12/03/2016
Anonymous
It was scary! The thermometer in the car said -14. I was one half of a mile from home, just shy of the intersection around the corner from home. A buggy was stuck in the drift. I parked the car in a bare spot and helped push the buggy free. The wind was howling, my hands felt like ice under the ski gloves. Back in the car, now -15, I managed to turn the car around in the bare spot and proceeded to go back, hoping the intersection a mile east would not be drifted shut. The drifts on the next road were bad, but passable, barely. It was almost dark and 16 below. I made it home and loaded my outdoor wood boiler in coveralls, literally crawling through a snow drift, dragging wood with me. Seventeen below and the wind continued to howl. It was twenty below at midnight when the power went out!<br /><br />As a single man I would not be too scared, but I had a wife, 3 kids, and at the time, a new baby on the way! Also, the thought of our new wood boiler freezing up was a nightmare. The house was losing temperature fast, but fortunately, our REMC had the power restored within two hours, which is amazing in such dangerous conditions. I made a decision that night. We needed a backup plan.<br /><br />After saving up some money, I talked to the gentlemen at Photon Electric. I told them, in the event of a power outage, I want enough backup power to run the boiler, the furnace fan, and to flush the toilets. I have to say, I was quite impressed with the efficiency of their work as well as the product. A week after the installation, our power company alerted us regarding a two hour power outage for the maintenance to the neighborhood lines, to take place at 9 the next morning. Next day, working on the computer, I asked the wife if it was 9 yet. She said 5 after. Was the power out? Yes, but we could not tell, the computer screen never even blinked!<br /><br />One other thing I asked of Photon Electric, was that during normal days without a power outage, how do we harness the “juice†the panels take in. It's called “back-feeding.†All extra power goes to the grid, to be stored for later use. The result? Our electric bill went from $116 to $72. But to work this out not only requires the expertise with the equipment, but also knowledge of local codes, which differ amongst counties as well. This was too big of an investment to trust to beginners, and I am very glad I chose Photon Electric. At the writing of this testimonial, Wayne & Henry have a combined experience of 16 years, and it shows!<br /><br /> * Update 12-3-2016. I wrote this testimonial a year ago, and am still enjoying the peace of mind. To do it over, I would not change a thing!