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Setting up a home generator safely
Choosing the size, where it goes, connecting it safely and running it without risk.
Guide · 2 min read
A generator can keep fans, lights, the fridge and medical devices running, but it is also one of the most dangerous things to keep at home. Most generator deaths are caused by carbon monoxide, a gas you cannot see or smell. Any connection to your home wiring must be made by a licensed electrician. In apartments, generators are usually not allowed; a battery power station is the safer choice there.
In Sakeena you can tick each step and see your progress. It stays on your device. Open it as a checklist
Do now
- List what must keep running (fans, lights, fridge, router, medical devices) and add up their watts. Motors such as fridges and pumps need two to three times their normal watts for a few seconds when they start. The Power Load Calculator helps.
- Choose the type. An inverter generator is quieter and gentler on phones and laptops. A larger standby generator suits a villa with pumps. Most portable generators cannot run split or central air conditioning for long.
- Ask a licensed electrician to fit a transfer switch or interlock. Never plug a generator into a wall socket: this sends power back into the street cables and can kill utility workers, hurt your family and start fires.
- Choose a spot outdoors in open air, on firm level ground, at least 6 metres (20 feet) from doors, windows and air vents, with the exhaust pointing away from the house. Never inside a garage, majlis, store room or covered car porch, even with the door open.
- Fit battery carbon monoxide alarms near bedrooms and test them.
- Check your building, community and civil defence rules on generators and fuel storage before you buy one.
- Once a month, run it for about 15 minutes and keep the fuel fresh, as the manual advises.
Do within 15 minutes
- Before starting, switch off large appliances and the main breaker, or set the transfer switch as your electrician showed you.
- Start the generator outdoors with nothing plugged in, and let it run for a minute.
- Connect things one at a time, most important first: medical devices, fridge, fans, lights. Use heavy-duty outdoor extension cords of the right rating, fully unrolled.
- If anyone feels dizzy, sick, weak or sleepy, switch the generator off, get everyone into fresh air and call your emergency number. These are signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Do in the first day
- Refuel only when the generator is switched off and cool. Fuel spilled on a hot engine can catch fire.
- Store fuel in approved containers, outdoors in the shade, away from the generator and any flame, and only in the amounts your local rules allow.
- Keep children and pets away. The engine and exhaust get very hot.
- Do not run it in rain or near standing water unless it has a proper, well-ventilated cover.
Do daily
- Check oil and fuel each day it runs, following the manual.
- Watch the load. If lights dim or the engine struggles, unplug something.
- Keep the carbon monoxide alarms working and the area around the exhaust clear.
- When mains power returns, switch off the generator loads, set the transfer switch back, then turn appliances on one at a time.
Beta version, still being tested. Educational only. Numbers are planning figures, not guarantees. Follow instructions from your national authorities. Official links and numbers