Oh no! It's Mother's Day very soon and you forgot to get her a gift? Mother's Day is a very important date to show your mother that you love and appreciate her, so you should make an effort to do something for her, even if you don't have much time left. No ideas? Have no fear: this article is here to help! Just read on for some simple, quick and cost-effective ways to show your appreciation to your mother this Mother's Day.

When I first purchased my microphone for recording the YWAM News Podcast I had looked briefly at getting a table top microphone boom arm like the one on the left. I think that they are a great idea, a big space saver on the desktop and also help to put the microphone at exactly the [...]

Maker Faire Bay Area is approaching fast – only 15 days! And this means that you have only one more week to score Early Bird ticket discounts. If you order before midnight PDT on Wednesday, May 11, you’ll get $5.00 off all ticket prices. Order yours here, and we’ll see you there!

Food month could not have come at a better time. Spring has us wanting to…um… make delectable dishes to fill our bellies, without ballooning our waistlines. Over the years, CRAFT has been putting together a series of essential tips to jump-start smart cooking habits. Among other things, you’ll learn steps to keep yourself and your [...]

Ok, we’re back! The Gitbrew gang gets my awesome makers of the year award :)

Calling all braaaaaaains… The deadline to submit a solution for the MakeShift that was featured in MAKE Volume 25 is June 3! This one was a personal favorite. (Also, I’m the zombie in the bottom left corner of the window!) Check out some fun outtakes from the photo shoot on the article page. The Scenario: [...]

Are you a fan of abstract style themes? Then you will definitely want to give the Diffusion Theme for Windows 7 a try. This unique theme comes with thirteen wallpapers showcasing the effects of ink injected into water to create mysterious and beautiful abstract designs.

Download the Diffusion Theme [Windows 7 Personalization Gallery]

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Pockie Ninja is a browser game that lets you control characters from the hit Manga/Anime titles Bleach and Naruto in completing quests and winning fighting matches against other online players.

Y ard sale season!  Woo hoo!  I attended my first yard sale of the year today.  I didn't come home empty handed.   Here's what I came home with... wooden bowl and spoon  little clock 2 mini-convex mirrors old book (pages for DIY projects) aluminum pots and plates for planters beakers and flasks for use as vases Of course, I could have gotten so much more, but I was good and practiced restraint.  Okay.  It's mainly because Wisteria is having an 80% off sale and I found some great bargains there too including... I need to have a yard sale before I bring home more treasures, if you know what I mean.  Are you excited for yard sales and flea market season?  What'd you find?!   ~*~*~*~ If you're a Word Whipped fan after the giveaway last week, there's another going on at The DIY Club .  Pop over to enter! Enjoy the weekend!

One of the reasons I love this time of year is the abundance of garden tours, especially in Southern California. In one direction is Los Angeles, in the other is San Diego, and yet other directions are great tours in historic Riverside or Pasadena.

Where else but a garden tour can you go for inspiration, ideas, light exercise and a general sense of well-being? Throw in a neck and foot massage and a bottomless glass of iced tea (served by George Clooney, natch), and I'd be a happy camper, but that's probably a tad too much to expect from the nice folks who host garden tours. Directions to the nearest non-portable bathroom is usually considered a major coup.

As a Mother's Day weekend present (why celebrate a mere day when you can stretch it into a whole weekend?), I'm looking forward to going on the Venice Garden and Home Tour for the first time. This, of course, is in Venice, California -- artsy, eclectic, eco and home to a few famous folks. A fundraiser for Las Doradas Children's' Center, the tour has also rounded up some of those ultra- hip lunch trucks, which have been a popular trend in LA for a few years now.

My recommendation is, if you've left it to the last minute, check out this list or track down a local garden tour near you. Take Mom, your wife, sister, aunt, BFF, companion, SIL, MIL, grandmother, godmother, neighbor, dog shampooer, etc. Buy tickets for this weekend or a future weekend and make plans.

And who knows? George Clooney might be there to serve your lady a tall, cool beverage. In her dreams.

Happy Mother's Day!

Check out our list of Mother's Day gift ideas for outdoor lovin' and livin' gals

Photo of Venice garden: Eric Staudenmaier

Each weekday, we at YouTube Trends take a look at the most interesting videos and cultural phenomena on YouTube as they develop. We want take a moment to highlight some of what we've come across this week:

• We tracked the reaction across the country following the President's address on the death of Osama bin Laden.
  
  
• We studied how President Obama's correspondents' dinner remarks were the most watched ever on YouTube.
  
  
• We catalogued 10 different, creative, and funny ways high school students asked each other to prom.
  
  
• We looked into the the history of "the dougie" through YouTube searches.
  
  
• We saw how college kids are celebrating finals week with flash mob dances.
  
  
• And this "ultimate dog tease" became one of the week's most-shared clips:

Check back every day for the latest about what's trending on YouTube at: www.YouTube.com/Trends

Kevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager, recently watched "Shower Dudes - Wanton Song."

Posted by CamperEnglish
A cocktail created on-the-spot combines flavors of flan, creme brulee, mango sticky rice, and the milkshake-like Batida.

Posted by sbreckenridge
In Season Two of Homegrown/Homemade, Fine Gardening's Danielle Sherry and I grow and cook basil.

Posted by TheFoodGeek
When making a cheesecake, is the water bath, also known as the bain-marie, the best way to go? Why do we even need to bathe a cheesecake?

Posted by DMickelsen
Our 11 contributors are nominated for Beard awards because they do their jobs so well. But what if they did something else for a living?

We owned an Atari 800, when I was a kid, and also owned the full-size original version of this drive. Rossum built this tiny simulacrum around an MicroSD drive that uses 8 GB cards. The case is a 3D print from Shapeways.

Do you, or did you, make Heathkits? If so please post up your fond memories (or anything else) in the comments, I’m writing up a Heathkit related column and I wanted to include some comments from folks who grew up making these or have/had interest in them! Heathkit… From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Heathkits were [...]

Come meet some great makers from the Boston area and their projects at the Cambridge Mini Maker Faire this Saturday afternoon. We're part of the Cambridge Science Festival's fun filled Science Carnival, being held from noon to 4pm on Saturday May 7, on the grounds of Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School The Mini Maker Faire will be on the tennis courts, next to the Cambridge Public Library.

Celebrate the ingenuity and inventiveness in our community. Make Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota gives local engineers, artists, tinkerers, and inventors the opportunity to showcase their DIY creations and innovations to museum visitors. This family-friendly event features arts, electronics, musical performances, green technology, crafting and more! Festivities will take place throughout the museum. [...]

Very clever viral vid from director Dulcidio Caldeira for MTV Brazil. The balloons are mounted on a track. A cart bearing a camera and a sharp pin starts rolling at one end, filming and popping as it goes. Each balloon has a single frame of the animation hand-drawn on its surface. Looks like they may have stopped it a couple times to clear balloon bits from the lens.

If you love your jailbroken iOS device but you’re not a fan of Cydia’s clunky search interface, Cydia Search offers a speedy and easy to navigate web-based alternative.

Jailbreaking is awesome and the Cydia store is performing and invaluable service for the jailbreak community. It is, however, kind of clunky to search with it. Cydia Search gives you a nice, web-based, way to search through all the various core and supplementary Cydia repositories from the comfort of your spacious monitor and with your keyboard and mouse. It’s a great improvement over pecking away at your iPhone screen.

Hit up the link below to search the repository.

Cydia Search [via The Unofficial Apple Weblog]

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Have you been wanting an easy way to set KeePass Password Safe 2 up on your Linux systems? Then get ready to rejoice. Now you can get that KeePass goodness on your Ubuntu or Debian-Based Linux system using a PPA, the Command Line, or manual installation files.

To add the new PPA open the Ubuntu Software Center, go to the Edit Menu, and select Software Sources. Access the Other Software Tab in the Software Sources Window and add the first of the PPAs shown below (outlined in red). The second PPA will be automatically added to your system.

Once you have the new PPAs set up, go back to the Ubuntu Software Center and click on the PPA listing for KeePass 2 on the left (highlighted with red in the image). There will be a single listing in the right pane…click Install.

After the installation is complete you can find KeePass2 waiting for you in the Accessories sub-menu.

All that is left to do is get your new password database up and running!

Command Line Installation

For those of you who prefer using the command line for installation use the following commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:jtaylor/keepass
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install keepass2

Links

KeePass2 PPA at Launchpad

Download KeePass Password Safe for your Debian-Based Linux System [Debian.org] *Note: Manual installation files.

Learn more about the Debian/Ubuntu Releases of KeePass Password Safe [KeePass Password Safe Forums]

Visit the KeePass Password Safe Homepage

Bonus

You can download the wallpaper shown in the screenshots above here:

Hanging the Laundry Out to Dry [Photobucket]

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to bridge the gap between the files stored on your computer and those in your Google Docs account? Then you need SyncDocs. SyncDocs synchronizes the files on your computer and those in your Google Docs account effortlessly for total file management bliss.

The installation process for SyncDocs is simple. Once the basic install is done you will begin the account setup and synchronization process. You will need to enter your account login credentials and agree to the terms of service.

Here is the information regarding how your account credentials are handled by SyncDocs.

Once you have entered your login credentials SyncDocs will conduct a quick account test.

Next up will be the Preferences Section asking where you want your sync folder to be located and the name you want it to have, file types to be synced, whether you want your documents to be converted to Google Docs format or not, and Windows integration features you can have enabled if desired.

Once you click the Finish Button SyncDocs will begin the synchronization process.

Note: SyncDocs will add a start up entry to your system for automatic synchronizing goodness every time you start your computer.

This is what the Context Menu for the System Tray Icon looks like.

Followed by the Google Docs sync folder on our system.

If you selected the option to have Google Docs as your default office suite, then double clicking your documents will open them in your default browser. To see more SyncDocs goodness be sure to watch the excellent demo video included below!

System Requirements: Works on Windows 7, Vista, and XP. Requires .Net Framework 3.5 or higher for regular installations and .Net Framework 3.0 for USB stick (portable) installations.

Note: At the moment SyncDocs is still in the beta testing phase. Later there will be free and paid versions of the app.

SyncDocs Homepage [via Lifehacker]

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Sometimes it’s amazing how much you can help, through something so little… In rural Papua New Guinea one in seven women die in childbirth! Yep, that’s right, 1 in 7 women die in childbirth! That’s a shocking statistic to say the least. To give birth to a child a mother has a 15% chance of [...]

In this audio episode of The Handyguys Podcast, Paul continues his discussion about his leaky hot water heater and Brian reveals what material he chose for his deck project. Temperature and Pressure T&P valves and Expansion tanks

After more than six months of hard work, our extensive renovation of a 1926, Tutor style home, known as the Kuppersmith Project for the former owners, is finally complete. Watch this video to take a before and after tour of the house to see all the changes we've made.

It’s been making the rounds on the internet this week, but if you haven’t seen it, here’s a fun injection for your Friday: the expansive home where little Kevin McCallister was left alone while his family spent Christmas in France is on the market! Located in the historic town of Winnetka, Illinois, the expansive [...]

If you haven’t done so already, then skip the trip to Hallmark and make mom a beautiful on how to limit “media over-consumption”. While you’re busy not watching Netflix streaming, how about tackling the bathroom? Curbly’s making it easier with Liven up that boring ol’ chain link fence, [...]

This beast — a hydraulic drill press powered by a 20hp engine, appears to be connected to the Global Village Construction Set project. [Via Pat]

The Monochron clock kit from the Maker Shed is a completely hackable, open source, clock kit that has a funky retro feel. It can be programmed to display several different clock “faces” or you can program you own.

As a kid with two older brothers, I knew how important it was to be the first to crack open a new box of cereal and sift through the contents for the toy inside. I remember fishing out a plastic toy submarine and I absolutely loved it. When you filled the submarine’s compartment with baking [...]

Join us Wednesday evening for the next episode of Make: Live, our streaming show and tell! Ep08 is all about brewing- beer and coffee. Make: Live 08 – Brewing Beer & Coffee Wednesday May 11th, 9pm ET/6pm PT Watch at makezine.com/live or on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/make-live Please join us in the UStream chat or mark tweets with [...]

If you’re a comic book fan–or looking to get back into comic books after a hiatus–Free Comic Book Day is a great time to pick up a free comic book (or three).

Free Comic Book Day was started in 2002 as a way to promote comic books as a genre and hobby. Participating stores, thousands and thousands of independent comic shops across the world–give away a free comic book (and sometimes many more). All you have to do is show up!

Hit up the link below to read more at the official Free Comic Book Day site.

Free Comic Book Day

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Myrtle Beach [DesktopNexus]

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

OpenCaching is a free application that turns your Android device or iPhone into a geocache tool complete with maps, log book, and cache logger.

Download the app to your Android device or iPhone, fire it up, and you’re ready to start locating and placing geocaches.

The app uses your devices GPS to locate local caches which you can then filter based on difficult, terrain, and type. When you find them you can log them directly in the app, update social networks with your finds, and mark the cache as a favorite on your personal geocaching map.

Hit up the links below to read more.

OpenCaching for Android
OpenCaching for iOS [via Addictive Tips]

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Earlier this week—and in light of the Electronic Frontier Foundations call for an Open Wi-Fi world—we asked you if you ran an open Wi-Fi node. Your responses were strong and varied.

Recently the Electronic Frontier Foundation put out a call for an Open Wi-Fi initiative. They made a pretty compelling argument that, among other things, a network of open Wi-Fi nodes represents an enormous, powerful, and untapped network of connectivity. They also acknowledged that people were reluctant to do so because of legal issues and fear of litigation. We were curious how you felt about it and whether or not you run an open node of any sort. Your responses ran the gamut of “Why yes, and here is how” to “Hell no”.

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

If you're moving with a pet and you're considering traveling by air, your pet may not be small enough to travel in the cabin with you. The cargo area of a large jet is a controlled environment. The cargo area of a small regional jet or turboprop aircraft might not be a controlled environment. It depends on the aircraft type. However, there are precautions you can take to reduce the likelihood of injury and stress of your pet.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are YouTube's newest megastars. Though half the globe was still in darkness, YouTube users from across the world got wedding fever for the Royal Household's official live stream of the landmark wedding on The Royal Channel.

The Royal Wedding was live streamed 72 million times around the world to 188 countries. Those who didn’t see it live still had an opportunity to don their fascinators and catch up with the re-broadcasts later in the day. When it was all said and done, the total streams on April 29, 2011 reached 101 million as romantics around the globe tuned in to watch the fairytale ceremony, the procession and the final balcony kiss.

And what a kiss it was…during the 10 seconds around the highly-anticipated Royal kiss, the YouTube channel site, powered by Google App Engine, experienced an additional 100,000 requests on top of the already high load … an effective additional 10,000 requests per second.

Live streams were highest in the UK and the US, but looks like love was in the air across the channel as well. The top 5 countries viewing the live event online were:

1. United Kingdom
2. United States
3. Italy
4. Germany
5. France

The online excitement extended to The Official Royal Wedding website. Since the launch on March 2, there have been approximately 37.7 million page views from 13.7 million visitors to the site, which was hosted on Google App Engine and built by Accenture.

The entire live stream of the Royal Wedding, along with video highlights can be found on The Royal Channel.

Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

Rachel Ball, partner development associate, recently watched “Best Wishes from Mr. McGrail's United States History Class.”

Have you pledged to turn over a new leaf this year when it comes to organizing your outdoor storage shed? Let's face it, many of us aren't exactly models of efficiency when it comes to how we maintain our storage areas. My own is a mess, I'm ashamed to admit, with tools, grass-seed bags, cement bags, etc. all jumbled up together, as if a hurricane rather than a human being had been responsible for the organization (if you can call it that).

...

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Check out this Sharpie plotter attachment for the Phlatprinter CNC kit cutter. Even though it requires a manual pen swap, it's still mesmerizing to watch it plot in image.

Sound engineers take really sterile tracks and make them sound natural through audio effects. The most common tools to do this are delay/echo and reverb, and with some know-how you can tweak your own tracks for the better.

All of these effects work to help make audio sound better, deeper, and more natural. They’re also used as aesthetic effects, too, and understanding how they work will help you use them to their utmost potential. You can find them all under the Effects menu of Audacity.

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

It is no secret that Firefox can consume quite a bit of system memory during normal usage. While the number of tabs you have open and the installed add-ons certainly contribute, even a conservatively used out of the box installation can report quite a bit of memory usage.

This has caused a few Firefox add-ons to surface which claim to free up memory the browser no longer needs, but do they actually work?

A Two Minute Overview on How Windows Handles Memory

Before we dive into examining a memory cleaner, it is important to understand a little bit about the way Windows handles memory. This will be important so we can interpret the results of our experiment.

Don’t worry, we will cover this at a very high level so you don’t have to be a mega-geek to follow along.

As a quick disclaimer, this is an extremely brief summary of the very basics of Windows memory management. By no means should this be considered authoritative or definitive as it is only explained to level applicable to the subject matter of this article.

Windows is smart enough to know that unused physical memory is wasted memory, so it loads everything it needs and thinks it will need into memory. However, only what your system actually needs (both Windows and applications) and is actively using at the current time is reported as used physical memory. The rest (what Windows thinks it will need) resides in what is called virtual memory.

Virtual memory is essentially the data which is not actively required by the OS but is ready to be loaded into active memory at any time. You can very crudely calculate the amount of virtual memory your system has at any one time using this formula:

Virtual Memory = (Total Physical Memory – Used/Active Physical Memory) + Maximum System Page File Size

So, suppose you have a system with 4 GB of physical memory and a 6 GB maximum page file. You then boot up Windows and open a few applications (Outlook, Firefox, etc.) and Windows reports that 2.5 GB of physical memory is being used. This means you have 1.5 GB of “unused” physical memory and a 6 GB page file for a total of 7.5 GB of available virtual memory.

Remember, the OS is smart enough to know that unused physical memory is wasted memory, so it will fill the remaining 1.5 of physical memory with what it anticipates you will need so it can be accessed on demand almost instantaneously. This can be anything from minimized background program data to common OS functions.

So what happens when Windows runs out of physical memory to use as virtual memory? It writes this data to the system page file which is a huge (in our case 6 GB) file on your hard drive. While this allows for the OS to store pretty much any data it needs to keep in memory, writing and retrieving (aka a page fault) this information to/from the hard drive is orders of magnitude slower than accessing it from physical memory. This is why the more physical memory you have the faster your system can run. The less your system uses its page file, the faster it will perform.

Monitoring Firefox’s Memory Usage

For our investigation we will simply be using Windows Task Manager. We will be tracking the following columns (the descriptions are defined on Microsoft’s page):

• Working Set = Amount of memory in the private working set plus the amount of memory the process is using that can be shared by other processes.
• Peak Working Set = Maximum amount of working set memory used by the process.
• Memory (Private Working Set) = Subset of working set that specifically describes the amount of memory a process is using that cannot be shared by other processes.
• Commit Size = Amount of virtual memory that is reserved for use by a process.

We will be using an out of the box installation of Firefox 4.0.1 with only the Memory Fox add-on loaded. In Firefox, we will have the following tabs open and will not do anything other than scroll up and down the loaded pages.

After waiting a few moments for everything to finish loading, Windows Task Manager reports the following for Firefox.

Now when we start the Memory Fox add-on, look at the dramatic drop in the amount of reported memory use.

Also take note that a new process is started by this add-on which is what handles the memory functions.

Leaving Firefox idle and watching the Working Set and Memory values, you can see there is a constant struggle between Firefox needing active physical memory and the memory cleaner add-on reclaiming this memory.

Here is the reported memory usage taken every few seconds while Firefox is left idle.

Note the drop in the Working Set and Memory values. This the is memory cleaner reclaiming the system memory.

After going up for a bit, you can see another drop.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Additionally, if you do nothing but switch tabs and scroll up and down the loaded pages, you can see the numbers fluctuate a bit more drastically which will be explained below.

Interpreting the Results

When you first look it, you would think, hey this is working great. But take a look at the Commit Size column and you can see that this value never really changes. In fact is goes up once you start the memory cleaning add-on.

Remember, the Commit Size column reports the actual amount of memory (physical + virtual) Windows needs to run the respective application. So in our example, the ~120 MB is reserved and active on the system specifically for Firefox and is residing in either unused physical memory and/or the system page file. Also remember that if the page file needs to be used, there is a noticeable performance impact because the virtual memory has to be written to and read from the hard disk which is significantly slower than physical memory.

So essentially the memory cleaner is moving active physical memory to virtual memory (because the memory is reclaims has to go somewhere). When this happens, Firefox no longer has the memory it needs to function actively available so it has to ask Windows to move the respective data it needs from virtual memory back to physical memory.  And around and round we go…

At best, this process does nothing useful at all and at worst it causes a massive amount of unneeded page faults because, again, if Windows has to bring the page file into play then there is going to a noticeable performance hit. This can especially be the case on system which do not have much physical memory (where pretty much all virtual memory is kept in a page file), which is ironic because these are the systems a memory cleaner was “designed” for.

The moral of this whole story is quite simply, memory cleaners do nothing but shift around numbers. Any OS is going to know how to handle memory appropriately, so just let them do their thing.

Managing Firefox’s Memory Usage

Since we have shown that memory cleaning add-ons do not really do anything useful, what can you do about the large amount of memory Firefox uses? Here are a few suggestions:

• Remove add-ons you don’t need (especially any memory cleaning ones).
• Keep the number of tabs you have open to a minimum.
• Periodically close Firefox and relaunch it.
• Add more memory to your system.
• Don’t worry about it.

Memory Fox Add-on for Firefox

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Friday has finally arrived again, so why not kick back and have some fun while waiting for quitting time to get here? This week’s game places you in the middle of a crime noir setting as you search for the Book of the Dead.

HTG Explains: Do Firefox Memory Cleaners Actually Work?	How To Use Ember Media Manager to Organize Your Media Collection	How to Protect Your Flash Drive Data with TrueCrypt

Gwen from Gwenny Penny did an amazing job at creating her version of the Ballard Designs Pruvost sign. Ballard Designs Pruvost sign Well, Gwen being a DIY diva created her own and wrote up a fabulous tutorial so you can DIY too! H ere is her beautiful version. I love that it's personalized to fit her style and the perfect customized size for her space. See how you can make it at Gwenny Penny. BALLARD WALL PLAQUE KNOCK OFF TUTORIAL I took immediate notice because I purchased the sign for my living room.   I really need to get braver with the saw this summer. I totally could have made this a DIY project with Gwen's help!  I admire Gwen's DIY skills. Don't you love being inspired enough to create your own, personal and more affordable version? Thanks for sharing your creativity and great tutorial, Gwen!

Every year, millions of homes lose power for hours – even days – at a time. Being prepared is the best defense for such energy emergencies. And for many homeowners, that means investing in a standby generator – one that is fully automatic and permanently installed outside the home. While virtually all home owners can benefit from having a standby unit, reliable power is especially important in homes with elderly residents or young children who are more dependent upon heating, air conditioning and other of life’s necessities. It’s also important for home businesses and for travelers who are not home to deal with the damaging consequences of a power outage. If you’ve made the decision to purchase a standby generator for your home, it’s helpful to be familiar with what is involved in regards to the installation process. This article IS NOT intended to serve as a step-by-step guide. It is highly recommended that all standby generators be installed by a licensed contractor – not the homeowner. Improper installation can cause damage to the unit and could potentially void the warranty. However, knowledge is power and understanding the installation process will help you properly screen and oversee a contractor during the installation process. In this article, we’ll go through the key steps involved in installing an air-cooled home generator, which operates on the same fuel source that currently runs the appliances in your home (LP or natural gas). We’ll discuss the key components of the system, including: Selecting a generator Where to place a generator Making power connections Connecting to fuel sources Pre-start checks Remote monitoring Basic maintenance Selecting a Generator Permanent standby generators are different from portable generators, which are designed to power worksites. With a standby generator – which is specifically designed for the home – there’s no need to fill the gas tank every few hours or change the oil. In addition, portable generators can only back up appliances that can be plugged in via an extension cord run outside to the generator. Standby generators are hard-wired into your home and can back up the circuits you choose without running extension cords. Furthermore, standby generators don’t have exposed engine parts that could lead to burns or hazardous conditions such refilling/spilling gasoline onto hot engines. Permanent standby generators are also better suited for delicate electronics like big-screen TVs or computers due to better voltage and frequency regulation and lower total harmonic distortion. Standby generators range from 8 to 125 kilowatts. It’s important to choose a standby generator that meets your lifestyle and needs. If you simply want to power a few key appliances in a large home, or everything in a smaller home, an 8- to 20-kilowatt generator may serve you well. If you have a large home and want to keep everything powered up, a larger generator will be required. To determine what size generator you need, contact a local power professional (dealer) or licensed electrical contractor familiar with standby generators. Before you meet with a contractor, you may want to get some estimates from an online sizing tool such as the calculator found here . However, enlisting a licensed power professional is essential to determine the right size for your needs. They will also help you comply with any municipal codes governing proper installation, including: Noise ordinances (typically under 70 dBA) Positioning of the generator (flood risks) Electrical codes In addition to selecting the size of the generator, don’t forget about its appearance. A generator sits outside your home – permanently, so look for a unit with a bold, clean look and one that is corrosion resistant, particularly in salty air or moist environments. Where to Position a Generator Once you’ve purchased a standby generator, the next step is to find an ideal location for installation. Similar to where your central air conditioning unit is placed, select an area where hot exhaust gases don’t blow on plants or other combustible materials. Also, be sure your contractor allows the minimum clearance provided in the installation manual. Clearance refers to the minimum distance from the home and/or any other structures that may affect airflow. Some generators, like Kohler’s air-cooled models, come with a built-in composite mounting pad. This eliminates the need for pouring a concrete pad in most locations. Just place it on a level area covered with pea gravel. In some coastal areas with high-wind conditions, it may be desirable to place it on a concrete pad and bolt it down. To move the generator, your contractor will want to insert two metal bars in the lifting holes found in the base of the product and use them to lift the unit into place. The lifting holes allow four strong people to lift a 20-kilowatt generator (approximately 500 pounds). Straps or a lift can also be used if available. Making Power Connections For purposes of this article, we will assume the unit is being placed on a concrete slab with electrical stub feeding wires through the bottom of the unit. In most installations, which don’t include the concrete slab, your contractor will need to drill a hole in the access panel located in the lower part of the cabinet for electrical leads. Be sure to drill the hole in this area, and not through the upper part of the cabinet. Kohler generators come with a field-connection terminal block, streamlining the wiring process. Route the AC leads through flexible conduit. Then feed the wires through the opening drilled in the cabinet. If installing a model RDT automatic transfer switch, connect the emergency source to the terminal block labeled “load leads.” Also, connect the automatic transfer switch (ATS) or remote start/stop leads. If connecting a model RRT transfer switch, be sure to route low-voltage communication leads through a separate conduit. Connect the leads from the utility power for accessories. Then connect the neutral and ground leads from the ATS and the main panel. Ground the generator according to methods that comply with NEC and local codes. All Kohler generators come with a factory-installed battery charger that’s designed to keep the starting battery fully charged. Plug the battery charger’s power cord into the AC receptacle on the bottom of the controller junction box. Utility leads brought to the customer connection terminal block that supply this receptacle should be on a circuit that is backed-up by the generator. You will need to place a 12-volt battery in the controller. Once these steps have been completed, verify that the generator is off. Make sure the “OFF” LED on the controller is flashing. Also, verify that the battery is fully charged before placing it in the unit. Kohler typically recommends an optional carburetor heater for improved starting in locations where the temperature drops below freezing. The heater requires a continuous source of power. Plug the carburetor heater into the other AC receptacle. Some generators may also recommend battery warmers, or other cold weather aids.  Check the manufacturer’s guidelines for your particular climate. Connecting to Fuel Sources Your generator operates on either natural gas or liquid propane (LP) vapor fuel. It is EPA-certified for both types of fuel. When shipped, the unit is typically set for natural gas, with the loose LP orifice tied near the fuel solenoid valve. To convert to LP vapor, install the orifice and disconnect the spark advance leads as described in the installation manual. Then verify that the output pressure from the primary gas utility – or LP tank pressure regulator – is adequate. Also, check that the utility gas meter flow rate is sufficient. Have your contractor refer to the manual for guidelines. Once all the pipe connections are made, check for fuel leaks. Pre-Start Checks Before starting up the generator, go through the items in the pre-start checklist. Inspect the air cleaner, air inlets and make sure there are tight connections on the battery. Also inspect the exhaust system for leaks and blockages. Be sure to check oil levels on a regular basis. Oil should be at or near the “Full” mark on the dipstick – not over. Once you’ve completed the pre-start checks, start the generator by pressing the “Run” button on the control panel. Then turn the system off. Press the “Auto” button on the control panel. At this point, the unit is in “Auto,” and is monitoring the utility – ready to react in the event of a power outage. Kohler Generators are faster than most brands and can restore power to the home within 10 seconds of an outage.  Most other brands will restore power in 20-30 seconds. The automatic transfer switch (ATS) transfers electrical load from a normal source of electrical power (utility) to  an emergency source (generator). Refer to the manual for compatibility between ATS modes and Kohler generator sets. The ATS can be wired to supply all of your home’s electrical load, or just essential systems, such as the furnace, refrigerator and sump pump. If the generator powers the whole house, you will want an ATS without a load center. If you’re planning to power only the essential systems in your home, choose an ATS with a built-in load center. A load center allows you wire just the circuits from your main distribution panel that you want to power during an outage. The 100 amp Model RRT transfer switch shown in this picture includes a built-in load center with room for up to 16 single-pole circuit breakers. Verify that the total rating for all breakers in the load center does not exceed the rating of the transfer switch. Connect the “Normal Source,” which is typically the utility power, to the lugs labeled NA and NB. Connect the “Emergency Source,” which is typically the generator, to the lugs labeled EA and EB. Then connect the neutral from the main panel to the neutral in the ATS enclosure.  Ground the system according to NEC and local codes and connect the start wires from the generator set. To test the system, simulate a disruption of power from the utility by turning off the breaker that feeds the normal side of the ATS. The ATS will send a signal to start the generator. When the generator reaches its rated voltage and frequency, the ATS will transfer generator power to the emergency load. At this point, the generator will power all loads in the essential loads sub-panel. To simulate utility power coming back on, close the breaker in the main panel. There will be a short delay as the unit verifies that utility power is back on and flowing strong. When this is verified, the ATS will transfer back to the main source of power. The generator will continue running for a cool down period. This should take no longer than five minutes based on engine oil temperatures. Basic Maintenance Refer to your installation and operation manuals for recommended maintenance and service intervals. In general, if your generator is running for extended periods of time, you should check your oil regularly and add oil as needed.  The service schedule will address how often oil, oil filters, spark plugs and air cleaners should be changed as well as other cleaning, inspection and service suggestions. Some home owners may be comfortable with the basic maintenance, while others will prefer to set up a service contract with a professional to take care of it all for them. Remote Monitoring Now that your generator has been properly installed and tested, it’s important to monitor its functionality. This is particularly important for those who are routinely away from home and want to make sure a generator is working properly. A couple of generator manufacturers like Kohler now offer remote monitoring capabilities. Kohler’s OnCue™ Home Generator Management System software loads directly onto a PC, laptop or smart phone. Once installed, you can check the status and test your system from anywhere in the world. You can even set up text message or email alerts to keep you informed while on the move. The OnCue Home Generator Management System also makes it easy to implement service contracts. The service provider can monitor and test the generator from their business and see any fault codes and history prior to going out for a service call. This gives you a higher level of attention and service while creating efficiencies that ultimately cut costs. For more information on how to install a residential generator, consult the installation manual that came with your system, or call your nearest distributor. You can also learn more about residential generators and the installation process at KohlerSmartPower.com . Source: Kohler Generators If you have specific questions and would like to contact a residential generator expert, click this link to find a Kohler power professional in your area.

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