When Storm Season Descends: Tips On Enduring Identify the most insulated room in your house to gather to stay cool/warm. Have blankets and cardboard handy to cover windows to prevent sun/draft. Once the power comes back (NAPSA)—Homeowners can save time, trouble and money by preparing a plan for storm season. Aside from such common and accessible items as flashlights, candles, blankets, canned food, hand-cranked radios, manual can opener, matches, first-aid kit, batteries and bottled water, there are additional tools to bring peace of mind and provide comfort during storm season. For example, portable generators can be a great way to main- tain limited power. However, standby generators can provide a permanent solution to the average of five power outages Americans can expect to experience annually. Similar to central air conditioning in appearance, automatic standby generators operate on either natural gas or liquid propane and are wired into a home’s circuit box. The generator senses a power outage, kicking on backup power in as little as 20 seconds, then automatically turning off when utility power is restored. As a result, homeowners can continue many day-to-day on, turn down the thermostat and activities without concerns about heating or cooling their home, or preventing basement flooding or food spoilage. To help, GE, a world leader in power innovation, has a line of automatic standby generator systems from Briggs & Stratton Corporation, the exclusive licensee for GE-branded Standby Generator Systems. The advanced computer-controlled system lets consumers use power throughout the home more efficiently, so life can continue virtually uninterrupted until utility poweris restored. Consider these additional steps to ensure you’re prepared if the powergoes out: Turn your refrigerator/freezer to the coldest settings. turn off the circuit breaker for the water heater to reduce high demandfor electricity. This will help prevent an overload. Leave onelight on so you will be alerted as soon as the electricity is restored. Learn how to manually override an electric garage door. Use a surge protector to prevent damage to electrical items such as computer, TV and stereo. Standby Generators by GE can consume upto a third less fuel than competitive systems and are available in sizes ranging from 7kW for small and medium-size homes to 45kW to handle the higher power demands of larger houses. Visit www.ge.com/generatorsystems for more information and an easy-touse guide to determine power use and standby generator needs.
