In recent years, more and more houses are using portable generators for a variety of purposes. Emergency generators are useful in household to lessen hardship due to natural disaster and others. However, there are some adjustments and improvements that we should implement before we install the generator. It should be noted that portable generators consume liquid fossil fuel, such as gasoline or diesel oil. They will produce harmful carbon monoxide, especially if these generators are places in poorly ventilated room.
What makes carbon monoxide dangerous is that it is colorless and odourless. When the gas level has reached specific quantity, carbon monoxide could cause lethal inhalation. In fact, generators have incapacitated numerous people and even caused death due to improper use. In high-risk areas, where flood, earthquake and other natural disaster could occur, it is necessary to have portable generators in our home. Although our house is relatively unaffected by the disaster itself, the power grid could be affected, causing termination of electricity supply for days.
In order to make our house safer for generator usages, we may need to perform a number of improvements and changes. It is clear that generators should be placed in enclosed areas, especially if the disaster is associated with inclement weather, such as hurricane and flood. We should add proper lighting system in the generator shed, because we may need to add fuel and perform other tasks during the night. In this case, we may need to construct a new building
The generator shed should be sturdy enough and the generator compartment itself should be protected well to prevent heavy debris from falling directly and damaging the generator. The area should have a good airflow and if necessary, there should be a small fan that helps to circulate the air. An overworked generator could become very hot and ignite flammable debris. It is recommended to put the generator on the concrete pad that’s sturdy enough. It should also be tied with small chains to the wall and the floor. This will make sure that the generator want fall to the ground during an earthquake. By putting the generator at some height, it won’t be affected by flood.
It will take some works to integrate our house electrical system with the generator. In this case, we should make sure that when the generator is operated, our house will use the electricity for bare minimum purposes, such as refrigerator and some lights. In this case, we should make sure that the generator won’t cause or add fire hazard to our house. It means that cords should be examined at least once a year for plug damage, exposed wiring, cracks, cuts and frays. We should immediately replace any damaged component before the actual disaster strikes.
Depending on the wattage, a generator could consume up to 18 gallons of fuel each day, so we should prepare a proper gasoline storage area in our house. Gasoline containers should be stored outside our main house in an inflammable storage area.
