Remotely Monitor Your Generator
Your standby generator will run each week for an exercise test. While running this exercise, it will check itself mechanically and electrically to be sure it is ready to run in the event of a power outage. If it senses anything during this exercise that could be damaging to itself or your home, it will shut off in what we call fault. Should this happen, the generator will not try to start again until this fault has been addressed.
In the vast majority of the emergency calls we receive, when the power is out and the generator fails to start, the problem was pre-existing. The urgency of the situation would have been avoided if we had knowledge of the problem when it occurred, instead of when the power went out.
A generator is different from anything else in your home. It will spend the majority of its life dormant, in standby mode. If there is a problem, you may not know about it until it’s too late. That is unless you know that the generator has been exercising each week.
So, the natural questions are:
“How do I know if my generator is OK”?
Well, the first step is to listen to the weekly exercise. Have us set the exercise for a time that you’re typically home and can listen for it to run. Newer machines have an external status indicator that can tell you if the machine is ready to run. In the event of a fault, the green LED would turn red. If you haven’t thought about it in a while, go take a look. If the green LED is on, you know your generator is ready to run. If the red LED is on, contact us and we can schedule a service call or walk you through some simple steps to reset the machine.
“What if I’m not home, or want a more reliable way of knowing my generator is ready”?
In this case, we can monitor the machine remotely. There are several options available, each has its pros and cons to consider based on your home and lifestyle.
- Generac Mobile Link Wi-Fi
Mobile Link Wi-Fi monitoring now comes standard on all new air-cooled generators (9-22kw). Mobile Link Wi-Fi lets you check on your standby generator’s status, or receive timely notifications using your computer, tablet, or smartphone. With Mobile Link, you’ll always know exactly what your generator is doing – or not doing—anytime, anywhere. A connection to your home Wi-Fi router is required. This service is billed annually.
- Generac Mobile Link LTE
When Wi-Fi is not an option Generac now offers a cellular-based monitoring system. This monitor uses the largest LTE network in America (Verizon Wireless) to deliver you and your service dealer timely notifications using your smartphone, tablet, or PC. View a video about Mobile Link here.
Mobile Link is compatible with Nexus and Evolution controllers on air-cooled standby generators and 2010-and-newer liquid-cooled standby generators from Generac. Monitoring service is billed annually.
- Alarm System Connection (pricing includes typical installation)
This allows your security company to monitor your generator as a “zone”. In the event of a generator fault, they will be signaled via a “dry contact”. This contact can be set as either normally open or normally closed. Please be sure to have the alarm company program your generator as a “nonemergency” zone that is active at all times. After it has been connected, we recommend running the system through an unannounced test to see how the alarm company responds.
Connect your generator to your existing security alarm system to monitor faults. Your alarm company adds a zone to your controller to indicate on your alarm panel if there is a generator fault, and we provide the connection and wiring to the generator controller. The alarm company can notify you when you are away. The alarm company must make the connections to their panel.
- Omnimetrix
Custom solutions for older, specialized, or commercial generators are available from Omnimetrix and installed by GenX.
