Back in the day – OK, WAY, way back – being able to flip a switch and have electricity coursing through your home was a novelty. No more candles or dangerous gas flames – not only was it convenient, but it was also much safer. But of course, it didn’t take long for people to take their electricity for granted. Today, more than a century has passed since the first entire street in the U.S. was bathed in the artificial glow of electric lights (in Cleveland, if you’re wondering), and Americans have long considered electricity a necessary staple of their daily lives.
Power Outages in New Jersey
With so much of our daily routines depending on electricity, it’s not surprising that a power outage causes such disruption and outright panic, especially when an outage extends for more than a day: Food spoils, computers don’t work, heating and air conditioning become wistful memories, and most of our forms of entertainment are unusable. Much more seriously, power outages can prevent necessary medical equipment from working, and it can even interfere with our ability to get clean water.
Being a coastal state and the country’s most densely populated as well, New Jersey certainly has its fair share of power outages, many of them lasting well over a day and affecting millions of customers. In fact, New Jersey has the dubious honor of being a part of the country’s two biggest power outages to date – the Northeast blackouts of 1965 and 2003, which affected 30 million and 45 million people, respectively. Those outages were due to human error, but there are plenty of outages that occur as a result of the storms that move up the coast or come sweeping in from the West. Hurricane season is especially problematic, but winter is no slouch. The Garden State averages from two to five ice storms annually, and that doesn’t take into account the dozens of localized storms that can take out power in specific neighborhoods.
The Benefits of Owning a Generator
Of course, while no one eagerly anticipates a power outage, if you own a generator, the prospect of your electricity going out isn’t nearly so daunting. With the right generator, you can still power your lights, your heating and cooling system, your refrigerator and freezer – even your beloved TVs and computers. More importantly, you don’t have to worry about power being cut off from medical equipment like nebulizers and ventilators, or loss of power for your water pump if your home uses one.
More pragmatically, having a home generator is almost a necessity if you work from home; after all, few customers are going to want to wait around for days while you’re electricity is out, plus your generator might qualify for a tax deduction is it’s used for business purposes.
Those are just a handful of the benefits of owning a generator, but there are plenty of others. If you’re considering a generator, Corbin Electric can help. Give us a call today at (732) 410-7695 or visit our website to learn more or to schedule an in-home consultation.