Dahlberg Light and Power Safety Procedures: Standby Generators
In the Event of an Outage use a Standby Generator
Standby generators are a great tool to use during a power outage to heat or cool your home, provide lighting, or maintain refrigeration. If you own a standby generator and wish to use it at your home for emergency backup, there are basically two ways to use it.
Method #1: using a portable generator and plugging into the generator outlets and powering individual pieces of equipment. Please remember the following safety precautions.
- Never plug the generator into an existing outlet or wire it to your electrical panel to back feed your electrical circuits. This may cause power to be fed back into the DLP distribution lines and poses an electrocution hazard for our line personnel.
- Do not use the generator indoors, including a garage, carport, basement, crawlspace, or other enclosed, or partially enclosed area.
- Do not overload the generator by trying to power more equipment than the generator is rated to handle.
- Be sure to turn the generator off and let it cool down before refueling. Gasoline spilled on hot engine parts could ignite.
- Handle and store fuels in a well-ventilated area away from any ignition sources.
Method #2: installing permanent wiring so that the generator can feed part, or all, of your electrical panel and supply power to your home through these circuits. DLP does not allow this type of installation unless an outside disconnect and a double throw transfer switch are installed to separate your panel from the DLP system when the generator is in use.
In addition to following the above safety precautions, please remember the following:
- All wiring must be done in accordance with the Wisconsin State Electrical Code.
- If the generator is wired to supply power to the whole panel, an outside disconnect rated for the service must be installed down line of the meter socket and a transfer switch, rated to match the main panel breaker, must be installed between the outside disconnect and the main panel.
- If the generator is wired to supply power only to certain electrical circuits, a transfer switch rated to handle those circuits must be installed and separate those circuits from the panel.
- The generator must be sized appropriately for the expected load.
