Home Generator Repair Near Loveland, CO

Yes, generators need maintenance! It’s very important to have the proper maintenance performed on your generator by SWAN Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning & Electric professionals at least once a year. Keeping up your generator will ensure that everything is in good working order and even extend the lifespan of your system!

On average, whole-home generators should last about 20 years. It’s important to note that properly maintaining your generator will make all the difference in terms of how well it performs and how long it lasts. Always have a professional from SWAN Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning & Electric perform your yearly generator maintenance.

The simple answer is no. The more detailed answer is you should never plug your portable generator into an outlet because not only is it extremely dangerous, it’s also illegal! Plugging your generator directly into a standard wall outlet can cause back-feeding into the utility lines that connect to your house, causing serious injury or even death to an unsuspecting utility worker who is working to restore power or downed utility lines. There’s also an added risk of overloading your circuits, which can result in an electrical fire. Instead, lean on SWAN Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning & Electric for help installing a transfer switch, so you can safely and legally power your portable generator!

If your generator has been properly installed and maintained, it should not overload. But, in the event that it does, the generator’s circuit breaker will trip. To correct this, reset the breaker on your generator. Understand though, that this is only a temporary solution. If your generator is frequently overloading, something is wrong and you will need to have one of our experts investigate the problem. Make sure to take care of this right away to avoid worsening the issue.

Automatic standby generators are essentially backup generators. In the event that your main generator fails, the automatic standby will kick in and restore power. Automatic standby generators will operate whether you are home or are away, and run on natural or liquid propane gas. Within seconds of an outage, the standby generator will automatically supply power directly to your home’s electrical circuit breaker box. After utility power returns, the standby generator will then automatically shut itself back off until the next outage.

There isn’t necessarily one single type of fuel that is best, as they all have different advantages and disadvantages. Gasoline is easily accessible, but also highly flammable, making it dangerous to keep large amounts of on hand (it will also spoil after awhile). While propane has a much longer shelf life, the tanks are very large and obtrusive. Lastly, diesel is the least flammable of the three, but will spoil after about two years if unused (still longer than gasoline).