising the fragility of their mains supply. We are an area of high population and in any kind of widespread emergency, the shelves will rapidly be stripped of candles, batteries, torches, camping equipment and greenhouse heaters (although we aren’t sure how they will be paid for with ATMs, card terminals and tills out of action). Don’t expect pizza deliveries either.
Counties that are flat like Essex are prone to thunderstorms and offer little shelter from high winds. Lightning or gale damage may be straightforward to repair, but after widespread weather events, the number of crews available is often limited. After the 1987 hurricane, some properties were without power for a month simply because there were no engineers available.
Diesel generator sales in Essex rose sharply after the 1987 storm, but it is a lot more sensible to prepare in advance.
Diesel versus other types of generator
Diesel generators use an alternator to transform the power of a diesel-powered engine into electricity. In some ways, you can think of them as car engines without wheels (except that some of them have wheels). Of course, they are entirely focused on producing good clean electricity at the right frequency and voltage to replace the mains supply. Another vital consideration is how quick and easy it will be for them to switch in when a mains failure occurs. Some do so almost seamlessly and automatically while others have to be connected and started by pushing a start button. The third consideration is fuel storage. Diesel fuel is easy to have delivered and safe to store.
The leading disadvantage of petrol generators is safety. Petrol is not safe to store and there are many regulations surrounding petrol deliveries. A technical comparison also favours diesel generators. Fuel consumption is lower and the engines last much longer with less maintenance. Diesel engines have fewer moving parts to wear out and waste less heat.
Generators powered by natural gas, LPG or propane are a feasible alternative – when the gas is available. Gas is not so easy to store and deliveries may be uncertain in an emergency. Gas generator prices are competitive up-front but they tend to be larger, more difficult to re-site, require more maintenance and have a shorter lifespan. Engineers attending to them should be Gas Safe qualified. Burning gas produces fewer particulates but higher CO2. Some gas generators are quieter than diesel engines but louvered enclosures may offer a solution.
Estimating the power of your generator
If you already use UPS, your generator should be capable of powering the systems supported by the UPS and recharging your UPS at the same time (including their conversions losses). As a rule of thumb, a generator backing up a UPS system should have roughly 25% more capacity than the UPS (assuming your UPS is a modern IGBT based system). Once you have calculated that output requirement, we suggest adding a healthy margin so the generator will never be overtaxed and enough excess to cover future power requirements.
The calculation is not easy, so we advise everyone to seek professional advice before buying a generator.
