A power outage can create a chain reaction that ripples through your small business. Outages diminish production capacity. They damage or destroy inventory. They result in reduced sales. These costs add up for a small business. In the end, the cost of investing in a backup power supply is always less expensive than the expenses a power loss can generate.

Assessing Risks

There are many weather and human-caused events that can disrupt your power supply. These include floods, high winds, summer storms, heavy snows, accidents, and regional overloading. Every small business should examine the risks that are present in their area. This examination should explore the historical causes of power failures and their duration. This can help determine their expected frequency and the impact they can generate. Here in Phoenix, many power outages are caused by overloading, especially during the hot summer months.

Determining Power Needs

Your first order of business is to determine the critical and non-critical power needs of your small business. Critical systems include production machines, refrigerators/freezers, office equipment, and lighting systems. These systems are crucial for continued operations.

Non-critical systems are those that you can shut down or operate at diminished capacity with minimal impact to operations. You will want to determine the electrical load requirement of critical and non-critical systems. You should also estimate how long you may need to run them using the backup power supply.

Choosing a Backup Power Supply

It is common for small businesses install a combination of backup power systems to supply power during an electrical outage. These systems include battery Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). UPS systems provide near-instantaneous protection for computer systems and electrical equipment. UPS systems can handle short-duration outages that last for a few minutes and up to an hour. These systems are easy to install and need minimal maintenance.

Using a UPS system connected to a backup power generator offers a 0 down time seamless transfer from utility power to back up power. This is essential to business equipment like computers, phone systems, and other equipment with power demands.

Preparing for Long-Duration Power Loss

Diesel, natural gas, or propane generators are the best option for long-duration power loss. Installation of these generators requires selecting a reliable system that will deliver your estimated needs during a power outage. There are many variables to consider when choosing a backup power generator. Discussing these with a qualified professional can help you select a system that won't leave your business idle when the power goes down.

Gen-Tech can help prepare your small business for power emergencies. We invite you to contact us to discuss your operational needs. It would be our pleasure to recommend effective solutions that will keep your operations moving forward even when the power goes down.