Over 100 Thousand Without Power in Georgia

An ice storm has hit the Georgia area. Ice forming on power lines has caused major problems for people in the area, downing power lines and causing power outages.

With power still out, those affected may begin to wonder how they're going to stay warm as the sun begins to descend below the horizon.

If you are among these people affected, you can certainly do something to restore power to your home.

Go to www.ElectricGeneratorsDirect.com, and you'll see they have many different kinds of generators in stock. Portable generators are the lightest, most affordable, and easiest to get going. Just don't run the unit inside your home, garage, or cellar. The carbon monoxide fumes produced are very deadly. Leave it outside away from doors and windows and run extension cords from it to power your utilities inside.

If you're new to generators, call during the day and speak with one of the experts. They'll help you by answering any questions you might have. Visit the on-site electric generator Buyer's Guide to help you find the perfect model for you, and you'll be warm and watching television again in no time!

If you're looking for a more permanent fix that will kick on as soon as the power goes out, you can get a home standby generator from the same place and hire an electrician and a plumber to come out and install it for you.

Businesses that are worried about keeping the power on have an even better option with commercial standby generators to help keep their coolers, lights, and everything else up and running through power outages. Take a look at Electric Generators Direct.

How to Power Your Home With a Portable Generator

Too many times have I heard from people who plugged their generator directly into a wall outlet to power their home. This is not only extremely dangerous, it's illegal! Do NOT plug into a wall outlet with your generator. This is called backfeeding, and it can be deadly for power line workers.

To power your home with a portable generator, you have to use what is called a power transfer system. It allows you to run the generated power into your circuit board properly. Remember though, if you don't have a powerful enough generator, you won't be able to power your whole house. You can instead turn on only the rooms you are able to power.

Another important thing to remember is that you want to keep your generator outside and away from any windows or doors while it's running. Generators produce carbon monoxide, which is very deadly. Carbon monoxide can build up in your home very rapidly if you have your generator running in your garage, inside your home or basement, or even outside a window or door where it can seep in.

Keep your generator a fair distance away and run a heavy-duty generator cord to the transfer switch inside.

If your main electric panel is installed inside your garage, you've lucked out. Running to an electric panel in a garage is the easiest and least expensive option. Purchase a transfer system compatible with your generator, and have an electrician install it for you.

If your electric main panel is in your basement, you have a couple of options to choose from. you can either run a power cord through an open basement window, or you can mount a power inlet box on the outside of your house near your electrical panel.

The second of those options is better as you could imagine. The power inlet box is then hardwired into your manual transfer switch.

When the power goes out, you just have to run an extension cord from the generator to the power inlet box, flip a few switches and you're back up and running with backup power.

A standard transfer switch installation takes around 3-4 hours and will only cost about $200-$300. While that may seem like a lot, it's a worthwhile investment when the power goes out and you've got less to worry about.