Installing Generators in Durham
Do-it-yourself generator installation in Durham is illegal if you aren’t a licensed electrician. Without the right electrical setup, whole-home generators can back-feed electricity into utility lines and cause fires, electrocution, and death.
Worse still, back-feeding is a problem that can affect anyone using the electric grid. If you accidentally back-feed your generator, you can harm your neighbors, damage their properties, and seriously injure workers who are busy fixing power lines.
Whole-home generators provide a wealth of important benefits when properly installed:
- Supply power to life-saving medical equipment
- Prevent pipe ruptures and indoor floods
- Power up communication devices
- Prevent food spoilage
A properly installed generator will add value to your Durham home and increase its appeal.
These projects start by determining the right generator capacity for the individual household. You’ll have to take stock of all the appliances and devices that will draw power from this source. Factors like generator size, available storage area, and the health of existing electrical systems matter, too.
Standard clearances for these appliances include positioning them at least three feet from all combustible or flammable items and at least five feet from windows, doors, or other openings. If you haven’t updated your electrical system in more than 20 years, features like your main electrical panel or breaker box may need replacing.
Before installing your new generator, we’ll pull a permit for your project. Then, we’ll install a transfer switch. Transfer switches block the reverse flow of electricity to prevent back-feeding and seamlessly transition a home’s power needs to its generator.
Generator venting systems deliver carbon monoxide (CO) and other exhaust gases outdoors. After setting up and connecting your generator, our team will test its performance and the efficacy and integrity of its venting system.
However, whenever there are fuel-combusting appliances indoors, it’s also important to have CO detectors installed. If this is your first fuel-combusting appliance, you’ll need new CO detectors outside of every bedroom, at least 10 feet away from your generator, and in each large common area.
