Having a generator as a backup can be handy for personal and business reasons – especially if power outages are a serious interruption to your usual ongoings or if your business relies on having a constant energy supply. Buying a generator, however, is pretty pricey, especially since the generator you’d need would likely be quite expensive. Hiring a generator is also a decent alternative. But should you hire one or buy one? In this article, we plan to help you decide whether you’d be better off buying a generator or just hiring one.

When to hire and when to buy?

Buying vs renting an industrial generator has a lot to consider because buying a generator, especially a larger one capable of handling the diverse power needs of a business, can be expensive. It might be years before you see a return on your investment in comparison to what you pay for it. On the other hand, hiring an industrial generator offers you the immediate benefits of having a generator without all the maintenance costs to go with it. Plus, you have the support of experienced technicians who’ll install it and see to it that nothing goes wrong.

So, what do you do? Looking at this decision from a financial standpoint, it might be financially beneficial and necessary to have an industrial generator if your business takes a serious financial knock if the power goes out. Say that the area your business is in struggles with regular power outages that significantly impact your operations and reduce your profits. In this case, a generator would be ideal.

Now, if you had to hire a generator every time this happened, your bill would build up quite fast. So, in the long run, it pays to have a generator. But, if you have sparse, isolated power outages or need a generator for an event you run once a year, then renting would be the wiser option as it’ll work out cheaper. Let’s weigh up the advantages of hiring vs buying.

The advantages of hiring a generator

At a glance, the major benefit of hiring an industrial generator comes with its costs. You’ll get the benefits of having a generator without any of the hefty startup costs required when buying one. In most cases, generators are also pretty available to hire. Most power outages are unplanned, but when they do occur, you could call a generator rental company, and they’ll have a generator for you ASAP, depending on where you stay compared to the supply depot.

Generator suppliers are also solely responsible for the generator’s maintenance and for ensuring that it works well. This means that this is off your shoulders and that if there is an issue with the generator, they’ll resolve it in a timely manner. Finally, when you’re hiring a generator, the sizes are scalable. This means that if you require a bigger generator, you can simply ask them to come fetch the one you have and install the larger one at a later stage.

The advantages of buying a generator

The benefits of owning an industrial generator mainly present themselves in the long term. Choosing the right generator when it comes to buying is extremely important. Because you’re buying, you’ll need to factor in your power needs now and what you might need in the near future. In most cases, when choosing a generator system, you’ll need to consider whether you need one for emergency or prime use.

One of the most obvious benefits of owning a generator is that it’s yours and becomes a clear benefit of the business. It’s not locked into a contract or rental agreement. Likewise, if you’re using a generator regularly, the long-term savings vs. the rental costs are much better, often working out to be cheaper to own.

While having a technician available to do maintenance on your generator is ideal during renting, there can sometimes be extra fees associated with it. When you own a generator, you no longer need to worry about these maintenance fees, especially if you’re able to do the maintenance yourself.

How to choose a generator

Deciding whether to buy or rent a generator is only one of the decisions you’d need to make. Choosing a generator supplier is also a hurdle you must overcome. Here are some tips to help you choose a generator supplier:

  • Consider how long they’ve been in the industry
  • How much stock do they have, and what brands do they sell
  • Are they able to transport the generator for you
  • What do others say about their business? Consult customer reviews
  • Do they offer customer service and maintenance on generators they rent as well as those they don’t

Final Thoughts

Buying has the benefits of fully owning your generator, but then the service fees, transportation costs, and maintenance all fall to you. The price might be steep if you only need to use it every few months or so. On the other hand, hiring a generator offers the benefits of having the maintenance, installations, and deliveries done by a professional. So, weigh up the info above and decide what would be better for your business needs.