08/16/2026
Seen this posted from someone in Indiana... seems very helpful!
Helpful tips for anyone running a portable generator.
- Keep it 20ft + away from the house. Additionally, point the part that blows exhaust away from your house and also your neighbor’s house. Carbon monoxide can k**l you, before you ever realize it. Pick up a few detectors if you don’t have any, and plug them into the generator extension cords. Especially where you sleep.
💨
- DO NOT REFUEL WHILE ITS RUNNING Gas can spill onto the very hot components and immediately ignite and/or cause an explosion. Turn it off and wait 20 mins to let it cool down. Then refuel.
⛽️
- Keep if from getting rained on. They do sell portable generator tents, but I used what I had on hand. A square card table with a contractor garbage bag clipped onto the side of the table (not the generator), where everything plugs in. Put something heavyish on top, to protect from wind. I used a paver.
🔌
- Make sure your extension cords are rated for what you’re running. I’d recommend grabbing a couple 10 guage, long (50 or 100ft) cords, with a built in 3 way adapter. Then jump any typical extension cords (14 guage), for lower power devices, off of those, if need be. UPDATE/CLARIFICATION - In general, avoid jumping/daisy chaining cords if you can, due to voltage drop/heat over long runs. However, if it’s needed, it’s typically safe to run low power requirement devices, like a fan, phone charger etc. That’s going from a 10 guage cord, to a typical 14 guage cord, or something similar. Plus you can always do the cord test, where you feel the extension cord over time. If it’s hot or even warm to the touch, unplug it immediately. If it’s cool, you’re good. AVOID plugging in a power hungry device, like a refrigerator for instance, at the end of a long chain like that.
🔌
- Do not start the generator back up with everything plugged in. Especially for items like refrigerators, freezers, sump pums etc. plug them back in 1 at a time, after restarting the generator.
🧊
- For prolonged use, like what some of us are in for, change the oil after 50-100 hours of use. Also may depend on the size or brand, so keep an eye on that total runtime
🛢️
Be safe everyone! Praying that recovery goes as quickly as possible 🙏
