- If you live in a remote area where the power supply is vulnerable to extreme weather, a generator could be good insurance. It's also useful for powering tools and equipment in remote places.
- If you want a generator mainly for powering small portable equipment for a few hours, a two-stroke model could do the job at modest cost.
- A four-stroke model makes more sense if you think you may need to run the generator for a day or so.
- For longer periods (several days on end), there's nothing cheaper to run than a diesel model. But it may be difficult to find one that's easily portable.
Earthing
We strongly recommend using a residual current device (RCD) in the power line from the generator.
Let's say you have a freezer you want to keep cold during a power cut. When the freezer is plugged into the mains, the cabinet of the freezer is earthed via the household wiring system, and so is safe. But plug the freezer into a generator and that earthing is lost. An RCD would protect you if a fault occurs.
Report by Bill Whitley.
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