Backup Generators & Your Health
Many people don’t know this, but around 22 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea. This condition causes a person to stop breathing for a short time while they are sleeping.
In some cases, the condition goes diagnosed. Those who do get diagnosed rely on CPAP machines to keep them breathing throughout the night. Being diagnosed is very important because undiagnosed sleep apnea can result in a stroke, atrial fibrillation (also known as A-Fib), and high blood pressure. Also, if this condition goes undiagnosed, it can result in Type II Diabetes, depression, and it can also be a factor in traffic accidents.
Home Generators Carbon County PA: Power Outages & The Effect On Health
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I live in an area where the power goes out periodically. In most cases, heavy rain is the cause. When the power goes out for 10 minutes, it can be annoying. There haven’t been any longer interruptions other than when a major hurricane hits the East Coast.
Because our power doesn’t go out for long periods of time, my husband and I decided against buying a generator.
My husband believes that needing to replace food in the freezer every few years doesn’t justify the cost of the generator. I think he enjoys when this happens because it gives him an excuse to clean out the refrigerator and freezer.
Sleep Apnea
Recently, he was diagnosed with sleep apnea and needs to use a CPAP machine. Now, we don’t look at a generator as a luxury; we look at it as a necessity.
Last year, we had two scary episodes that sent him to the hospital. My husband was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. When we followed up with the cardiologist, he sent my husband for a sleep study. It was then that he was diagnosed with sleep apnea and prescribed a CPAP machine.
The machine is a blessing because he no longer snores and I can sleep through the night for the first time in years. The downside is that he needs to wear the machine every night. He even has a travel version of the device for when we travel.
CPAP Machine
When he first got the CPAP machine, we didn’t think a generator was necessary because the outages in our area were minor. Last night, everything changed. We lost power at about 9 pm, and it was only out for about 10 minutes. Around 10 pm, we lost power again. This time it was longer than 10 minutes, so I called the power company. They told me that it would be back on around 12:30 am. We waited, and it finally came on at 1:15 am.
It was a rough night for both of us. My husband tried to say up, hoping that the power would come back on. He dozed off during this time, and he was snoring very loudly. I went into the guest room to try to get some sleep, but I was too worried that my husband would stop breathing without his machine. Finally, when the lights came on, I woke my husband so he could put on his CPAP. We both managed to get a few hours sleep before work the next day.
Other than losing a night of sleep, my husband’s A-Fib could come back. He could have ended up in the hospital or having a stroke. This circumstance wasn’t a risk that I wanted to take.
Whole House Generator
Because of this, I am going to be looking for a whole house generator. Its one thing to run a gas generator during the day or the weekend, however, we need a whole house generator. We need to be sure that my husband’s CPAP machine will work all the time, even if the power goes out.
A whole home generator runs on either propane or natural gas. They will turn on automatically when the power goes out. As with portable generators, you don’t need to run to get the whole house generator. You don’t need to get it fueled up and get it running. A whole home generator gives us peace of mind that we will always have power no matter what.
Conclusion
We didn’t buy the generator because we were worried about the food in the fridge. For us, when the power goes out, my husband’s life is at risk, and that is a risk that we are not willing to take.
Our whole home generator is not a luxury, it is a necessity and my family’s health and happiness depend on it.
R.F. Ohl offers a wide range of home comfort services, including home backup generator installations. We can help you find the make and model that works best for your home. We can install it quickly so that you don’t have to deal with the inconvenience of power outages ever again. Give us a call today to schedule a free estimate.
Click here to contact us today or give us a call at (610) 377-1098 if you have any questions.