Preparing Your Home for a Generator Installation | Conway, SC
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When you make the decision to add a standby or backup generator to your Conway, SC home you make the decision to be prepared for disasters that can knock out your power and to keep your family safe and comfortable in a crisis. It’s always better to be prepared for hurricane season rather than having to fight for one of a handful of generators that are left at the local hardware store. It’s a big step but it doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. With careful preparation you can make a generator installation a smooth and easy process that won’t take up too much of your time or money.
Before you take the step of purchasing your generator you want to have an electrician over to your house to see what size generator you will need. Part of this process is figuring out which appliances and household systems you know you will need and want to keep running when the power is out. Most likely you’ll want to keep your well and septic system running, your heating or cooling, your refrigerator and freezer and some of your household lights. Weigh each appliance carefully and think about what will be available to you. While you definitely don’t want food and supplies in fridges and freezers getting spoiled, chances are there won’t be any Internet or cable so you can do without your tv and computer. Likewise, you can probably ignore any outlets that aren’t connected to major appliances and systems – a few lights are nice but no one needs the stereo and the Internet router to be running.
In deciding whether you need a backup generator or a standby generator you need to consider things like whether or not you have medical equipment that must stay on. You’ll also want to consider your distance from any urban or suburban areas, as well as the length of time an average power outage at your home lasts. All of these factor into what size and type of generator your home will need. If you need a system that can run for longer periods or time, or you can’t risk your home not having power because you have people with critically necessary medical equipment then you will want a standby generator. All this information is important to consider and cn electrician can talk through your emergency electrician needs with you and help you figure out what size and type generator you will need.
Chances are you can’t just do a generator installation at home by yourself. It’s more complicated than just plugging the unit into the wall. One of the things that your electrician will need to install before your generator installation in Conway, SC is a transfer switch. A transfer switch is used to prevent back feeding. Back feeding occurs when your generator sends electricity back down the line and into the grid. It’s not just dangerous for your house when the electricity comes back on, but it can be deadly for a line worker out trying to repair the lines.
Prepare to use your generator before your generator installation by reading up on how to turn it on and perform regular maintenance. Watch a few videos on the internet by people who have the same or a similar generator so that you can be prepared to use it and then plan to regularly run it so that you can work through any hiccups.
Once you’ve arranged for your generator installation and purchased your generator figure out with your electrician where the best place is to have it installed and what preparation you can do beforehand. If you are comfortable with it you can prepare the location for the generator pad by marking the location with spray paint. Then prepare the area following your electricians’ suggestions. You want to make sure that the ground is well compacted and level and that any cement that is poured is also level.
Once you’ve prepared the area then the generator installation is left to your electrician. They will handle connecting it to your house and ensuring that the stand by switch is working. Don’t be afraid to talk to them about connecting and starting up your generator, and ask them for any tricks and suggestions they have for keeping it running smoothly. Consider scheduling any future maintenance that will require a technician and ask your electrician for generator technician recommendations if they do not handle the maintenance themselves.
A generator installation doesn’t have to be an overwhelming experience and comes with a number of opportunities to make sure you fully understand the way your whole system will work together to keep your home functioning in an emergency. Don’t let the idea of a generator installation keep you from making a generator purchase. You don’t have to deal with the installation yourself, you can and in many cases probably should hire a professional to do the work for you.
Homes in Gencan be pounded by winter storms and hurricane season. Having a standby or backup generator can be a huge relief when the warnings flash up across the news and are heard on the radio. While others may be scrambling to find a way to keep their home running during the high winds and pelting rain, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that you purchased a generator and had the generator installation professionals at Mister Sparky handle hooking up your home.
No matter what, spend some time getting to know your generator after installation. You want to be sure that you can quickly and easily hook it up during bad weather such as wind and drenching rain. There’s nothing worse than being stuck out in a storm trying to hook up your generator so spend time practicing so it is almost second nature when you need it.