Electricity outages are increasing in the US. As per research, from 2013 to 2022, the frequency of outages increased from 1.2 to 1.42 events per customer per year.[1] A variety of causes, ranging from severe weather events like hurricanes and snowstorms to equipment failures and even intentional grid disruptions, result in an electricity outage. Remember, these outages can have far-reaching impacts on your daily lives, affecting everything from home comfort and communication to critical infrastructure and healthcare services.
Being prepared for such disruptions is crucial, and one proactive solution is to invest in a solar generator for house. They provide a reliable power source during outages and reduce your carbon footprint. Keep reading to know more about electricity outages in the US, their effects, and how to overcome them.
How To Prepare for an Electricity Outage?
Let’s discuss the things you must do during an electricity outage to avoid any inconvenience:
- Create an Emergency Preparedness Kit
First and foremost, creating an emergency preparedness kit is paramount. Emergency preparedness kit must have an ample stock of bottled water, non-perishable food, flashlights accompanied by spare batteries, a battery-powered radio, and a comprehensive first-aid kit. An adequate water supply helps you stay hydrated and is also essential for cooking and sanitation.
Non-perishable food items, like granola bars, canned goods, and dried fruits, prevent you from hunger or starvation during prolonged electricity outages. Flashlights with extra batteries are indispensable for providing illumination when the lights go out. Likewise, a reliable radio helps you stay updated on important information, especially during weather-related outages. Additionally, a well-equipped first-aid kit is vital for addressing any injuries or medical needs that may arise.
- Have a Safe Place Option in Mind
Secondly, identifying a safe place to go in case of an extended outage is prudent. This might involve choosing a family member’s house, a friend’s residence, or a nearby emergency shelter as your temporary refuge. A safe place in mind offers peace of mind during an outage, especially if you need to evacuate your home due to an extended power loss, a natural disaster, or any other emergency situation.
How To Stay Safe During an Electrical Outage?
Things you need to do to keep everyone safe during a power outage include:
- Avoid Using Fuel Generators
It’s imperative to always steer clear of using fuel generators indoors or in enclosed spaces during an electrical outage. Releasing carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas that’s deadly when inhaled in high amounts, fuel generators pose significant health risks.[2]
Rather, consider safer options such as solar generators. Solar generators capture energy from the sun, offering a clean and renewable power source without the dangers of carbon monoxide exposure. They are your dependable and eco-friendly solution during power outages, ensuring your and your household’s safety.
- Unplug All Appliances and Electronics Without Surge Protection
As soon as the power goes out, it’s a good practice to unplug all appliances and electronics that lack surge protection. Power surges can occur when electricity is restored, potentially damaging or frying your devices. Unplugging these items safeguards them from voltage fluctuations.
For critical equipment like computers, televisions, and home entertainment systems, consider using surge protectors, which can absorb and redirect excess voltage. Keep in mind that not all power strips offer surge protection, so make sure the devices you rely on are turned off to prevent unexpected power fluctuations.
- Use a Flashlight or Battery-Powered Lantern
Flashlights or battery-powered lanterns are safe, reliable sources of light that eliminate the fire hazard associated with candles. Make sure your flashlights have fresh batteries, and keep spare batteries readily available. LED flashlights are especially efficient and long-lasting, ensuring your home stays well-illuminated.
Battery-powered lanterns, with their diffused and widespread light, offer a practical alternative to flashlights. In the darkness of an electricity outage, having these light sources strategically placed throughout your home ensures you can navigate safely and find essential items.
- Be Careful with Candles
While candles may seem like a traditional solution for lighting during power outages, they come with inherent risks, like fire hazards. Hence, it’s crucial to exercise caution when using candles. Ensure that candles are placed in sturdy, non-flammable holders on flat surfaces, away from flammable materials like curtains and paper.
Never leave candles unsupervised, and always extinguish them before going to bed. It’s also crucial to store candles out of the reach of children and pets to prevent accidents. Keenly follow these guidelines because your utmost priority should always be the safety of your home and your loved ones.
How Do You Reduce the Risk of an Electric Power Outage?
Following are the tips to follow to reduce the risk of electric power outage in the US:
- Install Surge Protectors on Your Appliances and Electronics
Surge protectors help protect your appliances and electronics from power surges, a common cause of electricity outages. Their functioning involves diverting excess electrical energy from your devices, ensuring that voltage spikes do not damage sensitive components.
When installing surge protectors, focus on high-value electronics such as computers, televisions, and gaming consoles. This simple and relatively inexpensive measure can offer you plenty of benefits:
- Protection against voltage spikes: Surge protectors divert excess electrical energy away from your devices, preventing voltage spikes from damaging sensitive components.
- Extended equipment lifespan: By shielding your appliances and electronics from power surges, surge protectors help prolong their operational life, saving you money on replacements.
- Enhanced reliability: With surge protectors in place, you lessen the risk of device failure due to sudden electrical surges, ensuring a more dependable electrical system in your home.
- Consider Investing in a Whole-House Surge Protector
While individual surge protectors for specific appliances are beneficial, a whole-house surge protector provides comprehensive protection for your home. It’s installed at your main electrical panel and guards against large-scale surges from lightning strikes, grid disturbances, or other external factors. They are a robust defense against power disruptions and can prevent damage to appliances, wiring, and other vital electrical components.
Contrary to power strip surge protectors that are ready to use once out of the box, whole-house surge protectors require a qualified electrician for installation. Consult an electrician to determine the best whole-house surge protector for your home, ensuring it meets your needs and the local electrical code requirements.
- Trim Trees and Shrubs around Your Home
Trimming the trees and shrubs surrounding your residence is an efficient way to minimize the potential for electricity outages. Overhanging vegetation poses a huge threat to power lines, particularly during adverse weather conditions, a major (70%) cause of power shortage in the US.[3] Falling branches or entire trees can disrupt your electricity supply and interfere with power lines, creating a potential safety hazard.
Hence, maintain and prune trees and shrubs to significantly decrease the chances of tree-related outages, particularly during storms or high winds. In case the trees outside your home are in contact with high-voltage power lines, you should avoid cutting or pruning them yourself due to safety concerns. Consult your local energy provider or an electrical professional to do that for you.
- Consider Investing in a Solar Backup Generator
A solar backup generator is a forward-thinking product that minimizes the risk of electricity outages. They have solar panels to generate electricity and often include battery storage to store excess power for use during outages.
An overview of the components of a solar generator for house is as follows:
- Solar Panels:Take solar energy and convert it into electricity.
- Charge Controller:Regulates and protects the battery from overcharging.
- Battery Bank: Stores electricity generated by the panels.
- Inverter: Converts stored DC electricity into AC for household use.
- Power Outlets: Provide electricity for various devices and appliances.
- Control Panel:Monitors and manages the solar generator system.
- Optional Features: Enhance functionality with add-ons like LED lights and USB ports.
Why Use a Solar Generator in an Electricity Outage? Let’s discuss the reasons to use a solar battery generator in an electricity outage:
- Clean and Renewable Energy:Solar generators harness the sun’s power, providing a clean and sustainable energy source, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and lowering your carbon footprint.
- Independence and Reliability:Solar generators offer energy independence, providing power during outages and remote locations, making them a reliable backup and off-grid solution.
- Low Operating Costs: Solar generators have minimal operating costs once installed, as they use free solar energy to generate electricity.
- Portability: Many solar generators are portable, making them ideal for outdoor activities, camping, and emergencies.
- Long Lifespan: Solar panels have an extensive lifespan, and with proper maintenance, solar generators can provide electricity for many years.
Jackery’s Solar Backup Generator Solutions For Electricity Outages
Some of the best Jackery solar generator solutions that you can use during an electricity outage are:
- Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus
The Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus is your all-in-one solution for versatile power needs. The expandable capacity ranging from 2 to 24kWh is useful in various scenarios, ensuring you have the energy you need when you need it. Leaping in performance, it’s capable of powering heavy-duty devices up to 6000W, making it perfect for everyday use and emergencies. What sets the Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus apart is its ultra-fast solar charging with advanced IBC technology, allowing for a rapid solar charge in just 2 hours with six Jackery SolarSaga 100W Solar Panels.
You can rely on its long-lasting reliability thanks to the outstanding LiFePO4 battery with an impressive 10-year lifespan. Moreover, its ChargeShield Technology, featuring a unique variable-speed charging algorithm, not only accelerates charging but also boosts battery life by an impressive 50%.
With a high power output of 6,000W in parallel connection and expandable voltage options of 120/240V, this generator can handle a variety of devices and appliances. For convenient control and monitoring, use the Jackery App, which supports different devices and offers real-time status monitoring, customization settings, and more.
Key Features
- Powers heavy-duty devices up to 6000W
- Ultra-fast solar charging in 2 hours with advanced IBC technology
- LiFePO4 battery with a 10-year lifespan for long-lasting reliability
- ChargeShield Technology boosts battery life by 50%
- The high power output of 6,000 W in parallel connection
- 120/240V expandable voltage options
- Control and monitor through the Jackery App
- Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro
The Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro is your smart power master designed to meet all your electricity needs. This power station is a versatile solution with a substantial 3024Wh capacity and a massive 3000W power output. It can charge 99% of your essential appliances for extended periods, making it an ideal power source during US electricity outages. What’s more, it supports app control for added convenience.
Thanks to MPPT technology, you’ll enjoy an impressive 99% solar charging efficiency, and it takes less than 1.8 hours to charge the power station completely. You can also charge it through full wall charging in the same amount of time, and it supports car charging as well, ensuring you’re never left without power. In addition, with the assistance of a licensed electrician, you can integrate the Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro into your home circuits via the Transfer Switch.
This allows you to choose up to 6 circuits from your breaker panel, including essentials like refrigerators, light switches, garage doors, and main living area outlets, ensuring seamless power distribution. Safety is a top priority with its industry-leading BMS (Battery Management System), providing 12 layers of protection against issues like short circuits and overvoltage.
Key Features
- Vast 3024Wh capacity and massive 3000W power output
- Supports wall and car charging
- Integrates with home circuits via Transfer Switch
- 12 layers of protection with the BMS for safety
- Stable power delivery with a pure sine wave inverter
- Built-in LED light with three brightness modes
- Auto-adjusting output power in varying temperatures
Conclusion
Power outages can result from severe weather events, equipment failures, or even intentional grid disruptions; being prepared is critical to maintaining safety, comfort, and peace of mind. That’s where solar generators help you! A solar backup generator offers a reliable solution that meets your electricity needs and contributes to a greener future.
If you’re looking for a reliable solar generator to enhance your preparedness for power outages and explore sustainable energy options, consider checking out the range of Jackery Solar Generators today. Visit Jackery’s official website to discover their cutting-edge products, like Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus and Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro, to find the perfect solution for your energy needs.
