Tips to save money when using a Power Generator

Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday May 14, 2014 at 16:42:11:

A Power generator is machinery that is used to generate electrical power. It converts mechanical energy into electrical energy suitable for powering a home or office.

Many people in Nigeria use power generators as a backup to generate power as a result of unstable power supply.

Inasmuch as power generator are good supplement for power supply, it can be expensive to run and maintain it because it requires fuel and servicing.

Here are some tips that can help you save money when using a Power Generator:

1. Reduce Voltage Consumption: Power generators tend to burn more fuel with a high voltage usage. This means that if you are using a 3.5 KVA generator, the generators will consume less energy and fuel to power a 1 KVA appliance than a 2.5 KVA appliance. Some electronic appliances that consume power are electric irons and hot plates. Reducing the energy consumption will save you money as the generator will consume less fuel.

2. Only use power generator when necessary: Using a power generator as a supplement to other main source of power supply like solar energy and electric power supply will help you save money. , because the generator set will be used only when the main power supply is down. Public power supply is normally cheaper than getting power from electronic generators.

3. Use newer generators: Using newer generators can help you save money on fuel and maintenance. This is because older generators tend to consume more fuel because of their growing inefficiency. Older generators also tend to break down more often than new ones and so it's better to just dispose of them off and buy a new one as this will save you money spent on regular repairs.

4. Don't get cheated by Fuel sellers: Some fuel suppliers also tend to cheat buyers who make use of generators at home or office. Some of these people normally have a fuel tank at their residence and then call on these sellers to supply them. One of the ways through which these sellers cheat them is by tampering their scales in order to sell less fuel for more. One way to protect yourself from fraudulent fuel sellers is by also calibrating your own fuel tank or just buying them in containers that are already calibrated. This will allow you save money on fuel since you'd be able to buy 10 litres exactly and pay for only 10 litres.

5. Schedule a regular maintenance: It can be cheaper having a regular maintenance done on your generator than having to only repair it when it totally breaks down. Breakdown repairs tend to cost more than if you were doing frequent maintenance on it.

Finally, some people regulate the fuel tank of their generator set, as they say it helps to make it consume less fuel. This method is yet to be proven, but as long as it works and will not cause any future damage to the generator, it can still be used to save money.