You always get made fun or for being a germ freak at work. You literally spray disinfectant on your desk before you leave every day, Clorox wipe it down every Friday, and you do not like when people touch your desk. At work today, however, the entire staff attended a talk about being clean and washing hands thanks to the Coronavirus. This possible pandemic could, you hope, at least make more people aware of the benefits of better cleaning and hygiene.
As threats of the Coronavirus range from one person to another, perhaps the best way to look at the latest health threat is to compare it to a weather forecast. Just as we know that weather forecasters are never 100%, most of us still want to check on the predictions before we embark on any trip or local outing. A weather prediction can help you prepare for the best and worse case scenarios, and most of us would think it foolish to completely ignore them. So, too, it is important that most Americans at least consider the possibility of what they would do if they had to remain in their homes for a few days or two weeks. Planning, but not hoarding, the supplies that are most needed is one of the best ways to know that you will be able to comfortably survive the threat of the Coronavirus should the possible forecast be correct.
Predicting the Future Is Never an Exact Science
Whether it is a forecast about the next storm or conversations about a possible pandemic, there are many challenges in predicting the future. The best way to be prepared, however, is to plan for the worst. Preppers across the nation, however, know that planning for power is one of the most important considerations. In times of extreme weather or in times of another kind of national disaster, the use of standby generators is always a possibility. For this reason, generator installers find themselves especially busy when it comes to conversations about impending challenges.
With the use of the latest generator size calculators and other kinds of whole home generator pricing guidelines, property owners can plan for the power that they will need in the event of a short term or major outage. In fact, generator installers offer a number of residential and commercial services and products that can keep people across the country feeling as safe as possible when it comes to the uncertainty of a possible pandemic, flood, or other kind of natural disaster.
Consider some of these facts and figures about the many times when the services of generator installers can help you be prepared:
- The size of the generator a property owner needs can be easily determined by what you intend to supply power to. For a tailgate party, for instance, where you are running a video system and perhaps some warming trays, you could get by with a generator that produces 1,000 watts. If you hope to run an entire household via generator during a power failure, however, you will need considerably more current.
- Constant and consistent power is not always a given. For example, in the first six months of 2014, there were 130 grid outages.
- Averaging about $2,000 a year, the average American home spends nearly 2.7% of their income on energy bills.
- To determine the size of the generator needed, generator installers total the rated watts of the appliances and fixtures you will want to operate during an outage. Some loads are easy to determine. For example, a 100-watt light bulb, uses 100 watts. Ten 100-watt bulbs would require 1,000 watts or one kilowatt.
- Power outages cost American businesses as much as $150 billion a year, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported, with weather-related disruptions costing the most per event.
- The U.S. electric grid loses power 285% more often than in 1984, when the data collection effort on blackouts began, according to federal data.
- If the power is out for less than four hours, the food in your refrigerator and freezer will be safe to consume. Any longer and the food will spoil.
- Using a food thermometer to check the temperature of food right before you cook or eat it is the safest route. Throw away any food that has a temperature higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.