Practical Measures to Protect Your Home
Every home needs lights outside that are left on at night, security cameras, a loud dog, several guns that even grandma knows how to fire, inside motion and entry sensors, emergency food, the best power generator, a well-thought-out exit plan, and PLEASE learn Jiu-Jitsu!!
<=== Keep this guy away!
To understand the big picture of keeping your home safe, check out our post titled Best Home Security Systems – You May Be Surprised!
It is a great place to start with understanding how criminals think and what you can do to prevent home invasion.
If your interest at this point is in acquiring a home security system or elements of one, go to our home page and search for security systems and cameras.
We’ve established product reviews for the best home security equipment on the market!
The Best Power Generator
For this edition, we are focusing on the necessity of acquiring the best power generator for your situation and discussing a couple of the most reliable options available depending on your needs.
If you are looking for the ability to power your home if power is out for whatever reason, we will discuss the 3 or 4 major types of portable power generators for your home: Gas, Diesel, and Solar-Powered.
Today we are going to briefly discuss the gas-powered generator. Here is the first thing to consider:
Buy a Power Generator!
We’re probably all aware by now of the potential threat issued to Americans this week regarding a potential power outage as SolarWinds Software was compromised due to Russian hackers. They infiltrated the Departments of Energy, Defense, Homeland Security, and State.
Are they trying to take down our grid? Who knows? We don’t know, nor do we know if that attempt would be successful.
However, if we were to lose power for whatever reason, a power generator for your home would be essential!
And I’m sure most have heard of many reasons our power grid could be compromised with devastating results.
But the search for a generator can be a confusing undertaking if someone isn’t familiar with the different kinds and various applications. And how much power do you need? There are several types of generators and in varying degrees of power that they render.
The 4 basic kinds of power generators are Gas, Diesel, Natural Gas, and Solar. We’ll look at the pros and cons of each.
Gas
Gas generators are by far the most popular. There are many reasons for that including the fact that they are more powerful than some of the other types and that people seem to feel as though gasoline is more accessible than diesel or natural gas.
The generator listed above is the Briggs & Stratton 5000w Gas Generator.
These generators are great! But there are others as well that are competitive. We list them first because Briggs & Stratton has been around for a long time making small engines for which they are most well-known, and a small engine is what keeps a gas=poewered generator functional.
At 5000 watts, this generator can handle a lot of power-hungry appliances and systems within your home. Simultanesously, this unit could power a refrigerator, deep freezer, washing machine, an electric heater, and all of the basic gadgets, such as chargers for phones, laptops, and even the TV and lights in most of the house.
Now, that can vary from appliance to appliance, and you’d need to consult your owner’s manuals to determine the power needed for your particular devices.
Additionally, it’s a good idea to leave some headroom of power so that the generator isn’t always “maxxed” out. And keep in mind that the more power you use, the more gasoline you’ll need to have on hand since gas generators use gas to convert into electrical power for your home.
It’s always advisable to use only what is needed.
This is the Briggs & Stratton 3500w Generator.
It’s a bit more affordable
and still very powerful.
This is the Generac Gp3600 Gas Generator and it is also a great product.
It’s comparably priced to the Briggs & Stratton 3500w listed above
and is in the same power category.
These generators are listed at Hardware World.
Hardware World is an online hardware and home improvement store. Their prices are competitive, and they have things that can’t be found in other similar types of stores. Go to the Hardware World website and check out the various brands and options they offer.*
Another option to check out is the extensive selection of portable generator brands offered at Wal-Mart.com. I mention the dotcom because Wal-Mart’s online presence now rivals Amazon.
Back To Gas Generators
*The downside to any gasoline generator is that in times of extended power outages, gas could become a problem to acquire. So, you’d need to be well-stocked and very conservative with use. If it’s just a couple of days as a result of a hurricane or some other similar reason, it would probably not be so much of an issue as long as you have the money for the gas.
*The upside is that these types of units (depending on the size of unit you’d purchase) can power freezers, refrigerators, a window air conditioner, several lights, and your security system all at the same time. Or, you could use a space heater or two in place of the A/C during cold months. Of course, that depends on the size of the heater, but I’m sure you get the general point.
(BTW, that is another subject we will cover at some point soon: setting up your security system to be easily connected to whatever generator system you will be using. It’s better to have this thought out before you install a security system, but it isn’t as difficult as you may think to reconnect your security cameras and lights to your generator when the need arises.)
Modern improvements with power generators have rendered the more recent versions of power generators much more efficient. But the more you plug into it, just like your typical home or business electricity usage, it will use that much more gas to keep the necessary power going.
Now, if you’re like me, you catch great sales on meat and have a freezer full of all kinds of things you or your family loves. You’d probably want to preserve that stash by plugging your freezer into your generator. Certainly, you’d do the same for your fridge!
But in the event of a long-term outage, it would likely be more beneficial to consume the frozen products first so you can take the freezer off of your local grid (generator). That would free up a ton of power and cost less in gas usage.
The main point here is to plan to purchase a generator as soon as you can and be sure to assess how much power you will need.
What’s Coming Next!?
We are putting together information for the next post. We will discuss solar-powered generators next due to the volume of questions we’ve been receiving regarding a more self-sufficient way of keeping ourselves afloat in the event of a crisis. I’m pleased by this interest because it shows that people are waking up to the need, not for luxury, but sustainability.
We will also hit on diesel generators and natural gas generators soon. The diesel category is really just a slight variant from the gas-powered models. There isn’t much difference except which pump you use to fill your can (and hopefully the can itself).
Diesel
Diesel generators will be covered in a following post.
Solar
Solar generators will be covered in a following post.
Finishing Up!
There is so much to cover here! This topic is hot, and the need for more info is overwhelming. So, what we are doing at SecurityUnveiled.com is gathering all the information we can as we provide you with the necessary directives to keep your home running smoothly while keeping you and your family safe.
Power generators are such a necessary piece of the “bug out” package. We can’t stress that enough.
You don’t want to miss the following post that will lay out the framework of how to best use a solar-powered generator system. It is liberating! This field has changed immensely in recent years as technology has made great strides rivalling the computer industry’s rapid advancements.
The best solar-powered generators will be reviewed.
I’m sure you will be intrigued by our upcoming posts presenting clever tips and innovative products to keep your family safe. We will discuss ways to use solar power and other resources to formulate a level of self-sufficiency for your family.
Please leave a comment below with any questions or any input you have on this subject. Do you know of a great generator that most people are unaware of? Let us know. We are here to help!
Thanks so much for dropping by!
*At SecurityUnveiled.com we do not endorse products or distributors we do not feel great about. If we don’t have s good review for a product or supplier that we discuss, our assessment of that particular entity will be clear throughout our review.
Hey, dude, some really good information! I will use it to protect my family.I’ve noticed on all of your posts, you are about protecting our homes, and right now is a perfect time for everyone to get on board with doing just that.
Thanks for all of the research you’ve provided and the suggestions you make.
Jamal
Thanks Jamal! Keep checking back as we will be adding a lot more info like this article to help families cope during what could be the worst of times.
I appreciate you for stopping by.
Darrin