Original Caption "Outrunning a storm, US50 west of Austin Nevada" - Image obtained with thanks from Slideshow Bruce on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/springfieldhomer/
Many people are either considering the purchase of a backup generator for power outages caused by hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters, or they may want to generate their own electricity. Whichever you are doing, it will be very helpful if your local electricity grid is broken down. You should prioritize which appliances you will power with your new generator. Below is a guide to that.
If money is limited, and you need a backup generator, buy one that can power the refrigerator, generate a little additional power to charge portable electronics (these can be very comforting during power outages), power a small radio and a fan too.
If Going Off-Grid/Generating Your Electricity
Sometimes people want to generate their own electricity using solar panels or biofuels to power lights, thinking that there is a benefit of prioritizing that over their appliances. One benefit of this is that you will have light during a power outage if using an independent generator to power them, but: You can use lanterns during a power outage, though, so lights do not need a generator the most.
Powering your lights does not provide a better return on investment ratio than powering a refrigerator. It may actually be worse because the wiring required to power light bulbs is more complex, because they cannot be plugged directly into the power outlets of the generator, while the refrigerator can be.
You should prioritize the appliances that you have to use all the time, such as the refrigerator, otherwise your food will expire during a power outage. For outages lasting weeks, you may want to power the washing machine too.
If your stove is electric, it is cheaper to get a small gas stove top with a small LPG cylinder and put it away.
