• Planning Ahead

Purchase a generator before a disaster, not afterward, when the local home center has become a mob scene. Then, practice setting it up safely. Consider hiring an electrician to install a transfer switch. (See “Transfer Switches,” below.)

• Load Assessment

Before shopping, determine how much output the generator must have to power all the devices you want to run simultaneously. You’ll need to know both the running load and the surge wattage—the added power required when a large motor such as a refrigerator compressor starts up. To find the running load, add up the various devices’ wattages. For a rough estimate of surge wattage, take the largest single wattage and multiply it by three.

• Carbon Monoxide

There were 64 carbon monoxide-related deaths in the United States caused by generators in 2005. Never run a generator in a garage, under a deck, or in any other enclosed space.

• Transfer Switches

A few devices can be powered directly from the generator using an extension cord. To safely wire the generator into your home’s electrical system, you need to have an elec-trician install a transfer switch, which prevents the generator from sending power back to the grid and harming utility workers repairing local lines.