ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Standby generator

A standby generator is like a superhero that lives in your house and waits for a power outage to save the day. You know how sometimes when there's a storm or something, the electricity goes off, and you have to use flashlights and candles? Well, a standby generator is a machine that makes sure your house has electricity even when the power from the electricity company goes out.

Think of it like this - when you sleep at night, you might have a nightlight that automatically turns on if it gets dark. That way, you can see if you wake up in the middle of the night. A standby generator is kind of like a nightlight, but for your whole house.

It's connected to your home's electrical system, so when the power goes out, it automatically turns on and starts making electricity. It runs on fuel like gasoline or natural gas that is stored in a tank, so it can keep making electricity for a long time until the power comes back on.

It's a really useful machine to have if you live in an area where power outages happen a lot, or if you have important things in your house that need electricity to work, like medical equipment, computers or refrigerators.

Overall, you can think of a standby generator as a hero that saves you from the dark and keeps your house running even when the rest of the neighborhood is in the dark.