From left, David Cornell and Jeff Lawson of Reliable Heating and Air Conditioning stand ready to help customers with generators.Since the tornadoes of April 2011, many people in Chattanooga and the surrounding areas have found themselves putting together emergency kits, building storm shelters and coming up with family emergency plans to be ready for whatever may happen.
With the idea in mind of being ready for anything, Reliable Heating and Air Conditioning offers standby generators.
"People like the peace of mind that having your own 'power plant' provides," said David Cornell, vice president of the second-generation family-owned local business. "They can be used to power the whole house or selected circuits like heating and air conditioning, lights and the kitchen circuits."
A standby generator is a backup power supply that turns on automatically within seconds of a power loss, he explained. With most standby generators there are no switches to throw, and they can restore power automatically whether the owner is home or not.
Generac is just one brand of generator that Reliable carries."They differ greatly from the more popular portable type in that they are a permanent fixture on the outside of the home, much like a heating and cooling unit," Cornell said. "Another benefit to the standby generator is that it is fueled by natural gas or propane, so the fuel source is plentiful to withstand long power outages and there is no need to store gasoline, as is the case with most portable-type generators."
Reliable specializes primarily in residential installations of the generators but also services commercial buildings. In the past, Reliable's employees have installed generators in assisted living facilities, crematories and other businesses. The installation process varies according to what the client selects, but the average time frame takes three to four days and the work is done by master electricians.
"All work from beginning to end is performed by factory-trained Reliable electricians, gas fitters and service technicians," said Cornell. "We provide 24-hour emergency service and can keep your new generator running smoothly with a variety of maintenance plans. To my knowledge, no other area outfit can match our comprehensive services."
He added that Reliable serves clients as a one-stop shop for generators, handling sales, design, installation and factory-authorized service after a sale. Cornell also said the generator should be the only one a homeowner ever needs as long as they stay in that home.
Reliable started selling standby generators in 1996 when the need began to arise in the market.
Each year the trusted company's staff works to boost their quality on service and devices for customers, said Cornell. "We send several key personnel to Wisconsin for training every year to maintain our factory-authorized certification," he added. "We didn't tiptoe into this business, we jumped in head first. Our passion for service excellence makes this a natural fit for us."