Welcome To Electricbaron!

Hi there! My name is Andrea, a crazy Italian guy who has been living in the UK for a while. Since I was a kid, I have found electricity fascinating. I remember like it was yesterday when my family gave me one of those toys with arms that moves up and down at the press of a button (battery hidden from the side).

Magic! I decided to unveil these secrets and so, after spending my childhood breaking apart any type of broken (and new!) appliance (from the old tape recorder, TVs and computer) I immerse myself in 10+ years of electricity-related studies (from high school to Ph.D. in electrical engineer) and working for an electricity network operator here in the UK.

You understand even more how important electricity is when it is missing. A few years back I was invited to spend Christmas with some family friends, in a lovely hat on the mountain in the northwest of England. However, a problem in the power network left us in the dark (that turns out to be a transformer outage after chatting with the network guys a few days later).

I remember the faces of my friends and their distress. Who wants to spend Christmas in the dark with lots of cold/half prepared food? Christmas ruined? Well no! I brought in a portable generator (a small one). Lights and TV were back on (heating hopefully was gas) and a bit of microwave allowed us to warm the food that got cold in the meantime. All saved!

Talking with friends, they were amazed by this little box able to generate electricity. Concept relatively obvious to me, but not for them. So many interesting questions on how such generators work, how many appliances you can supply if those can work as well as if supplied by the grid.

What about produce energy for free? Solar panels and those funny looking wind turbine can allow you to supply quite a few appliances you know? Another friend of mine (Carlo that’s you), contemplating the use of solar panels came to me with some basic questions re cost and profitability. I was feeling kind of important (here the “baron”). So I decided that, rather than repeating myself, I put everything on text!

So here I am, sharing what I learned (and what I am still learning, no one knows everything) by answering all sorts of questions from friends and family!

My Mission on This Site is To Help You Have the Right Supply of Electricity, Whenever and Wherever You Are in Greater Comfort and More Responsibly

How I Create Content

Me, Andrea, I am the voice, the brain, and the heart behind this website. I don’t sell generators or any related equipment (I am an engineer at the moment) and I do not accept brand-specific sponsorship. What you can find here is expert advice and recommendation based on my personal expertise and judgment. I aim to continue covering the generator industry in an unbiased and transparent manner making this a place you can trust.

I might use from time to time freelance writers to help provide a higher volume of information to my readers. Such writers are paid for their content that is then thoroughly revised by me before going live. My writers simply report their expertise and often personal experience. They do not recieve gifts from manufacturers they talk about and they are not permitted to do so. Violation of these terms will cause the termination of their contract.

In the limit of possibility, I try to put my hands on the items discussed but it is not always possible (due to space limitations as I have a small garage) or costs. Hence, I do also rely on friends borrowing them, going to the store (B&Q) and speaking with people that have tried it and, of course, check their technical specification in their manual.

What Can You Find Here For You?

Hence, why should you read the articles on Electricbaron? I would say that is because you want to improve your knowledge of how to generate your own electricity both for security reasons (unfortunately strong weather events are becoming more and more strong and devasting these days), for pleasure and entertainment (camping), or because you want to start to wonder whether you can possibly live off-grid.

If you resonate with the statement below, I bet you will enjoy electricbaron:

  • You want a peace of mind in being able to provide the basic electricity need to you and your family during a storm;
  • Understand what portable generators are and how to choose one;
  • Being able to go in the wild or RVing and being able to relax knowing that all your portable appliances can be supplied when you need them.

If you are here, reading till the end, thanks! I do really appreciate your time and why not, click that glass icon on the top right and start searching for topics of your interest. Have a great time at electricbaron.

Andrea Ballanti