Today, more and more homes and office buildings are installing permanent generators that can operate all or most of the appliances and electrical items in the building. The use of permanent whole-house generators has become necessary as people are more dependent upon electronics than ever before. For example, even fireplaces, stoves and telephones now require electricity so having a power outage can make it literally impossible to stay in your home or office building. Of course, if you have installed a whole house generator or if you have installed a generator for your office environment, you need to be able to use your generator. Generator transfer switches allow you to do just that.
What are Generator Transfer Switches ?
Generator transfer switches are switches that are used to switch the source of power to your home. Typically, power enters your home through a main power line from your electric company. The power is then distributed to all of the items in your house that require electricity so those items can operate. When the power goes out, however, you need to change the source of the power. Instead of drawing from the power line that gets electricity from the utility company, you need to draw power from the generator and transfer that power to the appliances and items in your home or office. Of course, when the power goes back on, you will then need to do the reverse and switch back to having your power come from the electric company.
When making the switch from generator power to power provided by the electric company, it is important that power from the generator does not travel back out and down the main line that is supposed to bring power in from the electric company. This line is meant only for power to come in and it can be dangerous to have power from the generator travel out. A generator transfer switch makes sure that this does not happen.
A generator transfer switch has an “Off” position that the user must switch to before the switch from generator to electric-company power is made. This ensures that the power is completely off before the change is made so that no power travels the wrong way down the power line to cause damage.
Benefits of Generator Transfer Switches
Generator transfer switches provide many benefits. The most significant and important benefit is that they make the use of a generator safe. In many localities, you are required to have your generator transfer switch installed by an electrician, which helps to go an extra step further in ensuring the safe use of your generator in your home or office.
Generator transfer switches can also make the use of your generator much more convenient. It is possible to opt for an automatic generator transfer switch so that when the power goes out, the source of your power can switch automatically over to your generator and you will not lose power to the important systems in your home. Automatic generator transfer switches thus have the advantage not just of safety but also of maximum convenience as well.
