How to use a home generator during a power outage

Home generators can bring electricity to your house when there is a power outage from the central electric source. If you have a generator at your home, you must know how to use it during the emergency. When you know how to use a home generator, you can avoid long-hour power cuts and get rid of the irritation it causes. 

Knowing how to use a home generator does not only include how to start it, but you should also know everything about its storage, maintenance, and fueling. If you lack any of this information, you do not need to panic because you are at a safe place. We have brought this article to you to inform you about how to use a portable generator. If you keep reading, you’ll know why you need a generator, how it is operated, and everything else. 

Why do you need a home generator

Power outages can be annoying and can disturb your comfort if they happen for a long span. Power blackouts keep going for a substantial time, days, or even weeks, and they can be expensive in case you’re not ready. 

Tropical storms, hurricanes, and ice storms can fluster our power supply system. In any case, it’s not merely a climate that can turn the lights out. Animals, car crashes, personal accidents additionally can trigger a power outage. Therefore, you should be prepared and get a generator that will help you cope with the unwanted blackouts efficiently. Here we have listed a few reasons that will convince you to get a generator for your home.

1. You get water for your house.

Metropolitan water frameworks are pressurized, so water will come out of the tap whether there’s a force blackout. But it’s not the same for the rural dwellers who depend on electric pumps to pump out the water. However, in case you have a compact generator, you can plug the well into it and keep the water streaming during a force blackout.

2. Protect your home from flood harm 

With rainstorms comes downpour that can cause potential flooding. Fortunately, your home’s sump pump will battle any flooding issues, until the power is there. An electric sump pump can’t work without electricity. On the off chance that you have a generator, it may be utilized to keep your sump pump running, and help shield your basement from flooding during heavy downpours.

3. Keep your home business running.

When you maintain a business at your home, an unexpected power blackout could mean a total work shutdown, except if you have a generator. With the developing gig economy, many people work from home. It’s significant for them to have a home generator to keep the Wi-Fi, PC, printers, and web running, even during the power outages.

4. Avoid being clueless

Nobody likes feeling helpless during a blackout. Having a generator is one approach to be proactive and be set up for the unexpected consequences. You won’t need to depend upon the local powerhouse. You can feel guaranteed that your home unit will proceed to run, and your family is stable until the power comes back. 

Steps to using a home generator for a power outage

It is easy and possible to buy a portable generator for your home. But as far as you know how to use a portable generator, it has the appropriate use only until then. If you have no idea how to use it, buying it for your home will be vain. Keeping a generator at home is not a simple task; even if you know how to use it, you have to care about many other factors. From generator storage, power supply, maintenance, to fuel stabilizing, you have to be pro in every task. This part has covered all of that for you.

Use Caution When Using Back-Up Power Generators 

During lengthy haul power blackouts, some district inhabitants may depend on compact generators for emergency power. Whenever introduced and worked accurately, utilization of backup or convenient electric generators presents little threat, yet ill-advised installation or use could be risky, and even destructive. Peruse these tips for the sheltered activity and utilization of convenient generators:

Right Usage of a Generator 

Follow the applications provided with the generator. Wrong generator usage can prompt harming carbon monoxide (CO), or electric shock and fire. 

Never utilize a portable generator inside – If you or somebody in your home begins to feel debilitated, dazed, or weak while using a generator, move to natural air immediately — don’t delay. Introduce CO alerts in your home that have battery backup. Test batteries often and supplant when required.

Arrangement of a Generator 

1. Place the generator in a dry, outside area. 
2. Spot the generator away from windows, entryways, and vents that could permit CO to come inside. 
3. Generators ought to be at least 20 feet from buildings. Even20 feet away, air particles may blow carbon monoxide into homes through attic vents, windows, or entryways, so it’s essential to have a working carbon monoxide detector inside the house.
4. To maintain a strategic distance from electric shock, keep the generator dry. Try not to use it in a downpour or wet conditions. Ensure your hands are bare before contacting the generator.

Use and Storage of Generator Fuel 

1. Turn the generator off and let it cool before refuelling. Fuel spilled on hot motor parts could catch fire.
2. Store fuel in safety cans away from living areas, ideally in a bolted shed or other secured boxes. 
3. If you spill fuel or don’t seal the holder appropriately, undetectable fumes can go along the ground and come in contact with the apparatus’s pilot light or bends from electric switches in the machine, which can cause a fire.
4. Utilize the type of fuel suggested in the generator guidelines or on its manual. 

Wiring the Generator 

1. Ensure your apparatuses. Unplug all machines and lights before you start working on the portable generator. When the generator is running, you can switch on all the appliances one by one to avoid the unit’s overburdening.
2. Use extension cords for outside use. Utilize just safety tested, shop-type electrical wires planned and appraised for more substantial, outdoor use to support appliances. Numerous generators are made with curve lock connectors to diminish the chances of accidental separations because of vibrations.
3. Remember not to plug your generator directly in the wall outlet to power your house wirings. It can prompt the electric shock of utility specialists or neighbours served by a similar utility transformer. The first safe approach to interface a generator to a house wiring is to have a certified circuit repairman install a power transfer switch.

Switching off the Generator 

Before closing down a generator, turn off and unplug all apparatuses and electricals being controlled by the generator. 

It’s essential to empty the gas of the generator while it is being put away. It’s a smart option to check the fuel and oil channels, spark plug, oil level, and fuel quality and start the generator regularly before an emergency occurs.

Precautions

Let us now look at the precautionary measures a generator user should take to avoid any chance of harm or damage.

• Continuously peruse and follow the hardware manual before working. 
• Motor fumes contain carbon monoxide, a harmful gas that could kill you in minutes. You cannot smell it, see it, or taste it. Regardless of whether you don’t smell fumes exhaust, you could, in any case, be presented to carbon monoxide gas.
• Work the generator only outside, far away from windows, entryways, and vent to diminish the danger of carbon monoxide gas from accumulating.
• Introduce battery-worked carbon monoxide alerts or module carbon monoxide cautions with battery backup as per the maker’s guidelines. Smoke alerts can’t distinguish carbon monoxide gas.
• Try not to run a generator inside homes, carports, storm cellars, creep spaces, sheds, or other half-open spaces, even if utilizing fans or opening entryways and windows for ventilation. Carbon monoxide can rapidly develop in these spaces and can stay for quite a long time, considerably after the generator has turned off.
• If you begin to feel wiped out, mixed up, or weak while utilizing the portable generator, shut it off and get to natural air immediately. See a specialist. You may have carbon monoxide harming.

Why is it important to know how to use a generator correctly

Owning a generator is a significant benefit. We have already talked about the benefits of having a generator at your home. You can always escape from being in the blackout situation for long. When you have a generator, you do not need to think at the time of an emergency. But it is also essential that you know how to use a generator correctly.

Portable generators are major electric devices, and it’s quite obvious to use the precautionary measures before using it. Please avoid operating it until and unless you do not have proper information about the appliance or it may cause significant harm, even if it can lead to death. There are specific precautions and usage tips that are always provided to the generator users.

Owning a generator demands a lot of measures and cure even though you know how to start it. The story does not end there. You have to store the generator, and you should know what to do with the device when not in use. You should know how to stabilize the fuel, how to restore, and other stuff.

If you commit single wrongdoing, the generator can function wrong, and it may lead to something serious. Therefore, remember to study everything about its usage before operating it. That is why we have come up with this article to avoid missing any crucial information regarding your home generator.

Five best generators for your home

1. Rainier R4400 Portable Generator with Electric Start

2. Generac 7043 Home Standby Generator

3. Honda Power Equipment EG2800IA 2800W 120V Full Frame Portable Inverter Gas Generator

4. Honda EU1000i Inverter Generator

5. Generac 7117 GP2200i 2200 Watt Portable Inverter Generator

FAQs

Q. How do you use a generator at home?
A. Interface the generator wire to the exchange switch. Turn off all the circuit breakers in the transfer switch to the off position. Start the generator and let it warm up. Flip the main breakers in the generator transfer switch to the Generator position.

Q. What size generator do I need for my house?|
A. Generators rated at 5,000 to 7,500 watts can run the leading equipment at your home. These include things like a pump, refrigerator and freezer, and lighting circuits. For RV, a 3000 – 4000-watt generator would be ideal.

Q. What happens with the generator when the power goes back on?
A. Since you are instructed to shut off the main breaker when you use the generator, nothing will happen. If the generator transfer switch is wired correctly, it is impossible for the generator and the main electrical power to both feed the system at the same time.

Q. Can a portable generator run a house?
A. Portable generators are easy to use and convenient for your home and budget too. It can run all the essential appliances at your home during a power outage.

Q. How do I hook up a portable generator to my house?
A. 1. Interface the generator to the exchange switch utilizing a gen line. 
2. Start the generator outside. 
3. Flip the main breakers in the exchange change from “Line” to “Generator” power. 
4. One by one, turn on the circuits you need to control.

Conclusion

We hope that this article has helped you to get answers to your doubts. Remember to read every guideline before you decide to bring power to your house using a generator. If you have any dilemma while operating your home generator or do not know how to use a home generator, you can always turn to this article to get clear. Generators are the ultimate solution to the blackouts, but when your safety is assured, you are right.