How to Prepare Your Generator for Hurricanes and Severe Weather

The Height of Hurricane season is officially upon us. Even if you don’t live in an area prone to hurricanes, spring, summer and Fall can bring severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and more. It’s just as critical to have your generator ready to go if the power goes out. Here, your friends at Guerrera & Sons Electric have collected some tips to help you make sure your generator starts up easily when you need it most.

1. Know the location of your generator key and owner’s manual before the storm arrives.  These two items are important if your generator experiences any sort of issue during an outage, especially your generator key.    

2. Be sure make sure your generator is online before a storm arrives:  If possible, it’s best to do this at least 1-2 days prior to a storm arrives in case your unit has a repair that needs to be addressed. If you have a generator monitoring system, you should be able to check the generator status on your phone or computer.  If you do not have a monitoring system, you can check the unit status by lifting the lid and making sure there is a green light over the auto/ready button.  If it is green, your unit is online and ready for an outage.  If there is a red light/fault code flashing or the control board screen is blank, the unit is offline and may be in need of repair.  If your generator has a fault code flashing, be sure to share the fault information when you call for assistance.  Fault codes give technicians a better idea of the possible issue your generator is experiencing and allows us to better assist you.  

3. Know what is powered by your generator.  Remember, if your entire home’s electric panel was not placed on your generator at installation, there will be certain lights, outlets or even utilities in your home that may not be available during outage. You may want to check to make sure what that vital outlets, appliances, and utilities are on your generator prior to an outage.  Having extension cords and lamps may be helpful to provide lighting to rooms that may not be powered by the generator.

4. Be sure to have some extra oil on hand.  Stand by generators need oil to run.  If the generator is running without proper oil levels it can cause catastrophic damage to the unit engine.  In the event of an extended outage, you may have to add oil to the unit to keep it running.  Generator manufacturers recommend that generator oil levels be checks approximately every 8-10 hours of straight run time. Most generator require a full synthetic oil, but be sure to check your owner’s manual for the recommended oil for your type of unit.  Do not forget to allow the generator to cool down for at least 20-30 minutes before checking oil levels.  You will find instructional videos to assist you at:  www.guerreraelectric.com.   

5. If your unit is run on liquid propane, be sure to make sure you have your propane tank full prior to major storms.  Needless to say, when there are wide- spread outages, propane companies receive a large volume of calls.  This could result in having to wait several days to have a tank refilled. 

6. Make sure your generator is clear of debris.  Generators require air flow to work properly.  Keep leaves, mulch and snow from piling up around the generator.  

7. Make sure your generator is up to date on maintenance.  Nothing reducing the risk of generator failure more than making sure it’s properly maintained throughout the year.  If it’s been a while since your last maintenance, you want to make sure it has proper maintenance before a major storm arrives.  Guerrera & Sons Electric offers a number of maintenance plans to keep your generator properly maintained throughout the year.  

If you have questions about maintaining or operation of your generator system, you can check out our informational videos on our website:  www.guerreraelectric.com or drop us a message at generatorservice@guerreraelectric.com.  Stay safe this Hurricane season.