This post reviews practical guidance from Consumer Reports on portable generator preparedness and safety. The advice is distilled through three decades of experience in emergency power systems.
I’ll walk through why portable generators are increasingly critical during wildfires, hurricanes, and ice storms. I will also outline the maintenance, storage, and installation steps that keep them reliable and safe when you need them most.
Why portable generators are becoming essential
With severe weather events rising in frequency and intensity, homeowners are relying on portable generators to bridge outages that utility crews may take days to resolve.
A well-prepared generator can restore critical power within minutes, keeping refrigeration, medical equipment, heating, and communications operational.
Preparedness isn’t just buying a machine — it’s about maintaining fuel, verifying safe placement, and installing systems that integrate the generator with your home electrical circuits.
Common failure modes and maintenance priorities
One of the most frequent causes of generator failure during an emergency is degraded fuel. Gasoline left sitting in tanks or containers for long periods turns gummy and can clog carburetors, injectors, and fuel lines, leaving a generator that won’t start when you need it.
From my experience, two simple practices dramatically improve reliability:
Safe storage and placement
Where and how you store and operate a generator can be a matter of life and death. Carbon monoxide and fire hazards are real risks with portable units.
Keep generators in a clean, dry, and well-ventilated area away from living spaces.
They should be positioned outdoors and not in garages or basements.
Placement and exhaust guidance
Follow these placement rules every time you operate a generator:
Better integration: transfer switches and interlock devices
Extension cords are a temporary and often unsafe way to power household loads.
A transfer switch or an interlock device provides a safer, more convenient solution by allowing your generator to feed home circuits directly.
These devices prevent backfeeding into the utility grid, which can endanger line crews.
They also let you operate hardwired appliances — including furnaces and water heaters — that don’t use conventional plugs.
Choosing between a transfer switch and an interlock
A professionally installed transfer switch isolates selected circuits. It can automatically power entire home circuits if wired for that purpose.
An interlock device is a less expensive alternative that mechanically prevents simultaneous connection to the grid. It allows you to switch circuits manually.
Both options reduce the stress and complexity of outage operations when compared to multiple extension cords.
Here is the source article for this story: Consumer Reports: How to keep your generator ready for any weather