How To Use A Generator During A Power Outage?

The occurrences of power outages have suddenly experienced a rise in the last few years. The reason behind a power outage can be different, they can occur from a power shortage, due to natural calamities like a storm or a hurricane, or maybe due to some unwanted traffic accidents that took place near the power station. In areas near the woods, there is some time, when a wandering raccoon takes shelter inside the transformer house in search of warmth during the winter months, which can cause some serious cases of power outages as well.  

Though most of the time, power outages are regional events, it takes only an hour or two to get to normalize. Still, there are such instances as well when it takes the technicians and electricians to take a few hours, to recognize the underlying cause behind the power outage. And that is when I started thinking about How To Use A Generator to keep your home active and functioning.

How To Use A Generator?

On regular days, nobody understands the importance of having a personal generator for their home. The idea strikes mostly right after the emergencies have taken place. Undoubtedly, buying Best generator is a pretty big investment. There are hundreds of different factors. One must keep in mind before selecting the particular one. So, it is always advisable to invest in a generator beforehand, rather than rushing for any right before the emergency is about to happen.

No matter if you already have a generator or you are planning to invest in one, there is always a right way to use them. Moreover, there are some safety measures as well, following which, using the generator becomes way easier and hassle-free.

Saftey Tips to Use a Generator Perfectly

For any appliances and gadgets, following safety procedures are utterly important. And as generators deal with heavy-duty electrical machinery and help in generating back up power, here, safety manuals are even more important than other sets of appliances and gadgets. There are more or less 6 different safety tips, which every generator user has to keep in mind:

• Not For Indoor Usage: It is always recommended not to use any generator inside a closed space. Yes.places like the home, garage, or not even under any shed. As generators used to exhaust carbon monoxide, that can turn into a lethal weapon, within a few minutes only.
•  Suitable Weather Conditions: As water and electricity are not a good combination. Setting up your generator during the rainy season or even keep them open under the pouring rain, is never recommended. Though most of the home used generator is not that much compatible with rain. There is no harm in going through the manual all over again to know the facts precisely and thoroughly. However, most of the home-based generators, including those portable ones, come with specific tents to keep the machines safe from all bad weather conditions.
• Do Not Backfeed Your Machine: Back feeding is referred to as a system, which includes making an extension cord with prongs at both ends. In back feeding, people used to connect one end of the extension cord to the generator and other ends to an outlet inside the house. In simple words, back feeding is bad. As in most of the time, people forget to throw the main breaker on the service panel and send electricity directly from the electrified circuit to the grid via a transformer, it eventually increases the electricity level of the house, instead of decreasing it like in normal cases. Now, as this high-voltage electricity runs through the grid, it may harm or even kill an ant utility worker who came to work or repair on the grid.
• No Damaged Cords: Generators are extremely expensive, and it takes a lot of time and thinking before investing in one. In most of the cases, people spend a lot of money over the main machine but neglect the small accessories like a good quality cord. A cheap, undersized cord can both decrease the quality of the generator and the connected appliances upon continuous usage, and never use damaged cords with electrical tape to make connections to your generator, as these can cause severe accidents of the machine.
• Placing The Generator: It is always advisable to place the generator at least 20 feet away from the main house. As the exhaust from the generator is very harmful to anybody, always keep in mind to place it in such a way that the exhaust does not enter the home or any of the neighbour’s home with gushing wind. Using a carbon monoxide detector inside the home is also a wise choice to stay safe from CO poisoning.
• Using Fuel Stabilizer: Most of the modern types of fuels like propylene, gasoline, etc.can degrade pretty soon due to their chemical combinations. With a fuel stabilizer, it can eventually increase the shelf life of your fuel, and you can store it for the longest time as well. Moreover, never refuel your generator while it is steaming off, as a small drop of oil on the hot generator surface can ignite the fire. Always wait for the generator to cool itself down completely before refuelling.

Conclusion

The generic functionality of any generators is based on a sensory mechanism, which can sense when the power goes out suddenly. Once the power goes down, the automatic transfer switch disconnects the power connection from the main utility and transfers it to the generator itself. Once the regular power supply regains, the main power connection is again transferred back to the main utility. So, during sudden power outages or even during natural calamities as well, generators help the entire household to run in order, but slight negligence to its safety can cause major disturbances as well. So, following all the safety tips we have mentioned earlier, is the best and the safest way to use a generator by all means.