In the mist of hurricane season, a power loss can send a family running for cooler air. Storms can knock out power through fallen trees and blown up transformers. A whole house generator is designed to run your whole house. Most standby generators come with an automatic transfer switch. That means that 30 seconds after you loose power, your generator will energize power to your home. Once your utility power returns, the generator will transfer back to utility power, cool itself down, and then turn itself off.
Generators come in different sizes for different power needs. An air cooled generator will run most homes (but not all). You could probably run up to one 5 ton air conditioning unit. These factors also depend upon the size of your house and what gas and electric appliances you have. An air cooled generator needs regular maintenance. You will need to change the break in oil in some units. Some other generators require you change the oil and perform a maintenance check at 100 hours. The maintenance does not only include oil changes. It should not be performed by the everyday guy because it includes some things that are more technical that most people don’t understand. Here are some of the adjustments to be checked:
• Check cycles, especially under a load.
• Check voltage and make adjustments as needed
• Check transfer switch to make sure it will transfer to generator and transfer back to utility power.
• Check to see if it is exercising regularly
And much, much, more!
I must test your generator on a load. That means I will have to shut down power to your house. One generator I was checking worked fine until I shut off utility power. The generator would not start the air conditioner. Once adjustments were made, it worked perfectly.
If you have a power outage and run your generator 24 hours straight, you must check the oil every 8 hours. If your generator runs out of oil, you will burn up the generator. I suggest you check the oil level at least once in a 24 hour period.
An experienced, factory trained, maintenance dealer can perform all these inspections. Your generator is important in times of power outages. The maintenance will keep it running longer. Have you had a maintenance inspection lately?
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