Many home and business owners have a standby generator installed to ensure that their lights remain on in all types of weather. This is especially true for industries such as healthcare, data storage, and finance where lives can be impacted as well as millions of dollars in losses can be caused by downtime. However, having a backup power system installed is not a ‘one and done’ initiative. For those relying on the dependability of their standby generator, it is important to have their system tested routinely. This process is called Generator Load Bank Testing and should only be performed by professionals like your team at PowerPro. Here’s why and what to expect:
A load bank is a specialized equipment that produces artificial loads on a generator. Think of it as a dry run for emergency generator use that will expose any potential system issues before they can occur. Essentially, load bank testing is that ounce of prevention that prevents home and business owners from having to dig deep into their pockets to pay for that pound of cure. How often does a backup system require generator load bank testing? That will depend on a number of factors, including the system’s classification. For example, a home backup system will not have to be tested as often as one that is used in a hospital setting, where load bank testing guidelines are more frequent as per safety codes. This is true for data centers and financial organizations as well. These generator load bank testing guidelines are set by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). There are industry regulations as well.
To pass, residential generators are tested at 80% of their maximum load for an hour. PowerPro recommends generator load bank testing as part of an annual ‘check up’. Critical diesel generators require more frequent testing and, depending on the industry, have differing performance standards and regulator criteria. PowerPro’s team provides backup system load bank testing to all generator makes and models – we will gladly test your system, even if you did not purchase it from us! Learn more or schedule your backup system’s load bank testing by PowerPro today!
