What Happens If You Don’t Maintain Your Standby Generator? (East Texas Edition)
Meet the Neighbors: Two Very Different Outage Stories
Let’s take a walk through a neighborhood in Longview, Texas, where two fictional homeowners—Ron and Tina—live just a few houses apart. Both invested in standby generators a few years ago. Same brand. Same installation month. Same stormy East Texas weather.
But they made
two very different choices after installation.
🌪️ The Storm Hits
It’s late July. The skies darken. A line of severe storms pushes across East Texas, bringing heavy wind, torrential rain, and—you guessed it—widespread power outages.
Two neighbors. Two generators. Only one is ready.
Let’s see who comes out ahead when the lights go out.
What happens next could mean the difference between comfort and chaos.
Ron: The “Set It and Forget It” Guy
Ron figured once his generator was installed, his job was done. He never scheduled maintenance, never changed the oil, and definitely never checked those blinking lights.
When the power went out, Ron expected everything to kick on as usual.
But this time... crickets.
No lights. No A/C. No fridge. Just sweat and silence.
Turns out, Ron’s generator had thrown an error weeks ago. The oil was low, the battery was corroded, and the air filter hadn’t been touched in years.
He spent the next
36 hours sweating it out, tossing spoiled food, and borrowing a portable generator from his brother-in-law just to plug in a fan.
Tina: The Maintenance Pro (with a Little Help)
Tina also lost power—but she barely noticed.
Her generator kicked on within seconds. The lights stayed on, the A/C kept running, and her fridge didn’t miss a beat.
Why?
Because Tina signed up for regular maintenance with MALL Energy Home—and remote monitoring. That means not only did our team visit her home twice a year for scheduled service, but we also monitored her generator remotely. If anything went wrong—low oil, battery warning, error code-we were alerted before she ever had to think about it.
While Ron was sweating and silently panicking, Tina was watching a movie with her kids and baking cookies. The only way she even knew the power was out? Her neighbor texted her to ask if she had any extension cords.
🔧 What Generator Neglect Actually Looks Like
If you don’t maintain your standby generator, here’s what’s at risk:
- Battery failure (especially in summer heat or winter cold)
- Low oil pressure or dirty oil, which can trigger automatic shutdown
- Clogged air filters, restricting engine performance
- Corrosion, especially in humid East Texas climates
- Error codes you don’t notice until it’s too late
Most of these issues can be caught and resolved with simple routine maintenance.
📍 Why This Matters in East Texas
In Longview, Tyler, Shreveport, and surrounding areas, we don’t just get one storm a year—we get months of grid-straining heat, spring thunderstorms, and the occasional ice storm or hurricane surge.
Skipping generator maintenance in East Texas isn’t just risky—it’s rolling the dice on your comfort, your food, and in some cases, your safety.
✅ Be Like Tina: Partner With MALL Energy Home
We make generator maintenance easy, affordable, and local.
When you sign up for service with MALL Energy Home, you get:
- Scheduled maintenance reminders
- Professional oil changes, inspections, and testing
- Local technicians who know East Texas weather
- 24-hour support if something goes wrong
- Peace of mind all year long
Your generator is only as good as the care behind it.
📞 Don’t Wait for the Next Outage to Find Out You’re a Ron
If your generator hasn’t been serviced lately—or ever—now’s the time.
Call MALL Energy Home today to schedule a maintenance visit or sign up for one of our protection plans. Be like Tina, not Ron.
