Generator Safety: CO Prevention, Outdoor Placement, and Backfeed Protection

ByRob B.

Generator safety guide: carbon monoxide dangers and placement requirements, the 20-foot minimum distance rule, backfeed electrocution prevention with transfer switches, generator grounding requirements, fuel storage and stabilizer use, runtime calculation, and testing schedule for emergency readiness.

Home Power Backup: What I Learned After My Generator Failed to Start During a Winter Storm

Home Power Backup: What I Learned After My Generator Failed to Start During a Winter Storm

ByRob B.

Home power backup buying guide built from real failures: why ethanol-blended gasoline destroyed a generator carburetor after 90 days in storage, what kill-switch measurements revealed about actual starting watts vs. label watts, why I chose an inverter generator over conventional despite 2x the price, the solar generator I tested and refused to buy, and how to size backup power for your specific critical loads.