Why A Residential Generator Cannot Act As A Backup Or Temporary Generator For Your Industrial Generator

22 January 2020
 Categories: , Blog


Generators all essentially do the same thing — generate power. A portable generator and a home generator will generate power just like an industrial generator will generate power. So, why is it that a residential generator cannot act as a backup or temporary generator for an industrial generator that is on the fritz and in need of repair? The following reasons reveal why this is just not possible. 

Size Is Power

A residential generator is about the size of your family dog, if your family dog is a medium to large breed. An industrial generator is the size of a large bull elephant from Africa, or a small whale. Size matters here because the size of the generator directly correlates to the amount of power generated, and the amount of power generated dictates what the generator can and cannot do. You cannot use a residential generator, even temporarily, to replace or back up an industrial generator. 

You Would Need Eight to Twenty Residential Generators to Equal One Industrial Generator

Even the smallest of industrial generators generates enough power that you would need about eight-plus residential generators to even come close to that amount of power. The largest of all of the industrial generators would require almost two dozen residential generators to even match the same amount of power. There really is no comparison there. If you were to place a chart with the power output of an industrial generator next to the output of a residential generator, you would see that there is no way you could substitute a residential generator for an industrial one. Conversely, if you were to install an industrial generator on a residential property, you would have way too much power and not even plugging in and turning on every appliance you own could use that much power in a day. 

Installation by Crane vs. Single Person Lift

Finally, an industrial generator is so huge that it has to be lifted by crane to be placed in position for installation. It is massively heavy, and rightly so for all of the power it generates, that only a boom crane can pick it up and move it into position, either outside or inside the industrial property's main building. Compare that to a residential generator, which typically only requires a one- or two-man lift to place and install the appliance. At the end of the day, the size, the power output, etc., of an industrial generator speaks for itself. 

For more information about industrial generators, contact a company like Scott's Emergency Lighting & Power Generation Inc.


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