How To Winterize Your Generator
We might not be ready to admit it, but Winter is just around the corner. It’s time to winterize your generator! With snowstorms on the horizon, it’s important to protect your home and start winterizing it. One of the most important things to add to your list of best practices for winter is to protect your generator. This will help keep you safe, warm, and with the lights on during the winter if there is a severe winter storm or you lose power for any reason.
Winterizing Diesel Generators
If you have a diesel generator, remember that in diesel generators, the water separator needs to be drained. It’s important to replace the filters. Make sure to protect your generator from getting wet or having water inside the generator that could freeze. This could cause big problems, be sure to drain and cover your generator.
Running your Portable Generator in the Winter
The first thing you should do when you’re thinking about running your generator in the winter is to allow the engine to run for 10 minutes before applying a load to the generator. Allowing it to run for those 10 minutes lets the fuel circulate and creates a safer way to apply loads to your generator. This will also help protect your generator from damages and allow you to elongate your generator’s life.
Winterizing Stand by Generators
Stand-by generators should be kept 5 feet away from any snow or anywhere that might accumulate snow during the winter. Snow on the generator can cause big problems, so be sure to check and recheck this. Be sure to check your battery before the winter, if the battery is running low, you should think about replacing it to ensure that your battery will be able to hold a charge in the winter.
You can purchase a cold weather kit to assist in preventing your battery from draining due to cold weather. You can also make use of an engine block heater to help your standby generator run well in colder temperatures. A heating coolant can help maintain the temperature so your generator will have an easier time starting.
It’s always important to check with your generator manufacturer’s recommendations before using any features mentioned to make sure you are using the compatible feature for your generator.
We hope this helped you start to make plans to winterize your generator. Contact us today at almar@almarbuilding.com or 781-826-2577 for all your remodeling needs. Don’t forget to watch our videos on YouTube.
