Businesses need reliable backup power to ensure they keep running in a power outage. Here are our reasons for being prepared. Contact us for more info!
ON THIS PAGE:
- Power outage efficient solutions
- Reasons why power can drop out
- Aircon use in hot days side effects
- Avoid insurance claims
- Take care of your energy supply delivery and installation
- The IT system to your business still needs a UPS
When things go wrong in unexpected ways, nearly all of us are wiser after the event. Once the blackout has occurred, it seems inconceivable that we could have failed to predict and prepare for it. Yet many Australian businesses fail to adequately prepare themselves to survive these more commonly occurring power outages.
Efficient solutions to a power outage in Melbourne:
When it comes to blackouts, it’s time to get wise by having a standby generator. It will restore power in seconds, protecting your business.
In the business world, power outages can be costly. Stationary backup generators prove their worth by ensuring your business stays running in a blackout. In the event of a power outage, you can minimise the impact on your customers, your stock, protect your brand and get an edge on your competitors.
A pub owner in Melbourne shared:
“It took one blackout to pay for the cost of purchase and installation of the generator. It would have been terrible for the business, but also the customers if they were having a meal at night and all the power dropped out. Perishables start going off, the kitchens can’t cook, and so on. It would not have been a good situation. Our generator delivered electricity for pokies, EFTPOS facilities, kitchen refrigeration, computers, security, phone, lights, air conditioners and appliances.
“And it was great for our brand because everyone knew we were still up and running. In fact, customers came from other venues, and instead of sitting at home with no TV, no air conditioning or lights, and being unable to cook, everybody came to the pub. We paid for the generator, the very first time there was a blackout because everyone required our services. It was great for our brand, and it gave us an edge on our competitors.”
There are many reasons why power can drop out.
Weather is the biggest problem: lightning strikes on infrastructure, falling trees on wires and transformers on the street. Traffic accidents are a major contributor to blackouts, with cars and trucks often hitting power poles and bringing the lines down.
There’s also the climate factor. In Australia, climate change is increasing the temperature, humidity and wind. These effects combined with changes to weather patterns have resulted in a warming trend across the continent. Climate change is predicted to increase in the coming decades and will increase the number and severity of power outages.
Aircon overuse increases the risk:
The more people using air conditioning on hot days, the more stress it puts on the infrastructure. Power companies tend to blackout certain random suburbs to ensure the entire network doesn’t fail. They’ll blackout a whole suburb to reduce the load on the generators at the power station.
When the electricity provider switches the power off to a whole suburb, it would typically be only 1 to 3 hours. If a truck hits a power pole and brings the cables down, you could be out of power for 8 hours.
If there’s an extreme weather incident, like what happened in South Australia a year ago, the effects can be powerful. Strong winds knocked down pylons and electrical cables from the power station. Some businesses were without power for ten days.
Power Outage Melbourne cause by truck. Picture: 7 News 
One of the destroyed power lines that caused South Australia’s power outage. Photo: ElectraNet
Avoid power outage insurance claims.
With the proper contingency plan and backup power, your business can operate at normal levels during a blackout. This backup power helps in other ways, including avoiding insurance claims on the following policies:
- business interruption
- machinery breakdown
- deterioration of stock coverage by having greater efficiency
- performance and safety for your business
We’ll take care of your supply, delivery and installation during a power outage.
At Twin Electrics and Plumbing, we assess and prepare your business for the rapid installation of backup generators. We take care of the supply, delivery and installation of permanent backup generators. A generator protects you when an unforeseeable event causes a blackout. Having a quickly executable plan can drastically reduce the impact of these unfortunate but recurrent events in Melbourne.
We’ll assess your switchboard to connect the generator and prepare the switchboard to accept ad hoc backup generator capacity. Then, to install the switch, you have two options:
- A manual switch, which only requires pressing a green button on the control panel and then turning a manual switch to have the power come on to the building when the mains power drops out
or
- An automatic transfer switch
In this case, nobody needs to go out to the generator and press the green button. As simple as that is, it’s always preferable and more efficient to switch power automatically. So when the transfer switch senses that the power has dropped out to the building, it sends a signal to the generator. Thus, the generator starts up and provides power to the building between 15 to 30 seconds after the outage. And when the power comes back on, it will signal the generator to stop producing power and cool the engine down. The generator will idle for two minutes and then switch off automatically.
The IT system for your business still needs a UPS.
You will still need a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for computers because the power comes on in approximately 15 seconds. Yet, in that time, computer data can be at risk.
Check with your IT supplier that they have provided a UPS that will provide 1 or 2 minutes of backup power, as this is plenty to give the generator time to start up and produce power. The UPS is usually installed in the building server room to protect the server.
Only use accredited electricians to get the job done
Twin Electrics and Plumbing will assess, install and protect your business from interruptions caused by power outages. Additionally, we provide a detailed power outage report and assessment of potential solutions.
Twin Electrics and Plumbing’s commercial electrician service includes the best assessment, planning and equipment for backup power across the entire metropolitan areas. We’ve been providing 24/7 electrician assistance in Melbourne for 40 years, so regardless of your industry, you can rely on our team to deliver the right solution. Make sure your business keeps running at maximum productivity during the next major power outage.
