POWER failures are a familiar occurrence for many South Africans and now with the prospect of rolling blackouts back again for the next few months, it’s little wonder that sales of portable generators are soaring.
Landlords, shopkeepers and home-owners are increasingly using them to keep the lights on and to power security systems, refrigerators, phones and other electronics when the electricity goes off.
However, warned Gerhard Kotzé, MD of the RealNet estate agency group, while having quick access to emergency power is really handy, the use of petrol and diesel-powered generators comes with a big responsibility to ensure that they don’t harm anyone in your business premises, home or neighbourhood.
He advised those who are setting out to buy a portable generator to follow these seven guidelines:
- Choose a generator with enough power
You will need to calculate the combined running wattage required by the various items you want to power and make sure your generator will deliver that total running wattage or slightly above. Then check out the starting wattages of your items, select the highest one, and pick a generator which delivers at least that starting wattage.
2. Make sure it has enough outlets
If the generator does not have as many outlets as the items you want to power, look for one with a heavy-duty cord that has four outlets at the end, so you don’t have to worry about trying to manage several different extension cords.
3. Consider run time and portability
Choose a generator that has a long run-time before it needs to be refuelled and, if portability is a consideration, do yourself a favour by making sure it has a handle and wheels that make it easy to move around.
4. Take ventilation into account
When setting up your generator, choose a dry, well-ventilated area outside, away from any air intake into your shop or home – not a closed shed, garage or basement. It is very important to note that opening doors and windows or operating fans may not prevent deadly carbon-monoxide (CO) gas from building up in a room where a generator is running;
5. Store fuel in an appropriate container
This should be away from wood, plastic and other flammables – and away from the generator itself and any other possible ignition source such as a stove. Never use a candle or matches as a light-source to see if the generator needs more fuel.
6. Test it regularly
Ideally, this should be done once a week for 15 minutes to ensure the generator will work when needed. Keep it maintained and serviced. The oil and filters should be changed at least once a year.
7. Be considerate
Think of your neighbours when running the generator, given that the noise associated with most of these machines is in the 90 to 95-decibel range.