3 Reasons You Need a Generator for Your Mobile Home

As a culture, we trust and depend on electricity to help get us through our daily lives. We use social media to stay connected to our friends and family, GPS to find our way through a new town, and we depend on its ability to be there when we need it most. But that isn’t always guaranteed. The number and duration of power outages caused by storms and general grid failures is rising. Recent years have seen planned, widespread blackouts to prevent wildfires that affect millions of people. These curveballs are an unavoidable part of life, however, that doesn’t mean that you are left in the cold with no options. Mobile home owners are no less affected by outages. A single point of failure can turn off the lights for hundreds or even thousands of people.

We've come to a point where our homes, mobile homes included, sometimes become inhospitable places during a power outage. Summer head and humidity can make living spaces unbearable without air conditioning. In the winter, a day or two without power, especially in a mobile home, freezes pipes, which then burst, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. Without electricity, it becomes difficult to keep warm in freezing weather. Subzero weather may force mobile home dwellers to seek shelter somewhere else.

Mobile home owners have some options for providing their own power during an outage, but they require planning and preparation. The first option is a generator.

1. Portable Generator
2. Home Standby Generator

Before getting started, it's a good idea to check your mobile home park rules first, then follow up with your local code enforcement department. Be specific, tell them what you want to do, and listen to advice and read all the literature they give you. Don't skip the local building department—it will only cause grief in the future.

Portable Generator for a Power Outages

As the name implies, a portable generator goes wherever you need it. They range in capacity from about 1000 watts up to 20,000 watts—enough to provide power for a large home, including central air conditioners. However, a mobile home typically doesn't need the same amount of power as 3500 square foot home. A portable generator can make sense for mobile home owners for several reasons. 

• Significantly lower purchase and installation costs than a home standby generator.
• The generator can store in a shed or other storage space when not in use.
• The right size generator and connection equipment will run the most important essentials: heating & cooling, refrigerator, lights, internet, and more.

A manual transfer switch with an inlet box provides the safest, easiest, and fastest connection for a mobile home. Take the generator out, plug it in, and start it. Make the switch to generator power at the manual transfer switch and the generator powers the circuits served by the transfer switch.  

Generator placement requires planning. Choose a location at least 20 feet from the mobile home and other mobile homes close by.  

Another consideration is noise. Larger, traditional portables can be very noisy, which is undesirable in a mobile home park. Portable inverter generators are much quieter and many compare to the noise level of a central air conditioner.

TIP: Many manufacturers rate Portable Inverter Generators by starting watts capacity, which is the power required to start a motor like a central air conditioners. If your mobile home application requires, for example, 10,000 running watts, check the specifications to ensure the portable inverter generator can supply power required. Running Watts vs Starting Watts.

*Jeremy, Marcus, and Talisha were friends and close neighbors in a mobile home park. As the mother of three young children, the frequent power outages concerned Talisha. After one outage, she took out the milk to pour for her children, and found the almost full gallon jug had spoiled. When she complained to her friends, Marcus mentioned that he was considering a generator.

Others in the mobile home part were using small generators to keep their food cold and run their furnace or air conditioner. After research and shopping, the three mobile home owners decided to purchase a single generator. Together, they bought an 18000 watt portable, poured a small concrete slab with anchors to secure the generator, and put the generator on it. An electrician installed a manual transfer switch on each mobile home. The final touch was an open-sided roof.  

With a generator cable connected to each mobile home, the three friends were ready for the next power outage. Each had enough power to run their forced air furnace, an air conditioner, refrigerator, and a few other appliances.

While joining forces won't fit every situation, long-time neighbors and friends can make it work. They must agree to split fuel and maintenance costs equally, and when to run the generator or not run it. Each must limit their power use so the others have enough. In the above case, the three friends each had about 5000-6000 watts to work with, plenty for an air conditioner or furnace, refrigerator, lights, television, internet, and a few more small essentials.

Home Standby Generator for Power Outages

A Home Standby Generator has a hard-wired connection to your mobile home's electrical system through an automatic transfer switch. When an outage strikes, the generator system automatically detects the outage, starts the generator, disconnects the utility lines from the mobile home, and connects the generator. Time from outage to restoration is typically less than 60 seconds, and may be less than 30 seconds.

Standby Generators make sense for mobile home owners for a number of reasons, including:

• Fully automatic operation from start up and power restoration to shut down and restoring utility power when it returns.
• It could power your entire mobile home, including a central air conditioner.
• Less frequent maintenance.
• With a service contract, a service dealer will proactively maintain and service your generator.

A home standby generator makes a significant change to your mobile home's electrical system. The National Electrical Code has specific rules for a mobile home electrical service, which affects a home standby generator installation. Norwall PowerSystems recommends, and some manufacturers require, that a factory authorized generator installer performs the installation. Don't try to skip the permitting and inspection process. Doing so could void your warranty or insurance in the event of a fire or injury. It costs more, yes. But the peace of mind and safety is more than worth the cost of doing it right.

Location is important. The generator must be at least 5 feet from any window, vent, door, or other opening. With a mobile home, this probably means located away from the structure and not next to it. If you live in a mobile home park, be sure to check the park rules for lot improvements or rules that limit or prevent generator installations.

A generator installer will help you determine the correct size and location for a standby generator.

A Generator for Your Mobile Home is a Great Investment

The American Society of Civil Engineers graded our nation’s infrastructure, including the national power grid, a D+. A passing grade, but barely. Our national power grid is more than half a century old and the repairs and upgrades needed to make the grid more reliable are expensive. In fact, the grid faces a funding shortfall measured in the billions of dollars.

Sometimes, power outages are predictable. There's a hurricane coming. The power will go out, and everyone in the hurricane's path knows it.

All too often, power outages are not predictable.

• A severe storm causes damage to local infrastructure, shutting off power to neighborhoods.
• A piece of critical grid infrastructure fails, cutting power to large areas.
• The threat of hot, dry wind combined with aging equipment forces the power company to shut off power, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of people. 
• Wildlife, accidents, and more can shut down power for hours or days, and sometimes weeks.

Did You Know? The food in a refrigerator begins to warm shortly after the power goes out. After four hours, the temperature has risen enough to make many foods unsafe. Certain condiments like ketchup and mustard (which have vinegar as an ingredient) will last longer. After four hours, throw away all the meat and dairy. It's not worth the risk of consuming those products after they become too warm.

A completely full freezer that is kept at -10° F or below will stay frozen up to two days—provided you don't open it. If the freezer is not full, fill it with water jugs filled 3/4 full. They will help keep the freezer cold if the power is off. Put 3-4 scoops of ice cream in a plastic container—leave as scoops, don't smooth it out or pack it in. If you come home from time away, and the ice cream melted and refroze, then your freezer was too warm and you should throw the food in it away.

A few advantages to power from a mobile home generator during an outage:

• Power out in the winter? With a generator, the heat is on and the mobile home is warm and comfortable. 
• Did you ever notice that the longest power outages often take place in the middle of a heat wave? With a generator, the window or central air conditioner runs and the mobile home stays cool and comfortable.
• A generator can also charge your mobile phone, tablet, or laptop.
• Power for your internet router and connection.
• Use your television for local news, weather, or binge watch your favorite series.
• Power medical equipment like CPAP, oxygen concentrator, or charge a mobility scooter.
• Cook meals in a microwave or crock pot, make coffee. 

Overall, a generator adds comfort and safety to your mobile home, even during long power outages.

A Generator can Protect Your Second Home

*Claire and Reggie had always dreamed of a second home on a lake. When presented with an opportunity to buy a remote property with a mobile home on a lake, the couple jumped at the chance. For two years, they made frequent weekend and holiday trips to relax, fish, boat, and improve their investment. Relaxing at the lake became their favorite pass time, even in the winter.

They made a visit just before Christmas, returned to celebrate the New Year, and then spent a few weekends at home. On their return at the end of January, they knew something was amiss before they even left the car. A cascade of ice flowed down the porch steps and onto the drive. Outside the car, they could hear the well pump.

Climbing the ice flow was difficult, and then the storm door was frozen to the frame. Reggie got it open with a tire iron from the car. Inside, the entire mobile home had flooded. The heat wasn't working, but the pump was still pumping water into the home. Reggie shut the power off outside. Eventually, they learned from a full-time resident on the lake that an ice storm had taken out the power for five days. The mobile home's pipes had frozen, then the power came on, the furnace ran, and the burst pipes and fixtures flooded the home. Almost two weeks of flooding had ruined the mobile home beyond repair. 

Fortunately, insurance covered some of the damage. After much discussion and research, the couple replaced the mobile home with a double wide placed on a new slab with some new amenities like a fireplace. Behind their new home away from home, they installed a standby generator fitted with a cold-weather kit for sub-freezing temperatures. When the power goes out, the generator ensures that the furnace stays on. As an additional measure, they shut the water pump off whenever they leave.

Investing in a standby generator is a great way to protect your second home, especially in areas where the temperatures fall below freezing. If the power goes out when you're away, the standby generator keeps the heat on and prevents damage like burst pipes and flooding.

Tip: Talk to your insurance company. You may be eligible for a discount if you have an automatic standby generator.

Stay protected. Get a generator from Norwall PowerSystems. Check out our Power Calculator to find out what size home generator you need today!

*Based on true stories

Updated July 20, 2025.