How to Deal with Winter Power Outages

Heavy snow; icy air; strong winds. These are all, of course, characteristics of winter weather. And if you’ve ever experienced all three at once, you know just how destructive they can be, causing everything from car wrecks to school closings and, yes, power outages.

For the standard industrial building, it’s the last of those three that is most troubling. After all, a power outage can halt productivity, and thus result in lost money.

That begs the question, then: how should industrial workplaces deal with winter power outages? We’re going to get into that below, providing you with tips for combatting a winter electricity outage.

Establish a Plan

It’s not a question of if a winter weather outage will occur; it’s a question of when. This is why, to ensure that your keep productivity rolling during an outage, you need to establish a plan. You need to have a specific set of instructions set up to ensure success after the outage has occurred.

The specifics of these instructions will depend on the specifics of your work. However, the primary plan of action is to get power up and running in the building once again.

In addition, you might decide to cut back on producing one particular type of product while the outage is in effect. This is because you might not have the power necessary to keep operations at 100%.

Regardless of the plan you establish, make sure your employees are clued in and know how to facilitate it. Proactive training is necessary to ensure that you keep your workplace as productive as possible.

Report the Power Outage

As soon as an outage occurs, you should report it to your electric company. Don’t assume that someone else has done it. Either make a call or use the electric company’s website to file a formal outage report.

The sooner you do this, the sooner the outage will be fixed. The sooner the outage is fixed, the sooner the power will come on, and the sooner you’ll be operating at max capacity once again.

Employ Surge Protection

One of the primary concerns during winter power outages is the problem of power surges. A power surge is when electricity runs through an electrical system at too high a rate, usually quickly and suddenly. You might refer to it as a spike in electrical current.

Power surges can be caused by a variety of factors. However, they’re frequently caused by the sudden start-up or shut-off of electricity. What causes a sudden start-up or shut-off of electricity? A power outage and its sequential effects.

Now, you can’t stop power surges entirely. However, you can take measures to protect your expensive electrical entities from them.

The primary step is to employ surge protection devices. These are devices that you wire into your electrical system. This way, when a power surge occurs, it’s not able to reach your expensive electricity-driven equipment.

This keeps said equipment from being overloaded with electricity and thus prevents it from shutting down or taking on damage. As a result, you’ll keep operations going and will also save yourself money on repairs.

Utilize Emergency Lighting

One of the major problems with a winter power outage is that it causes the lights to go out. Of course, you could get them up and running again with the use of a generator. However, a full industrial light system is going to put a tremendous strain on said generator.

This is why you should have emergency lighting at the ready. This lighting should be less substantial than your typical lighting but should still provide a level of illumination that enables your organization to be productive.

Have these emergency lights hooked up to your generator at all times. This way, when an outage does occur, the lights will be ready the second that the generator is fired up.

Back Up Data

Does your business compile network data throughout each workday? If so, and if the power goes out, you could lose the data you’ve been compiling.

This is why you need to back up your data regularly. The more frequently you back it up, the less data loss you’ll suffer.

Have a Backup Generator Ready

Despite even your best efforts, you will likely still encounter a winter power outage at some point. This is the reality that winter weather brings.

That’s why our last (and most important) tip is to have a generator ready. If you don’t have generators on the premises, your productivity will come to a screeching halt. This will not only cost you money but could also hurt your reputation, as you’ll struggle to get products to customers by the time they’re supposed to be to customers.

Now, what type of generator is needed to keep an industrial facility running during power blackouts? You’ll need either a gas-powered generator or a diesel-powered generator. Both are suitable for keeping an industrial area’s operations moving.

That said, there are differences between the two.

Diesel-powered generators are more fuel-efficient and require less maintenance. They’re ultra-portable and great for remote areas. However, unlike gas-powered generators, they can’t be hooked up to underground gas lines and are therefore less reliable.

Gas-powered generators tend to be more expensive, especially when maintenance and fuel costs are taken into account. However, they’re more reliable and thus do a better job at mitigating the consequences of winter weather.

Interested in buying an industrial generator now? Worried about covering the costs of such a machine? You always have the option to buy used; doing so will save you a sizable amount of money.

Combat Winter Power Outages With Industrial Generators

As you can see, there are a number of things you can do to keep the negative effects of winter power outages to a minimum. That said, the most important strategy is to have generators ready. An industrial generator will keep your operations going, even when the winter weather is raging.

Looking to buy an industrial power generator now? You’re in the right place. We here at Swift Equipment Solutions have a variety of generators for you to choose from.

Check out our selection of used industrial generators now!