TYLER, Texas — It's been a rough few days for thousands of people in East Texas. The storms that swept through East Texas last week has left thousands of people without power, pushing several people to purchase permanent generators.
The president of Pyramid Homes Anwar Khalifa said with his 30 years of working with the company, he's noticed a higher demand of customers requesting generators.
"Especially after Snowmageddon about two years ago, the peak and rise in interest and want for generators has really increased a lot," Khalifa said. "We seem to be doing more and more for people in their homes."
Through the years, generators have advanced technologically, allowing homeowners to control it through their phones.
"The generators today, of course, are monitored by your phone and let you know what status it's in," Khalifa said. "It now comes with an automatic transfer switch. The box that says Generac is the automatic transfer switch."
The brand Generac is also the most requested automatic generator in the East Texas market.
Stores like Generator Supercenter, supply it and have seen an increase in sales this week alone.
"Just this week alone, I've seen easily three to 400 leads come through," said general manager of Generator Supercenter Jacob Gonzalez. "It's a spike in the business, but we also want to be able to keep up with demand."
The increase in demand also means an increase in price. The Generac generator ranges from $4,000 to $28,000 depending on the size and kilowatts.
The store does offer payment options to lessen the pitch in your wallet.
"As far as financing, we do have a couple of options; we have a 0% for six months," Gonzalez said. "It's going to be a little bit of a steep payment. When we do have one for 11 years and 9.9%, it is a high rate, but there is no early penalty payoff. We want all of our customers to get one. So we try to get everybody one as best we can."
The most important piece of advice Khalifa and Gonzalez recommend for new generator owners to follow is safety.
"We see quite a bit of improper placement of the generators, so it's a pretty big deal," Gonzalez said. "The generator has to be a minimum of five feet from any opening to a home. That can be a window, a door, or a vent."
The proper placement of your generator is to help avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Khalifa said it's also important to keep your generator well maintenance once it's installed.
"If you have a generator with an automatic transfer switch, the safety is making sure you keep up with the maintenance that it tells you it needs," Khalifa said. "On manual transfers, make sure you're careful and follow the instructions properly so you don't burn up your generator or circuit in your home."