Portable Generator Safety

Using a Portable Generator Safety

Power outages in the wake of Hurricane Sandy are continuing, and now those poor folks are getting hit by snow. Because I know a lot of people are using portable generators right now (plus many readers own a generator as part of their overall urban survival plan anyway), I want to give you some reminders on generator safety.

• Don’t use a generator indoors or in an attached garage: The engine that runs a generator may not look like it’s making all that much smoke, but you can’t see carbon monoxide. Put it outside and in a place where the exhaust won’t blow back into the house or into your neighbor’s house.
• Don’t hook it up directly to your house wiring: Unless you’ve turned off the main electrical service line coming into the house, you can send power back out into the power grid, which endangers electrical workers who are working to restore your power. Choose the most “mission critical” appliances you need to power and plug them directly into the portable generator. But that brings me to my next point…
• Don’t overload the generator: You’re not going to power your hot tub, big screen TV, furnace, fridge and microwave with a portable generator, so check the electrical draw from the MOST needed appliances and power them. You may need to rotate which appliances get run, since turning on the microwave while running your fridge may exceed the generator’s capacity and damage your appliances.
• Make sure it’s grounded so you don’t get shocked: An ungrounded connection could result in your getting a really wild, smoky perm, and nobody likes the smell of burnt hair.
• Keep your gasoline outside: You might be concerned that someone will steal your gas can, but storing it indoors will probably result in headaches, nausea and maybe even some weird hallucinations. Plus, if the vapors drifted past a pilot light, you’d have an explosion or fire.
• Read the operator’s manual: The joke is, “if all else fails, read the instructions.” But you really need to before you operate any machine. Generators are not maintenance free, and while some people think they can just run them indefinitely, they are risking having a breakdown exactly when they don’t want it. Some generators require that you check the oil level every eight hours, which means shutting it off. If it’s a brand new, you may need to do the first oil change after only a few hours. Check the owner’s manual first.

After Hurricane Katrina, there were more than 50 documented cases of people being sickened by carbon monoxide from a portable generator and five of those people died. Don’t let an easily avoidable mistake endanger you or your family.

Sometimes I ask you to forward a link to my blog to friends or family who could use the information. In this case, since many people in the storm zone don’t have internet service, you might want to consider calling your loved ones and running this list by them. It’s worth five minutes of your time to help someone avoid a much bigger problem.

Be alert and stay safe,

Tom

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