For most businesses, having a backup generator is a no-brainer. Without one, a power outage would bring your operations to a screeching halt. When you’re looking into the right unit, however, you might be caught between buying vs. renting a generator. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the pros and cons of each option so you can figure out the best solution for your business.
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Should I Buy or Rent a Generator?
Once you’ve determined the size and power required for your application, you will need to figure out whether renting or purchasing is the best solution. When weighing these two options, consider the following:
- How Often Your Business Needs Backup Power: If your business is like most, the power grid you’re connected to will keep you running most of the time. Complete power outages are a rare occurrence and are usually caused by unusual or irregular circumstances. This means your business’s need for a generator is also rare, probably no more than once or twice a year. In this case, renting a generator when you need it is a more practical decision than purchasing and maintaining one. On the other hand, if your business experiences frequent power outages throughout the year, having a generator of your own will ensure you can keep your business running despite your intermittent power supply.
- How Much Does Your Company Rely on Power: Practically all businesses are disrupted when they lose power, but the consequences of the disruption vary. For instance, if you’re running a manufacturing plant with time-sensitive processes, being able to use your own generator at a moment’s notice may be critical for your business. However, if your business is in an office building and the only thing you’re losing is work hours, you can afford to wait several hours or days for your generator to be delivered to your location.
- How Willing You Are to Maintain and Repair It: By renting a generator, you can rest assured that the generator provided will be well maintained.
- Where Your Business Needs Power: If your business has more than one location, any one of them may need a generator — and one isn’t sufficient to make sure that they’re all supplied. If you have a go-to rental company, you can rent as many generators for as many locations as you need. However, it’s also important to consider your location. If your business is in a remote area, having a backup generator may be a better option.
- What Your Company Can Afford: Investing in a backup generator can be costly.
Top Reasons to Rent a Generator
Considering why you should rent? The advantages of renting a generator for a business include:
1. Less Maintenance and Downtime
Generators you own need to be serviced by someone. If you hire your own technicians, that means increased costs for your labor force. When you’re renting generators, you’ll have the peace of mind that the generators are CARB certified and well maintained.
Pick a partner who delivers you a full power equipment rental that includes service and support from factory-trained technicians. Generator rentals are continually and routinely maintained because we deliver great quality products to every customer. You can expect to get the right generator to handle the load you need. You’ll also be supported by a team of experienced technicians who can install the generator and respond to any service or emergency situation.
2. Saving Money
One of the greatest benefits of renting a generator is that it can often be cheaper to rent instead of buy. If you only need a generator for a short-term event or project, renting is usually your best option.
Savings also extends to the maintenance, storage and transport of your generator. Generators require maintenance, even if they’re sitting unused. Saving this money means you can target more jobs, no matter what size they are.
3. Flexibility for Any Job, Any Size
One of the best things about renting your generator is that you can rent generators of any size with the right output and the right rating. Power equipment rentals can be sized for your specific project, and you’ll have a team of professionals that will help you make sure you’ve got the perfect generator for your needs.
Renting allows you to perform seasonal, temporary or specialized work on your job site.
4. Field Services
A generator rental also can provide you with the perfect support right to your door. This type of on-site support allows you to service a generator to your site, no matter where it is.
Generator service technicians can be provided to make sure the installation goes smoothly and that all of your power distribution needs are met. Generator rentals can ensure that your new power is also compliant with local laws – which can be especially tough in places like California. Your rented generator will be able to meet the emissions standards and noise regulations of your area while still delivering the power you need for your project.
This feeds back into the cost savings for the deployment of your generator.
5. Try Before You Buy
What generator do you need for your job site? What load and power are best for your needs? How much are you willing to pay for that first installation? What if you have to bring it back?
There’s no reason to leave these questions only partially answered by purchasing a generator you’re unsure about. When you rent, you have the opportunity to test the product before purchasing.
6. Appropriate Warranty and Insurance Coverage
You’ll never have to pay for insurance or a warranty of a generator that you’re renting.
Generally rentals come with renter’s insurance with coverage to protect your operations. This will protect you in the event of a malfunction or emergency.
Renting can also save you on paperwork since you won’t need to increase the insurance you have on your jobsite or file additional documentation.
The factory-certified technicians can also be utilized to quickly replace damaged equipment. This means no waiting for insurance to replace components, just a phone call to your service provider.
While this won’t protect you against misuse, it still ends up being a reduced cost compared to a loss replacement if you owned the generator outright.
7. Flexibility in Time and Need
Sometimes making that equipment purchase isn’t the right move because you don’t know if your business is going to change. New areas will crop up, even those you don’t expect, and present new opportunities that you might not expect.
This doesn’t mean that you would have previously purchased the wrong generator — just that some needs change. Renting means you can immediately switch to a new generator type and service, ensuring that your power generation always matches demand.
A single piece of equipment that you’re renting can be used for a day or for months on end. And what happens if the local utility gets power to your site sooner than expected – or, more likely, they take an extra couple of weeks to get your site powered?
Renting means you can adjust job spending and agreements to meet these changes. You also won’t need to purchase or shift any tools and service as these needs change, simply work out a pickup and drop-off time with your rental partner.
8. Responding to Disasters
Renting equipment lets you immediately respond to disasters that you may experience. These can include natural disasters from weather to earthquakes or work-related problems at your job site.
A fire may take out your existing generator or cause you to re-stage your deployment. Rentals can be more flexible thanks to the door to -door delivery that these rental services provide.
Hospitals often have their own backup power, but rented generators have proven to be great disaster response plans by maintaining power distribution. What happens when the basement containing a generator starts to flood? The hospital will switch to rentals not only for its patient power needs but also to maintain the sump pumps that keep the water from damaging its main backup generators.
Even with backup generators, power outages in hospitals during natural disasters can be difficult to prevent. Adding in rentals can ensure all your operations stay safe and dry.
9. Prepping for a Big Order
Specialized rental generators can deliver the exact type of support you need. This can be perfect for any type of company that’s expecting a big order they’ll need to fulfill.
Fast food companies have rented industrial generators to power portable cooling units when they’re expecting major events. This has happened for restaurants near college campuses or sports stadiums. When a home game is scheduled, demand often extends past what normal storage can handle.
By pairing a power equipment rental with temporary cooling units, these businesses can meet their increased demands without having to spend a lot on infrastructure. These units can also stay on the existing property, so there’s no need to build any additional infrastructure or temporary buildings.
10. Benefit from Last Minute Saves
Part of growing your business is responding to new demand or uncertainty. And we’ve all been in that position where there was a last-minute change, problem, deadline shift or accident that potentially puts an entire job at risk.
Your power source never needs to be the final straw to losing a job or money on your current work. Renting allows you to avoid the last-minute scramble to look online and try to determine what the right generator is for your needs. You won’t have to do an emergency assessment of your new power needs, look for the right products, read tons of product reviews, and then purchase a generator and hope it gets shipped to you in time.
Renting the generator that you need means immediate access to the power that can save your site. You’ll get the exact product you need because you’ll have a team of professionals to help you make that assessment and match one of many top-tier options to your needs. There’s no new financing legwork, insurance or warranties to purchase.
The best part of all? When your work is done, you get to return the generator, and you’re not out a large cost to fix a temporary problem.
How Much Does it Cost to Rent a Generator?
Costs vary depending on the capacity of the generator and the rates of your area. Request a quote from us to get a better idea of the costs for your specific application.
Where Can I Rent a Generator?
If you live in Central or Southern California, you can easily rent a generator from Quinn. We have more than 1,400 dedicated employees, that cover over 75,000 square miles and represent 48% of the state.
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Make Quinn Company Your Go-to Company for Generator Rentals
Wondering where to rent a generator?
If you’ve decided that renting a generator is the best solution for your business, Quinn is the company you want to deliver a reliable unit promptly to your location. At Quinn, we do our best to ensure our generators are ready to go right when you need them.
In addition to providing premium products and services, we also strive to provide our clients with the best customer experience possible. We do this by following our three principles:
- Knowing It: We know everything we can about our services, products and the needs of our clients.
- Owning It: We take personal responsibility for all that we do.
- Sharing It: We communicate regularly and promptly with our clients and our employees.
In addition to generators, we also sell, rent and service a full line of new and used Cat® construction, landscape, industrial and agricultural equipment as well as forklift and material handling products. If you have any questions about our products or services, feel free to contact us by filling out our form or calling us at 888-987-8466.