Manual Switches Are a Necessity for Hurricane Season

I am a homeowner in Florida and one of the best best buys I ever made to get ready for Hurricane season was a Manual Switch. For those who do not know what a Manual Switch is, do not feel bad neither did I before I bought one. A Manual Switch is basically a circuit breaker box for you generator and here is how it works.

The Manual Switch tells the power from the generator where to go. It does this by taking certain circuits off your home circuit board to route power to. In essence your generator is know your power company. So during a power outage after a hurricane you would hook up your generator to the Manual Switch, flip your switches to the generator mode and viola! you have power to some of your most needed areas. Easy!

Installing a Manual Switch is a little tricky and should be left to professional electricians for a number of reasons not least of which is electrocuting yourself. You can also void your homeowners policy if you do not get a certified electrician to install it. The electrician will mount it for you somewhere near your main circuit box. All you need to do is tell them what circuits you want going to the Manual Switch. Be aware you may not be able to power somethings like your A/C, stove and water heater unless you get a very powerful Manual Switch so study up or ask a lot of questions before buying one. I have a little 6 circuit one and that is plenty for my family after a hurricane. It powers my refrigerator, kitchen, microwave, fans, lights, T.V.s, cable, computer and certain outlets - not bad. It cost me about $250 for the Manual Switch (it came with a cord, mounting plate and installation video) from Home Depot and about another $300 to have it installed (I had them drill a hole in my garage wall to run the power cord through).

So why do all that for all that money? For me it came down to two things - simplicity and safety. I was surprised to find a third one along the way - efficiency. First simplicity. Normal operation with a generator can be cumbersome. You usually have only three or four outlets on a generator and from those you have to run power cords to the things you want powered which means a lot of work. Just think about moving your refrigerator to plug in a cord. Or where to run that power cord for your mounted microwave. And forget about ceiling fans or mounted lights - there is no way to plug them in.

Second is safety. With running only one cord from the generator to the Manual Switch you have a lot less cords. Can you imagine all those cords running through your home just waiting to be tripped on? And how about junior getting a little too curious about the cords? This is not what I wanted for my family after a hurricane hits - we would have enough to worry about.

Last is efficiency. I was surprised to find out that I would be able to power a lot more things with a Manual Switch than with just the generator itself. Some of that has to do with the cord issue that I spoke of before (now I can power ceiling fans and mounted lights). But more had to do with the how it used all of the generator's power. I have a 5550 watt Briggs and Stratton generator. With a Manual Switch all those watts go to the switch and then the switch tells it where to go. With just the generator I would have to buy 20 or so cords to get the same effect and then where would I plug them in (remember the generator has limited outlets)?

Some things to know. Please, please do not run a generator indoors, near open windows or any other openings and this means your garage as well due to carbon monoxide fumes. I have mine routed to my fenced in backyard to hopefully help it not get stolen from looters after the hurricane. Remember it can be days if not weeks before power can be restored after a hurricane so plan ahead. And, again, get a certified electrician to install your Manual Switch.