Terrebonne Government joins other local agencies to give generator safety tips with Barry just offshore

Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove and Houma Fire Chief Keith Ward, in conjunction with other fire chiefs in the parish are reminding citizens of the dangers present in the use of portable generators if electricity goes out during Tropical Storm Barry.

Dove and Ward sent out the following reminders for generator use in the parish:

1. Never use a portable generator indoors. There is a danger from carbon monoxide which is a deadly, odorless, colorless gas.
2. Do not plug the generator into a wall outlet. Use a heavy-duty extension cord from the generator directly to the appliance(s) to be powered.
3. Whole house generators must be installed by a licensed electrician. These should also be installed with a transfer switch to avoid feeding electric power back into the grid when electricity is restored.
4. If you use a portable generator, make sure the appliances you intend to power by the generator, do not exceed the rated wattage of your generator. In most cases, you should allow 2.5 times the listed wattage for starting the appliances you wish to power during the outage.

For more information on the use of portable generators, please refer to www.tohsep.com. 

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REMEMBER: You should NEVER connect a generator directly to your house without a transfer switch. A transfer switch will prevent the back-feed of electricity into the main utility lines.

To prevent overloading your generator, add up the total wattage of all loads to be connected to the unit at one time. This total should not be greater than that unit’s rated wattage capacity. Allow 2.5 times the listed wattage for starting the indicated equipment.

THE FOLLOWING CHART IS PROVIDED TO ASSIST YOU IN DETERMINING HOW MANY ITEMS YOUR GENERATOR CAN OPERATE AT ONE TIME.

*Source: U.S. Department of Energy

Typical Wattage Requirement Chart Running Watts:

Aquarium

50-1210

Clock Radio

10

Coffee Maker

900-1200

Clothes Washer

350-500

Clothes Dryer

1800-5000

Ceiling Fan

175-650

Personal Computer

270

Hair Dryer

1200-1875

Heater (portable)

750-1500

Lightbulb (100 watt)

100

Microwave Oven

1100-7560

Radio

70-400

Refrigerator (*16 Cubic Feet)

725

Television (19 inch)

65-110

Barry