By Kathryn Millhorn
As the song says, this time of year we long for days to be “merry and bright.” But with early Northwest nights and cold winter temperatures, that can sometimes be difficult. Lacey’s Sunset Air helps local families stay warm and toasty through its residential and commercial generator sales.
Long a leader in both community involvement and cutting-edge green services, Sunset Air offers innovations in many facets of home and business ownership. One of their many features is that of generator sales and service. Randy Norris, Residential Division Manager for Sunset Air, commented “it seems each year brings more frequent and extended power outages for many homes in our region. Generators are more commonplace today than ever before and as a result if your neighbor has power at their home when the lights go out and you don’t, well let’s just say our entire staff anticipates being on high alert following these events.
Norris adds that this mindset allows Sunset Air to reduce estimate and installation response time. “A comment we often hear from a decision makers in the household is ‘we aren’t going to go through that again,” explains Norris.
Despite our relatively mild climate, outages do happen in our region. One local dad said that “after sitting with two kids in a dark house for seven hours not able to open the fridge, it seemed like it was worth the money.” With that in mind, experts like Norris are able to perfectly match homeowners to the unit that fits their needs. Norris noted that “many people find their generator must provide emergency power 2-8 times per year. I live on the Johnson Point peninsula and have experienced six outages so far in the calendar year of 2013.” With winter just starting, that number will probably increase.
Generators come in a range of sizes, able to meet all or just a portion of a home’s electricity needs. Most of the units sold by Sunset Air are automatic, turning on in the event of an outage while remaining in stand-by mode the rest of the time. They typically aren’t designed to meet 100% of a home’s electricity needs (though they can), instead focusing “on the most pressing requirements including space heating, hot water, kitchen circuits including microwave, refrigerator, stove top, well or septic pumps, and emergency lighting,” says Norris. These stand-by generators are fired by propane or natural gas and typically reside on a concrete pad outside the home.
The gas supplying these types of back-ups is either supplied via a natural gas pipeline—depending on the neighborhood—or via a propane tank. Norris says that “even a modest on-site storage tank has the potential to run for weeks at a time without interruption” and both units perform automatic weekly tests to maintain their readiness.
Power outages can strike for any number of reasons and Sunset Air is equipped to help home and business owners combat the dark. For over 35 years they have sold and serviced generators around our region, building up a tremendous knowledge to share. Whether it’s a result of winter storms, technical difficulties, or anything in between, they can make sure your home is ready to face whatever comes its way.
For more information, visit Sunset Air’s website.
