The Many Activities Involved In A Generator Hookup Service And Which Choices You Should Consider | Myrtle Beach, SC
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For permanent home backup generators, our generator hookup service at Mister Sparky Generators provides quite a collection of professional services. A full installation for our customers in the Myrtle Beach, SC area includes site selection with requirements and options, transfer switch installation and wiring, power supply for the generator controls from your electric panel, remote monitoring equipment, fuel supply, even network connections, and much more. You’ll have a lot of things to think about, and choices to make that can make having backup power more enjoyable and useful for you and your family. Once all the pieces of the generator hookup service plan are in place, our team of experts gets to work with a coordinated, efficient process that ensures your installation is right for you.
What Capacity Is Your Backup Generator?
The type of your backup generator and its capacity will affect the generator hookup service options that you might need. For example, a basic portable unit with 1 kW capacity typically won’t need the installation options, may not even use a transfer switch (there’s a simpler but appropriate option) and if it does, a manual one. A 22 kW permanent home backup generator will typically have a host of features to manage, from natural gas fuel supply options to remote monitoring and management, and installation will have many safety and convenience parameters to consider, including sound and vibration as well as emissions-related considerations.
Transfer Switches Connecting Your Home’s Backup Power Input
For permanent generators, an automatic transfer switch makes sense because it handles the shift from commercial power to backup generator power automatically. Our generator hookup service will plan the installation of this device and connection to your home’s wiring, including considering the capacity of the unit and providing appropriate wire gauges and protection.
Commercial Power for the Generator Charges the Battery and Runs Controls
A backup generator doesn’t just supply power, it requires commercial power to keep its internal battery charged and ready to start the unit. When our generator hookup service prepares the wiring, we’ll make sure that you have the necessary connections for supplying the generator with power, as well as bringing generator power to the transfer switch. Generator wiring requires enough specialized knowledge that having a professional electrician is a good idea to ensure both reliable operation and safety. Wiring must be selected for outdoor use, proper current capacity, and with the right connectors to fasten properly.
Fuel Source Selection Selection
Diesel, propane, or natural gas are typical generator fuel sources, and natural gas requires more initial setup but then it is ready to run for as long as your generator needs to. Propane requires deliveries to top off your tank, and diesel does as well, plus it may need to be replaced if it remains unused in the tank for too long. The type of fuel used may affect the selection of an installation location for your system, depending on where the fuel tank can be placed or the gas line run.
Where Is Your Backup Generator Being Installed?
Local code and other requirements will provide some constraints when our generator hookup service is designing your backup generator’s installation including concrete pedestal and connections to your house or garage. You may have preferences about the location to keep the unit from reflecting sound off your walls that might disturb your neighbor, or avoid vibration near your home where there is sensitive equipment inside, but usually, the major concerns are sound near your bedrooms, exhaust dissipation, and minor vibration issues. Residential backup generators are designed to meet the demanding needs of homeowners.
Does Your Generator Need to Be Kept Warm in Winter?
In our area, it’s not typically needed, but generator systems do offer heating packages much like engine block heaters used in northern states to ensure that oil viscosity and other factors allow for proper starting even when the weather gets very cold. In addition, test runs of the generator to ensure that it is still in top shape require that the unit run until it reaches normal operating temperature, which could take much longer in extremely cold weather. Brief tests can produce problems where condensation gets into the crankcase oil and causes lubrication problems.
Networking Modern Backup Generators
One of the final steps for installing many modern generators is connecting wired or wireless internet for status messaging and monitoring devices. This helps make generator ownership even more hands-off than in the past, while ensuring that owners can quickly arrange for repair and maintenance visits as needed, using generator-supplied status information. Remote monitoring in the home allows checking the unit even in stormy weather, and smartphone apps provide features that are convenient for owners to check their home’s power when they’re away, or make sure that senior relatives have generator power during power failures to keep their home comfortable and any medically necessary equipment operational.
Proper Installation Makes Maintenance Easier
The reliability of backup generators is a combination of a quality product and careful, complete maintenance practices including battery checks and replacements, filter replacement, and a variety of mechanical and electrical maintenance steps. When the unit is installed and documented so that maintenance teams can be sure that they’ve covered all the necessary activities, the owner knows that both sides of the reliability equation are taken care of. Proper installation also reduces the chance of wear from vibration, issues with wiring, and problems of emissions triggering carbon monoxide sensor-related shutdowns.
At Mister Sparky Generators of Myrtle Beach, SC, Our Generator Hookup Service Gives You Options
Our experienced professional electricians and generator technicians at Mister Sparky Generators understand the wide variety of generator hookup service configurations and can help you select the right configuration for your application. We’ll also document your system to provide guidance for regular maintenance services, an important part of backup generator ownership. Give us a call in Myrtle Beach, SC to find out more about our generator hookup service.