- 1). Choose a generator. Go to the Cummins Onan website calculator (see below) and enter your home's square footage. Choose your fuel--propane or natural gas--and select the appliances you want to run. The calculator will determine the approximate wattage you will need and recommend the generator which will be suitable for your needs.
- 2). Contact the Cummins Onan dealer which is also listed on the website. Briggs & Stratton is another manufacturer you could consider. Both recommend homeowners not install the system on their own, and indeed there may well be local regulations restricting the switch installation to licensed electricians and the fuel systems to licensed suppliers. You can lay the pad and locate the pieces, though.
- 3). Install the system. Place the generator on a concrete pad outside. Allow plenty of breathing room for exhaust fumes and the further from the house the better, in terms of quiet. Don't forget to allow for a propane tank and access for a propane truck, if that's the fuel method you want to use. Propane will give you self-sufficiency, which city gas won't.
- 4). Run cables to the service room of your home. That's where the breakers and the distribution panel are. The supplier will specify and install the cable. The cable terminates at the computer-controlled transfer switch which is screwed to the wall. Tie-in the home's distribution panel and service entrance breaker. Your electrician will make these connections--just keep the panels all in the same area if you can.
- 5). Fill the propane tank, test and set the system.
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