Everyday homeowners purchase generators for home use without realizing that they are making one or more of these huge mistakes. They end up over paying, getting the wrong size generator, buying a cheap generator, getting a noisy generator or ending up with a generator that requires an enormous amount of maintenance. To avoid those costly mistakes heed these tips for buying generators for home use…
Avoid Overpaying
One of the biggest mistakes people make purchasing generators for home use is over paying. It happens everyday. One of the primary reasons why is they don’t perform a thorough enough comparative price analysis. The buyers who limit their search to the phone book, newspapers and driving around, almost always end up paying too much. Use the power of the Internet to make price compassion a breeze. On some websites, you can easily compare prices on a dozen stores with few clicks of your mouse. Plus, many online stores offer better prices because their overhead is much lower.
Avoid Getting The Wrong Size Generator
This mistake can be easily avoided by performing a simple process called generator sizing. This is the process of determining how much generator you need. When it comes to generators for home use, if you don’t get enough generator; it will cost you in more ways than one.
Some generator brands are easily damaged when they are overloaded and can also easily damage the devices plugged into them. When that happens the normal course of action is to attempt to return the generator to place of purchase. However, be warned, virtually no store will issue a refund or an exchange when you damage a generator due to improper generator sizing.
That means you will have flushed that money down the drain. Remember this rule when it comes to generators for home use. Never guess at the size generator you need; always perform generator sizing before you start your search.
Avoid Buying a Cheap Generator
The competition for generators for home use is stiff! And the only way some generator manufacturers can compete is by producing generators that cost a fraction of the price of the name brand generators. The problem with that strategy is they must cut quality drastically.
Cheap generators are the subject of much frustration. Once you buy one, I’m sorry to say, but you are literally stuck with that puppy. Make sure know the return policy prior to purchasing any generator. In some cases, once you put gasoline and oil in the unit and crank it, there are no returns unless the unit is proven to be defective.
Avoid Purchasing a Noisy Generator
The only time a noisy generator is acceptable is if it’s going to be running on an already noisy industrial site. But when it comes to generators for home use, quiet is king! Make no mistake about it, if you’re using a noisy generator at your home, your neighbors are going to let you know, one way or another.
In some cases, you may even get the police knocking on your door commanding you to make your generator quieter or shut it down. The best way to avoid this hassle is to research the generator you’re interested in and find out what its noise levels are. Generators for home use should be quiet enough that if someone is next door they can’t hear it running.
Avoid Purchasing a Maintenance Hog
If you are a homeowner, the last thing you want to do is end up with a generator that demands an enormous amount of maintenance and repairs. Quality generators for home use require very little maintenance and are built to be rugged and give years of usage.
The best way to find out if the brand and model you’re considering is a maintenance hog is to perform a thorough research on the customer review sites. Read those reviews carefully because they will save you a lot of grief. If others bought that particular generator and were so unhappy with its performance that they took the time to notate their displeasure on a third party review site, that should tell you all that you need to know.
