3 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Hurricane Season

Did you know that 50% of power loss in America is due to strong storms? In fact, the U.S. has more power outages than any other developed country due to our power grid being outdated and rundown.

That is why as hurricane season approaches, your home standby generator will be your best friend! You will get peace of mind knowing that a power outage may no longer impact you or your loved ones because within 60 seconds of an outage, our whole-home generators will automatically reset your home’s electrical power.

Power outages that result from these natural disasters often mean appliances like your furnace, air conditioner, water heater, refrigerator, oven, and more are all unavailable for use. However, with a little planning, you can weather any storm.

Here are three ways to prepare your home and family for hurricane season:

1. Stock your home with essentials.

Consider this as building your emergency kit. If your home does not have a standby generator installed or you want to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, you’ll want to make sure you have all the food, medical, and technological supplies that you need in the event of a severe storm. This includes first-aid supplies, non-perishable canned goods, battery packs for your devices, and pet food, if applicable.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends having at least a three-day supply of non-perishable emergency food in your home and one gallon of drinking water per day per person (and pet).

Be sure to also have extra oil for your home standby generator. In case you need to add more oil, check out our video on how to add oil to your generator.

We also recommend investing in Remote Monitoring accessories so you don’t find yourself having to trek through hurricane winds to check on your generator during a storm or power outage.

2. Create a back-up plan.

Sometimes, the worst case scenario arrives and it is important to have a back-up plan. If you find yourself in the middle of a severe storm, it may be dangerous to stay in your home even if your standby generator is providing power.

Write down the names and contact numbers of emergency contacts and make sure your vehicle is fully fueled and/or charged. Your car can be a safe place to warm up or cool down and charge your devices, but it may also be necessary in emergency situations.

Remember, if you or your family need more comfortable conditions to wait out a power outage, you can always call your local fire or police department or local Red Cross chapter to locate an emergency shelter.

3. Double-check your home standby generator.

Just like it takes practice to perform a task or activity well, it takes preparation for your standby generator to act when you need it! It is important to take the time to check in on your generator, especially when you are expecting a storm or hurricane.

Here is a checklist you can run through to make sure your home generator is ready to go for hurricane season:

Listen to the generator exercise.

Your generator runs on an automatic exercising schedule. If you have heard your unit run through this regularly, you can be sure that it is in proper operating condition.

Check oil levels.

Each generator model has a different guideline on how often to change or add oil. You can check your standby generator’s oil levels using your remote monitoring device or by checking the appropriate panel.

Reset any faults.

Your generator’s fault lamp may illuminate for a variety of reasons. It is helpful to know how to reset these faults to keep your generator working properly. (See our video to learn how to reset a fault).

Make sure your remote monitoring accessory is linked.

With remote monitoring, you can easily access information such as current operating status and even see upcoming maintenance reminders or alerts. Make sure your accessory is connected to your unit.

Reach Cannondale even when phone lines are down

Just as we urge you to prepare your home and generator for hurricane season, we have put our own measures in place to prepare our business to better serve you. For us at Cannondale Generators, this means fortifying our business so we can provide you with an improved customer experience 24/7.

During our last major storm season, many of our customers were unable to reach us due to the phone lines being down. That’s why we have decided to ditch traditional phone lines and upgrade to a Cloud-based VoIP service. We have also switched to a High Volume Call Center and expanded our team and hired more technicians, service advisors and office staff.

Now, whenever you really need to reach us during a storm, we’ll be there for you – without the busy signal.

Overall, there are many ways to prepare your home for storms and hurricanes, from checking in on your home standby generator to stocking up on food and medical supplies.

If you have any questions or concerns about your unit, do not hesitate to reach out to our technicians for assistance in preparing your generator.