Best Place to Run a Portable Generator During a Power Outage

Where to place your portable generator when the power goes out

Portable generators can help restore life to normal during emergencies, but deciding where to place your generator requires care and planning due to the carbon monoxide it produces.

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous gas that is created when common fuels such as natural gas, oil, wood, or coal burn incompletely. This odorless, colorless, tasteless gas is often called the “silent killer” because it is virtually undetectable without the use of detection technology like a CO alarm.  Extremely high levels of carbon monoxide poisoning can be fatal within minutes.

Always thoroughly read the manufacturer’s instructions. This can help avoid dangerous shortcuts and assist you in ensuring safe operation of your generator.

 Keep emergency portable generators away from all open windows so deadly exhaust does not enter the home or business.

 Be a good neighbor. If the power is out, your neighbors are probably sleeping with their windows open. Consider placing the generator away from your neighbor’s windows.

Never use a generator indoors, including in homes, garages, basements, crawl spaces, and other enclosed or partially-enclosed areas, even with ventilation. Opening doors and windows or using fans will not prevent (CO) build-up in the home.

Install battery-operated CO alarms or plug-in CO alarms with battery back-up in your home, according to the manufacturer’s installation instructions. The CO alarms should be certified to the requirements of the latest safety standards for CO alarms.

Test your CO alarms frequently and replace dead batteries. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), unintentional CO poisoning claims more than 400 lives a year. More than 20,000 people visit the emergency room and more than 4,000 are hospitalized due to exposure to toxic levels of the colorless, odorless gas. Fatality is highest among people 65 and older. Many of these deaths and illnesses stem from unsafe use of portable generators, often in the aftermath of devastating storms and other causes of electric power outages.