Furthermore, when we leave home to embark on the early morning drive to work, streetlights guide us over dark roads, and traffic lights bring order to otherwise chaotic and dangerous intersections. We drive by a 24 hour convenience store and an early morning breakfast cafe, both of which are lit up brightly enough to remind us to pick up a daily newspaper, or to suggest a hot cup of coffee. Finally, on entering our workplace, we may hear the humming sounds of machinery.

So what happens when a society that is so dependent on electricity, suddenly finds itself without? Well, it's like a living organism when its circulating system is abruptly severed--- it ceases to function, it stops. Our homes turn into lifeless shells and our neighborhoods plunge into darkness. As the convenience store's brightness is extinguished, the cafe's coffee turns cold and an eerie silence replaces the sounds of machinery.

Recently, in one hurricane season, Florida was hit by 4 major hurricanes which caused millions of people to lose power as they pelted Florida with destructive winds and torrential rain. Millions more where affected by hurricane Katrina which devastated the gulf coast. Hundreds of thousands of people, though not directly in the storm's path, were nevertheless forced to abandon their homes, primarily due to a lack of electricity.

Power outages cause problems ranging from inconveniences to calamities. A business may lose several weeks of productivity and incur damage to machinery or equipment. Homeowners experience refrigerated or frozen food spoilage, the loss of water (pump) and heat (furnace), and the loss of cooking abilities (stove), any of these losses may force you to abandon your home. Many elderly individuals living in the northern climates fear hypothermia during the winter months so a properly installed standby generator can be a life saver.