How to Hook up a Portable Generator to Your Home
With our aging electric grid and a rising number of extreme weather events, the US has more power outages than any other developed country. In fact, there are so many that there are websites just devoted to tracking power outages. Losing your power – your heat, your lights, refrigerator, stove – isn’t any fun even in warm weather.
With a gasoline-powered portable generator, you can make sure you still have enough power for the essentials. Knowing how to hook up a generator to your home safely is essential. Let’s take a look at what’s involved.
Basics: How to Hook Up a Portable Generator to Your Home
There are two ways to put the power from your generator to work. The first is to use extension cords to power the appliances that you need to keep running. The second is to connect your generator directly to your house’s electrical system. Here are the plusses and minuses.
Hooking Appliances Directly to Your Generator
First, remember that one of the most critical portable generator tips is that it must be run outdoors. That’s because of the dangerous fumes that gasoline generators emit. To get the power from the generator to the appliances, you’ll be running separate extension cords from each appliance to the generator.
That’s not only clumsy; it can also be a safety issue. And you still won’t be able to power any overhead or wall-mounted lights.
Tying Your Generator to Your Home’s Electrical Grid
Connecting your generator directly to your house is a much better solution. It eliminates the need to run extension cords, and you’ll still be able to use your electrical outlets and lights. Going this route is much simpler and safer.
However, it does require installing a transfer switch. Transfer switches are installed right next to your home’s breaker panel. They switch the house’s electrical system from the grid to the generator.
Transfer switches let you decide which circuits are receiving power from the generator – and make sure that you aren’t exceeding the maximum output from the generator.
Transfer Switch Installation
Installing a transfer switch requires working on the wiring inside your breaker panel. For that reason, most homeowners will use a licensed electrician for the installation.
If you’re comfortable and have basic electrical skills, doing it yourself is fairly straightforward. Most transfer switch units include easy-to-follow instructions for do-it-yourself folks.
One important step is deciding which circuits you’ll be wiring into the transfer switch – most portable generators won’t have enough output to power your entire home. A good add-on to using portable generator systems is a rechargeable power station like this EcoFlow Delta unit. That lets you power even more small appliances.
The last step is to make sure you’ve got the proper, specialized cord that connects your generator to your transfer switch.
Power Up
Now that you know how to hook up a portable generator to your home, you won’t be left in the dark the next time your power goes out! For more informative and entertaining articles, please look around the rest of our website!
