The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, and outages in South Florida are not only a storm-day problem — restoration can take days after the weather has passed.
A generator is the visible part of backup power, but the useful decisions are about what has to keep running and how the equipment connects to the property. Those two choices determine everything else.
Start with the loads, not the generator
The most common mistake is choosing a unit first and working out what it can carry afterwards. The order that works is the reverse.
- What genuinely has to stay on — refrigeration, some lighting, medical equipment, a well or sump pump, network equipment for a home office
- What is desirable but survivable — full air conditioning is the expensive one, and it is usually the load that decides the size of the whole system
- What can wait entirely until power is restored
Answering those honestly is what separates a system that covers the essentials from one sized for a scenario nobody actually needs.
Transfer equipment is the safety-critical part
A generator has to be isolated from the utility supply. Without that isolation, generator output can energize the utility conductors serving the property — which is dangerous for line workers and for anyone else on that section of the network.
Manual transfer
Someone switches over when the outage starts. Lower cost, but it needs a person present and willing to do it, which is worth thinking through honestly for a property that is sometimes empty.
Automatic transfer
The switch detects the outage and changes over without intervention, then transfers back when utility power returns. This is what most standby installations use.
Whichever is chosen, the transfer equipment is a permanent electrical installation and is part of the work that requires permitting and inspection.
Portable units deserve particular care
Portable generators cause the most avoidable harm, and almost always in the same two ways.
- Carbon monoxide: portable units must run outdoors and well away from windows, doors and vents. Never in a garage, even with the door open.
- Backfeeding: connecting a portable unit to the property through an outlet energizes the premises wiring with no isolation from the utility. Where a portable unit is going to be used regularly, an inlet and transfer arrangement installed by an electrician is the way to do it.
Fuel, and the part people forget
Standby units are usually supplied by natural gas or propane, which is why fuel availability often decides what is practical at a given property. Portable units run on gasoline, which means storing fuel and refueling a hot machine during an outage.
The forgotten part is exercise. A standby generator that never runs between seasons is the one that fails to start when it is finally needed. Automatic exercise cycles exist for exactly this reason, and the batteries that start these units have a service life of their own.
Placement and the coastal environment
Standby units need clearance for airflow and servicing, and they need to sit where flooding is least likely to reach them — which in much of South Florida is a real constraint rather than a theoretical one.
Salt air also matters here. Enclosures, fasteners and the electrical connections at the unit corrode faster near the coast, and a generator that is never exercised between seasons is the one most likely to disappoint when it is finally needed.
Planning ahead of the season
Backup power is easiest to plan outside of hurricane season, when the decisions can be made carefully rather than during a warning.
KRW Electric is a licensed electrical contractor (EC13012832) working throughout South Florida. Get in touch to talk through what a property needs to keep running.
Reviewed by Kyle White, KRW Electric Company LLC — licensed electrical contractor EC13012832.
