Standby Generators with ATS

Standby Generators with ATS – Automatic Power Supply During a Blackout

A power cut rarely comes at a convenient time. If you have ever stumbled down to the basement in your dressing gown in the middle of the night to start a generator by hand and swap plugs around, you will appreciate the value of automatic changeover. That is exactly what a standby generator with ATS (automatic transfer switch) does: it constantly monitors the public grid, detects an outage within milliseconds, starts the engine and switches your household load over to generator power after 5 to 15 seconds. When mains power returns, the process runs in reverse – the system synchronises, switches back and cools down in a controlled way.

When is the investment worthwhile?

Typical applications include homes with a heat pump, because a longer power cut in winter can cause costly frost damage to pipes and buffer tanks. Then there are livestock keepers and farmers (barn climate, milking equipment, cooling), medical and veterinary practices, pharmacies, small IT businesses and workshops. For public authorities and emergency services – fire stations, THW (German Federal Agency for Technical Relief) bases, sewage treatment plants, pumping stations – the ATS function is indispensable anyway, because operational readiness depends on the generator.

Which type suits which application?

ATS generators come in three types that differ in power quality, noise emissions and size. Inverter generators deliver an almost laboratory-clean sine wave with total harmonic distortion below three per cent – the right choice as soon as you need to protect sensitive electronics such as heating controls, heat pump frequency converters or servers. Synchronous generators with AVR are more rugged and cheaper to buy, but deliver a slightly less clean sine wave – sufficient for lighting, workshops and simple appliances, but critical for modern building technology. Standby power systems are the stationary professional solution: sound-insulated canopy, integrated control unit with self-test, fuel reserves for 8 to 24 hours of continuous operation, designed from the factory for continuous load and automatic operation.

Connection by an electrician – not a DIY job

An ATS system intervenes in your home's distribution board. In Germany, it must be connected by a licensed electrician in accordance with VDE-AR-N 4105 – they install the main switch, cleanly isolate your home network from the public grid during backup operation (back-feed protection) and register the system with the grid operator. We supply the generator with all documentation and data sheets and, on request, on-site instruction for your electrician.

Advice, sizing, maintenance

The output you need does not depend on the rating of your mains connection, but on your actual load profile: which appliances need to keep running, what starting currents occur, is your heat pump single-phase or three-phase, are 8 hours of autonomy enough or do you need 24? Send us your power consumption and a list of the appliances you want to back up – we will size the right generator, calculate tank size and maintenance intervals and give you a complete quote that your electrician can implement straight away.