The Many Different Uses of Portable Generators

By: Craig Elliott


Though perhaps most often used in the case of natural disaster or other calamity, there are also many everyday uses of generators in production and agricultural industries. Even if you live in the city, there are uses for portable generators while the rest of the grid is up, though many cities and neighbourhoods disallow regular residential generator use under noise control ordnances.

Unlike a natural gas generator, portable generators don't require any complicated set up and installation, so they have the advantage of working "right out of the box." That said, even through they're called portable, that doesn't mean they're able to be moved without assistance or injury.

A generator capable of supplying more than a thousand watts (1kw) should have a wheel or two to help you get it from one place to another even if you don't plan on moving it around much. A typical residential generator powering a suburban home (usually able to supply about eight to ten thousand watts) can weigh 300-500 pounds (135-225 kg).

Perhaps one of the most common uses of a propane, natural gas diesel or gasoline generator is seen at outdoor entertainment events. A festival in the park has to be powered with something, and even if there is existing electrical service for lamps, often it's not enough for stage lighting and amplification. Large shows often have multiple generators working on even a single lighting rig. It is not uncommon for portable or standby generators at an outdoor music show to use megawatts of power during the performance.

One of the more unusual use of portable propane / LP, diesel, or gasoline generators is anywhere one needs a giant, inflatable anything. Whether it's a giant inflatable dog to lead the pet parade or the blow-up snowman that advertises a rural ice cream stand, these are perfect uses for a portable generator to run the powerful fans that keep them blown up. Such generators are usually rather small and can often be wheeled around on casters.

Of course, cabins often employ portable generators to run the small appliances that are used at vacation homes, fish camp and everything in between. Often such places use wood stoves for heat, so power is required for what are often rather low powered appliances. Some people with older satellite dishes use separate small generators with idle control to power the dish positioning system.

Farms very often use generators for a myriad of remote applications - the range of agricultural uses is only constrained by what is being grown on the farm. Most often, they are used to run pumps or electric fences. In both cases, they're often used as standby generators, employed as a back up to solar or wind. These machines often have little buildings or sheds, even when running along hundreds of yards of fence line, since even an inexpensive gas, propane or diesel generator can cost thousands of dollars. These machines uses also include drying, sorting, canning, process pumping. The agricultural / horticultural activity they're not used for are greenhouse and produce warehouse applications unless the exhaust is located well outside as it should be, due to the presence of ethylene gas in the exhaust.

Perhaps the most public use of portable generators in urban areas is at construction sites, especially those that operate at night with lights. Projects that involve tunnelling often use heavy duty portable generators to pump out water. Since they're performing a public service, they are perfectly legal to run all night long outside your bedroom window unless enough people complain. These are usually far larger than the average portable generator and are often seen as part of a specially made pumping or lighting system.

Small to mid-sized businesses that employ their own mission critical computer systems, such as web servers, often use generators in tandem with battery powered, uninterruptible power supplies to ensure a constant power supply. These generators are often portable, not so much because they need to be, but the power requirements are usually low enough that many of the lower powered standby or residential adapters are small enough that you might as well have a pair of wheels on it, and set up is easy enough for a programmer to get it right the first time. Such applications don't require an act of the gods to make a portable generator a necessity - just too many people with their air conditioners on a hot day.

The use of portable generators is not confined to emergencies, especially in rural areas. In fact, they're a way of life any time someone needs to take power on the road with them. Since it's not a good idea to run appliances off your car or truck (the portable 12V generator most people have access to), it makes sense to invest in a portable generator from a reputable company such as Gillette, Pramac or Winco.


About Author:
Craig Elliott is a writer for powercomplete.com. Powercomplete.com is a leading provider of Kipor Generators | Winco Generators | McCulloch Generators