Emergency Home Generators
There are two different ways you can go when buying and setting up your emergency home generator.
Use a small portable and then use extension cords to plug your critical appliances to your generator.
Have a transfer switch installed next to your electrical panel and then hook your generator to your house through the transfer switch.
What appliances do you want to power with your backup generator?Normally you will want to power your sump pumps, water pump, refrigerator, Freezer, furnace, microwave, television and lights in about that order. The most important items to power would be your sump pumps, furnace, refrigerator, and freezer in an emergency. Since most sump pumps and furnaces are hard wired into the electrical system it may be easier to have a transfer switch wired into your service than try to plug them in. However it will be much less expensive to have your gas furnace and sump pumps rewired so that they may be plugged into a portable generator. Be sure to check your local building codes to see if this is approved in your area.How Generator Transfer Switches WorkThere are two main types of Transfer switches. There are automatic switches and Manual Transfer switches. The auto switches actually monitor your incoming power and will start your backup generator and switch to backup power automatically. These systems are normally quite expensive and are probably overkill for most homes.
Manual Generator Transfer Switches
Most homes set up to use a generator use a Manual switch. This switch will completely isolate the house from the electrical grid. Then you will be able to plug your generator into the Transfer switch. Usually you will be able to choose which circuits you want active in the house as most portable generators will not power the whole house.
My Emergency Electrical Plan
I like to keep things simple. I have set up my plan to work for a major loss of power in the cold of winter. I live in Western Montana.
My Electrical Priorities
To keep my house water pipes from freezing.
To keep my freezer and refrigerator working.
To recharge my battery backups and run my microwave.
My equipment list.
Seven 25 foot extension cords.
One 2,000 watt inverter generator.
One 2400 watt conventional generator (it was too cheap to pass up)
Gas cans, three 5 gallon cans that get rotated twice a year with fresh gas.
I also have a gas transfer hose with built in pump to drain the gas from my vehicles.
Propane powered heaters.
Lighting will all be done with battery LED lanterns and flashlights. I am a little bit of a flashlight freak.
Lots of AA and AAA batteries.
Battery powered radio. I also have an inexpensive wind up light, am fm radio.
Two Jump Box batteries. These can recharge laptops, cell phones if they work, and other rechargeable batteries.
Two inverters that plug into the Jump boxes
Several 20 pound Propane tanks for cooking and heat.
I do not plan on using electricity to heat my house in an emergency. I have 2 indoor rated propane heaters that have low oxygen shutoff sensors. I have a propane camp stove also.
Cooking without Grid power
I have a propane barbecue and a propane camp stove. These work both for heating and cooking. I will also be able to use my microwave with the generator. The microwave seems to create more heat in food or heating packs than resistance heat does with the same amount of electricity.
My Daily Emergency Generator Use Plan
I plan on running my generator for one to four hours per day. This depends on how cold it is and if I can still get natural gas for my furnace. My gas fireplace works without electricity. My generator burns at most 1 gallon of fuel per four hours. 15 gallons plus extra from my vehicles should last two weeks.
Kindle Loaded with books
To pass the time I have a lot of reading material stored on a Kindle. You can store thousands of books and they use very little power. My kindle runs for a couple of weeks between charges. I have the black and white kindle because it uses very little power. The Color Kindle needs to be recharged after 8 hours of use.