Prepare For An Energex Power Outage – Check The Outage Maps
Check the Energex outages finder map to see if you are affected. Read on to see how you can avoid being affected by power outages in your area.
Power Outages
With weather patterns world-wide becoming increasingly more severe, and natural disasters becoming the norm rather than the rare once in a generation event, power outages are inevitable. Alternative power sources are crucial for maintaining electricity supply during emergencies.
In Australia like many parts of the world, floods, severe storms and cyclones are common place. When these events strike without warning, home and business owners should have a reliable backup power source on hand and ready to go.
For business and essential services, keeping the power on, lights on, phones charged, internet connected, EFTPOS and computers running is key to business survival and should be part of every emergency business continuity plan.
For home owners, keeping essentials like fridges, freezers, lights and modems powered up for days or even weeks until power is restored is critical. In regional and remote Australian areas where emergency assistance can be days away, it is even more essential to be prepared for power outages.
Although traditional diesel or gas generators have long been the preferred backup power solution, they are not always dependable. Common issues include:
• Lack of regular maintenance
• Contaminated fuel
• Fuel availability during a natural disaster
• High fuel costs, especially during extended power outages
In recent years based on customer demand, KVA Generator Australia has pivoted away from traditional backup power sources in favour of newer, greener, cheaper, more reliable technology which includes lithium batteries, home solar batteries and portable power stations combined with solar panels and wind turbines.
As an eco-friendly and renewable power source, these options represent not only a more reliable power source in the event of a power outage, but the option to move away from dependence on grid power and a single source of failure.
For those looking for an easy to operate, free and reliable power source, a portable power station is the perfect solution.
Advantages
• Versatile – the ability to power small appliances through to larger appliances and tools
• Eco-friendly – recharge from solar and your electricity is free and clean
• Quiet operation – diesel and gas generators are noisy
• Safe – unlike generators they don’t emit carbon monoxide or store combustible gas
• Low maintenance – no moving parts so apart from charging zero maintenance is required
• Low cost – operational cost is zero if charged via solar panels
One of the best and latest emerging technologies we recommend to our customers is the EcoFlow Delta 2 Max or EcoFlow Delta Pro combined with the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel. These smart power products are capable of running your entire home in the event of a power outage and will recharge from AC outlets, solar panels, generators, and vehicle alternator charger.
Depending on how many appliances you have plugged in, these devices are capable of powering essential devices for 2-3 days without recharging. Combined with either roof mounted or portable solar panels these devices will operate for over 10 years maintenance free before reaching 80% of their original battery storage capacity.
EcoFlow even have the world first SMART generator. Capable of detecting when the power station requires recharging, it will automatically start and recharge, then switch itself off when the battery is fully charged. In the event of cloudy weather, where solar panels are not the best option, this generator gives peace of mind that essential appliances or medical equipment such as CPAP machines will continue to run.
LPG can be stored much longer and more effectively than fuel, making this generator an excellent backup solution to the power station.
The best advice we can give our customers is to prepare for a power outage before it happens as power products are often in high demand at the time of crisis, and there are often shipping delays to the affected area.
Secondly work out which appliances and devices you actually need in the event of a power outage, take a look at how many watts or kilowatts (1000 watts = 1kW) they consume which is normally on the manufacturers label. Add up the total and select the backup power source based on the output you require.
Portable power stations are rated by battery capacity expressed in Watt Hours (Wh) and inverter size in Watts (W). Battery capacity determines how long you can power appliances for without recharging. Inverter size determines how many appliances you can power simultaneously.
Be realistic and assess whether you really need that 3000 watt coffee maker to start your day in the event of a power outage.