Home generator sales are booming; if you want one, here's what to consider, including essential safety precuations

Home generator sales are booming as increasingly extreme weather and wildfires lead to more power outages. Major generator maker Generac Power Systems saw a nearly 50 percent jump in revenue in 2021. But "buying a generator can be a big investment with a lot to consider. It's important to know what kind of generator would work best for your situation and how to use it safely," Jeff Brady reports for NPR. With a major winter storm expected to hit much of the central U.S. starting tomorrow night, it's a good time to review the topic and safety precautions.

The first option is a home standby generator, which usually runs off natural gas or propane and can automatically start up when the power goes out. These units can power an entire house, but they have a price tag to match—upwards of $10,000 for a medium-sized house, after installation—so they make up only 5% of the market, Brady reports.

Most people instead buy portable generators that run on gasoline. "Portable generators cost as little as a few hundred dollars, but they come with limits. Most won't power an entire house, like a permanently mounted model will, so you have to choose what gets plugged in during an outage," Brady reports. Paul Hope, home and garden editor at Consumer Reports, said an electrician can connect a portable generator to a house's circuit breaker box, then the homeowner can manually transfer power to the generator when the power goes out.

Instead of wiring a generator to the house, some people choose to run extension cords out to a generator. If you go that route, be careful. "The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 70 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators," Brady reports. "The agency says the machine must be at least 20 feet from a house, with the exhaust directed away from the home and other buildings where people go. The CPSC says you should never operate a portable generator inside a home, garage, basement, crawl space or shed — or even on a porch." Hope advises people to make sure they have a generator and plenty of long, heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cords so the generator can be located at least 20 feet away from the house.

"Another thing to consider is how much gasoline needs to be stored to run a portable generator during an extended outage," Brady reports. "Some burn up to 20 gallons of gas a day. Hope says to make sure to store gas in approved containers and add fuel stabilizer to boost the life of the gas up to two years. If you still haven't used it by then, you can burn the gas in your car."

If you don't want to deal with a generator, Hope notes that there are a few other options. If you just need a little juice to charge, say, your phone, some lights and a hotplate, you can get a battery-powered portable power station for about $1,000, but it won't keep your refrigerator and freezer cold for long unless it's one of the much higher-end models. Solar panels are also an option, Hope told Brady, but acknowledges they're as expensive as a home standby generator and can't store much power unless you invest in a considerable home battery storage.