A portable generator on a driveway, outdoors and away from the house and garage, connected to a transfer switch.
Safe Use of Portable Generators After Winter Storms
This is only the first week of December. In most years, at least one or two parts of the country are digging out from the first winter storms while utility crews work to restore power. In some years, ice storms have paralyzed travelers and left hundreds of thousands without power. Certainly, the lake effect areas around the Great Lakes have seen snow by now, often measured in feet.
Fortunately, in five months, we can bask in warming days, green grass, and… Oh wait. April is a month of a turbulent weather that could easily produce a spring storm that dumps a couple of feet of snow on anyone. We may have to wait until May to put our snow shovels away.
Meanwhile, the snowstorms, ice storms, blizzards, and gales of winter will bring the usual news about stranded travelers, power outages, and warnings to stay off the streets and roads. Especially in the early stages of winter and spring, ice storms can take their toll on the electric grid.
After an ice storm left thousands without power, one utility worker said, “We had just repaired a line and restored power. As we packed up to head to the next downed line, the whole top of a tree broke off and landed on the new wires. We had to start all over again.
Portable Generators for Backup Power
If you don’t have power, but you have a portable generator, you can make do until utility crews repair the damage and get the power on again. While your small portable that you take camping won’t power much, it can keep the refrigerator running. Larger models can power a furnace with the right connections.
Portables are a cost effective solution to a growing problem—unexpected power outages. They are not as convenient as an automatic standby generator, but lower initial cost and even lower installation costs make them an attractive and popular option.
If you’re going to use a portable generator for backup power, safety has to come before all other considerations. Two sources of information and a dose of common sense will keep you and your family safe.
- See those safety stickers on your generator. They apply to everyone. Follow them.
- The manufacturer published all their safety recommendations in the owner’s manual—probably the first or second section. You’ll think it is too long. Read it anyway. Follow all recommended safety measures.
Carbon Monoxide
Everyone should have a carbon monoxide detector on every level of their home, especially in sleeping areas. If CO levels reach a dangerous level, the carbon monoxide detector alerts. Get everyone out and call 911. Anyone who is sick should go to the emergency department.
Like all internal combustion engines, portable generators emit carbon monoxide with their exhaust. You can’t see it or smell it.
NEVER RUN A PORTABLE GENERATOR INSIDE YOUR HOME
Portable Generators are for outdoor use only. Some people ignore the safety warnings and run them indoors anyway, and end up in hospitals or morgues.
Portable Generator Placement for Safety
Position the generator a minimum of 10 feet from the home—20 feet is better—and preferably where the wind won’t blow the exhaust against the building. Include your neighbor’s home in this rule as well. Windows, doors, and vents are especially vulnerable. A difference in temperature and a small crack or slightly open window for carbon monoxide to enter the house and rise to deadly levels.
Carbon Monoxide can kill within minutes. Take it outdoors. Never operate the generator in a garage, basement, attic, or any other space inside your home. Opening doors or windows is not enough. Take it outside.
New Portable Generator models include a safety feature that senses carbon monoxide and shuts the generator down. These sensors do not make it safe to use the generator indoors. All the manufacturers of these generators state in their manual and on the safety stickers that the generator is for outdoor use only.
Electric Shock Hazards
The old saying goes that water and electricity don’t mix. They certainly do not, especially outdoors. Working with extensions cords and your generator in the freezing rain is dangerous. But using the generator in the rain might be necessary if you don’t have power.
Most portable generators are not suitable for running in the rain. They don’t have any protection to keep the alternator, control panel, and wiring dry. Safe use is entirely up to the operator.
Related: Winter Weather Safety
If you’re running the generator in the rain, snow, sleet, or ice, take a few precautions and follow a series of steps to keep minimize the chance of electric shock.
- Position the generator in a location without standing water under a canopy without sides. One company builds a canopy that attaches to your generator and keeps it dry, even in a hurricane.
- Turn the generator’s main circuit breaker off.
- Only use heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cords. Plug your extension cords into the generator, but do not make the connections inside the house.
- Start the generator and let it warm up a minute or two. Turn on the generator’s main circuit breaker on.
- Inside the house, plug in your appliances one at a time, beginning with the heaviest load.
You can eliminate all the extension cords with a manual transfer switch. Just plug the generator cord into the generator and the inlet box and that is the only connection you have to make.
Extension Cord Hazards
Your extension cords are the weakest link between your home and the generator. Not only do they have to sit in the rain, but they run all over the house and become one more thing to trip on.
If only there was a way to eliminate extension cords.
Use a Manual Transfer Switch with Your Portable Generators
Every outlet on your generator has a rating assigned by the generator manufacturer. If it’s not printed on the control panel next to the receptacle, look at the receptacle breaker. Because your generator can supply that much current to the outlet, it can also supply it to the extension cord. For that reason, the extension cord rating in amps must equal or exceed the receptacle rating.
Some cords have an outdoor use rating, others are not. Avoid light duty cords. Use a heavy duty cord with an outdoor rating and a current rating that matches or exceeds the receptacle rating.
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A 15-Amp cord in a 15-Amp outlet—Good.
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A 15-Amp cord plugged into a 20-Amp outlet—Bad.
Some generators require additional grounding. Read your owner’s manual.
Tired of setting up your portable generator in the rain/snow/sleet/wind? An Automatic Standby Generator works in any weather, even blizzards, ice storms, and hurricanes.
Transfer Switch
Eliminate the need for extension cords with a manual transfer switch and inlet. Norwall recommends installation by a licensed electrician, but homeowners experienced with home wiring could do the job. In either case, a permit from your local building department ensures that the installation meets local codes and is safe.
A manual transfer switch selects either utility power or generator power. Circuits in the transfer switch or downstream sub-panel receive power from whichever source the homeowner selected.
You probably won’t power your entire home with a portable generator. Here are a few important or critical circuits you might select to run on generator power when installing a generator transfer switch.
- Refrigerator and Freezer circuits
- Furnace
- Sump pump
- Medical equipment
- One set of kitchen outlets
- One or two bedroom outlets
- Internet router, home office
- Microwave
- Television
These are common possibilities you should consider. The choices are yours to make. Remember that the portable generator has a limited amount of power available. If you’re not sure, talk to your electrician about what you can power versus what you want to power.
