Gensets and the law:

The South African National Standard (SANS 10142-1:2003) for the Wiring of Premises Clause 7:12 prescribes the minimum safety requirements for the installation of low-voltage generating sets. These are legal requirements, and failure to comply with these requirements could invalidate any home owners insurance should it be established that a fire or injury was caused as a result of the in correct connection to a genset.

The requirements contained in the Standard are of a very technical nature, and must be clearly understood and applied.

Carry out regular testing:

Gensets must be tested at regular intervals, and the tests must be carried out as if the gensets were in operation.

Other important considerations

The Position of the genset:

The battery
If the genset has an automatic start facility care needs to be taken of the battery. Just as a car battery needs care and maintenance.

Noise Factor
Gensets are noisy and therefore need to be positioned in a place where the noise will not intrude in the house or disturb your neighbours.

Heat Factor
Gensets will get hot so care needs to be taken that no one will get burnt by coming into contact with the hot exhaust pipe.

Exhaust Gas
The exhaust gas needs to be dissipated into the open air, and care needs to be taken that the gensets will not emit exhaust gas into a poorly ventilated room and thereby cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Fuel storage
Unlike the toil of cutting the lawn with the petrol lawnmower and you can plan to make quick trip to the local petrol station to buy some fuel, no amount of sophistication of our genset will be of any use without fuel. Power outages occur when we least expect them.  Accordingly, fuel needs to be permanently available and stored in a suitable container, in a suitably ventilated room. Remember the petrol station may also be without power.

Information provided by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (South Africa) - (ECA (SA))