Generator Repair Service: Keeping Your Home Standby Generator As Quiet and Reliable As Possible | Marion, SC
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One concern that home backup generator users have is whether operating the generator overnight is going to affect their sleep. From the lawnmower-like sound of a portable generator to the rumble of a whole-house backup power supply, engines do make noise when they’re not properly insulated from sound and vibration transmission. At Mister Sparky Generators, serving the Marion, SC area, our generator repair service can address problems that have developed such as muffler failure and loose sound reduction enclosures, and help to make your generator a quiet and reassuring part of your life when the commercial power goes out. It’s a common concern and one that’s also brought up by community noise abatement regulations. Our generator repair service will tell you, it’s quite possible to have a home generator installation that’s designed to provide a residential level of quiet while it serves your family and keeps your home powered and comfortable. Generator repair personnel will be glad to maintain any sound reduction features your permanently installed unit has along with overall unit maintenance to ensure its reliability and performance.
Permanent Generator Installations Can Be Designed to Minimize Vibration and Sound
Many of the generator brands we carry have models designed for low-noise permanent installation in residential locations, with one line in particular characterized as “the sound level of a normal conversation.” The installation process includes providing a solid mount such as a concrete pedestal, that also helps to contain vibrations from the unit and avoid transmitting them through the ground to your house. The distance that generators are placed from buildings also makes a difference, but it is also a safety precaution, especially for older models, to avoid carbon monoxide and other exhaust issues. Manufacturers are now providing options for some generators that allow remote monitoring, a great way to check on your generator’s status when it’s too quiet to hear indoors. That may be the only way you can tell whether the quick return of the lights, HVAC, and appliances is a brief power disruption, or your generator taking over.
Don’t Let Noise Levels Govern Your Ability to Run Your Backup Power Source
It’s disappointing to have a backup power solution in place only to find that objections to its use on a sound annoyance basis are coming from your family or neighborhood. The imposition of quiet hours or restrictions on your unit’s use can limit the benefits you can gain from it. Self-imposed quiet hours out of concern are also unfortunate if you realize that your unit is probably going to disturb others and so you limit your enjoyment of backup power to avoid issues arising in the future. If you have a professional installation plan from our generator repair service and installation team, sound and vibration will be two of many considerations that are naturally covered in the system’s design and placement. In many areas, the plan will also be reviewed by the local government, ensuring that your system has been checked out by people familiar with local requirements.
Reducing the Noise Level of Portable Backup Generator Units
For smaller portable units, keeping the noise level down can be a challenge. Many of them have inherently high levels of sound from the engine operation, although a few models have addressed the problem better than others. The proper installation of the unit and connection to your home’s wiring by generator repair service professionals tends to keep it in close proximity to your home, with restrictions due to carbon monoxide risks keeping it out of enclosed spaces such as your garage and away from windows and vents. Using extension cords as a makeshift arrangement makes the situation riskier for your family’s safety, and also presents sound issues due to the device’s proximity. A sound deflection arrangement can help keep noise away from your home by placing a small wall beside the device, but that may simply lead to sound issues in neighboring homes. Some enclosures that provide sound dampening without blocking exhaust or contacting the unit itself, can provide better coverage that reduces sounds in most directions. Weatherproof enclosures are also important for stormy weather operation. At some point, a simple permanent installation starts to make more sense than contingency planning for portable generator operation. Our generator repair service will tell you, with a permanently installed unit, automatic starting and power source transfer so you don’t have to go out in the storm.
Maintenance and Proper Care Can Help Keep Your Unit Quiet
A permanent generator installation can include a mounting pedestal, anti-vibration features in the mounting hardware, advanced muffler technology and a sound-reducing enclosure, along with a quiet-running engine designed for unobtrusive use. If you unit was nice and quiet when it was first tested, but later seems to be running louder or vibrating more, our generator repair service can check the sound and vibration reduction features to check for loose or broken mounts, mufflers in need of replacement, improperly installed sound-reducing enclosures, and engines that aren’t running at their best. In fact, if you schedule regular maintenance by our generator repair service team, they’ll catch many of these issues as part of their routine maintenance checklist. You can also ask for other suggestions to reduce the impact of your backup generator’s operation to make sure it can serve your family well.
Your Marion, SC Quiet Generator Repair Service and Maintenance Team
At Mister Sparky Generators, our generator repair service is here to help you get the most benefit from your backup power solution. That means reliable electricity, and also a generator that’s peaceful and safe, even when it’s operating for hours or days during a power failure. We’re ready to help with your existing generator installation in the Marion, SC area, and we have quiet new generator models ready for installation at your home to help you prepare for the next storm season or outage. Give us a call and we’ll be glad to help.