Home generators for emergencies

 I used to own a Motor home that was parked in my driveway from 2003 until a few years ago when I sold it. it had a built in Onan generator on it in order to have electricity literally anywhere it was parked. So, all I had to do when I owned this motorhome was to plug into my motorhome and turn on the generator which ran on the same gas tank as the motor home. This worked great during weather emergencies where the power went out usually from trees taking down power lines where we live since we live in a coastal Forest near San Francisco.

However, when I sold the motor home I no longer had a generator for emergencies. So, I went to Orchard supply which still existed then and bought a 600 dollar Generac generator which I still have. However, someone told me that I shouldn't have been burning premium Gas in it because that might burn up the engine because they are only built to take regular gas. However, I had premium gas on hand because my motorcycle runs better on premium and so that's what I had and didn't realize you need to burn regular gas in a generator. So, my generator stopped working after about 5 years of use during power emergencies.

What is important regarding using a generator is that you don't run them inside of your home or even inside of your garage. They need to be outside so you don't die of carbon monoxide by accident. Because it doesn't snow here how I often handled this was just to open my garage door and wheeling it outside into the fresh air. But, if it was raining I often would leave my garage door open and use the garage door to shade the generator from the rain.

The other important things is: NEVER run the electricity from your generator through your wall outlets from your main electric panel. Why?

I have worked as an electrician and my father was also an electrical contractor. The reason why is that often the power might come back on suddenly to the house when you least expect it and blow up your generator and put your house on fire accidentally if you run your generator power through your wires in your home or through your main electric panel.

So, you need a 100 foot orange extension cord that you run directly from your generator. Then you unplug your refrigerator and plug this directly into your 100 foot cord from your generator. I often also use a surge protector to protect everything electrical I'm going to plug into my generator cord too like Wifi, TV etc. and usually a lamp in the kitchen for light at night in addition to my refrigerator.

Also, if you have a gas range to cook on you need to have one that you can light with a match when the power is out, otherwise you won't be able to cook. If you have an electric range you might need to get a hot plate which doesn't take much power so a generator usually can power a hot plate. But, you usually have to forego your oven but a generator can power a microwave oven.

I try to be considerate of my neighbors (if you have any nearby you) by only running my generator from about 8 or 9 AM to 8 or 9 pm at night. Things in the refrigerator usually can last overnight if it's not to hot in the kitchen area without power.

So, right now I don't have a functioning generator but so far this year I haven't needed one here in California because the last month has been warm in the 60s and 70s with no rain at all since all the rain we got in December 2021.