Backup Power for Business

Be it storms, or power overloads, outages happen. They can be costly in terms of reduced revenue, productivity. Installing standby power can be costly, it certainly pays off when unexpected outages occur. The right size and type of backup varies based on your facility, equipment, and business needs.

Size Does Matter

What do you need to keep your business operating? Your systems may include lighting, space conditioning, service or office equipment. Do any of these need to operate continuously, while others have more standard business hours? Don’t forget to consider peak power surges, as well as single-phase loads and load imbalance.

Building Codes

Backup generators have different testing and operational requirements depending on whether they’re classified as an emergency, standby or critical operations power system. Always consult with your local building inspector to learn more about specific regulations for your specific backup power equipment.

Calculating Costs

As we certainly have witnessed this year, it’s difficult to predict the future. Yet you can get a good idea of the potential cost to your business by research the following expenses:

• Lost revenue. Estimate the hourly lost income to your business by taking your annual revenue and dividing it by the number of days and hours you are in operation each year.
• Lost productivity. Your employees need to be paid, but they’re often less productive or not able to produce at all during an outage. Take your annual payroll, divide it by the number of workdays and hours that you’re in operation and you’ll get an idea of how much an outage can cost you in wasted overhead.
• Restoration expenses. Backup generation is critical for restaurants and grocery stores because their inventory is perishable. Operations that are heavily dependent on communications equipment, database servers and retail point of sales systems are also good candidates.

Take Time and Save

Many times, the financial hardship of a power outage is not fully understood until afterwards. Carefully review your business operations and assess what the financial impact of a long-term power loss would be and compare that to the cost of leasing or owning a standby generation system.