Cleaning Your Home with a Generator? Read This First.
If you live in the Tallahassee area, you know that a whole-house generator has become less of a luxury and more of a necessity. After storms like Hurricane Michael left many of us without power for a week, we’ve seen a huge increase in homeowners installing systems, with Generac being the most common brand we see on the job.
But with this wise investment comes a new question we hear from customers almost daily: “How do you safely clean around the generator’s disconnect panel on the side of my house?”
This is a critical question. Just today, a new customer told us their installation contractor warned them that any water damage from pressure washing would void their warranty. Many of these panels are even marked with a “Do Not Pressure Wash” sticker. With a local realtor telling us the estimated replacement cost is around $3,000-$4,000, the stakes are simply too high to get it wrong.
The Dangers: Why You NEVER Pressure Wash Electrical Panels
While exterior electrical panels are designed to be weather-resistant against rain, they are not built to withstand the intense, direct force of a pressure washer. Forcing water past the panel’s seals can lead to catastrophic failure and serious hazards, including:
Short Circuits: Water ingress can cause immediate damage to the sensitive electrical components inside, leading to costly repairs.
Corrosion: Moisture trapped inside the panel will lead to rust and corrosion on terminals and wiring, compromising the integrity and safety of your system over time.
Serious Electrical Hazards: Introducing high-pressure water into an electrical panel creates a significant risk of electric shock.
As officialGenerac maintenance guidelinesand general safety protocols confirm, using a pressure washer on or near these critical components can cause far more harm than good.
Our Professional Process: The Safe Way to Clean
So, how do we pressure wash a home that has an exterior generator disconnect panel?
The short answer is: We don’t.
Instead, we follow a strict, multi-step safety protocol that is included with every home wash we perform. Our best practice is to protect your investment, not risk it.
Identify & Protect: The first step is to identify all critical electrical components, including the generator’s disconnect panel. We then completely cover the entire panel using a durable plastic tarp.
Seal: We meticulously seal the edges of the tarp with high-quality, waterproof tape. This creates a watertight barrier that prevents any water or cleaning solution from reaching the panel.
Soft Wash Around: With the panel safely covered, we proceed with our gentle, low-pressure Soft Wash House Washing technique. We carefully clean the siding around the protected area, ensuring a perfect clean without any risk of water intrusion.
Remove & Inspect: Once the washing and rinsing are complete, we carefully remove the protective covering, leaving your panel just as we found it—safe and dry.
Trust the Experts Who Protect Your Investment
Your whole-house generator is a vital part of your home’s safety and security. The risk of damaging its electrical system far outweighs any benefit of spraying it with high pressure. Hiring a professional who understands these specific risks and has a proven safety process is the only way to ensure your home gets the cleaning it needs without causing thousands of dollars in damage.
Since 2012, Nick Loomis of Hot Water Pressure Washing has been a trusted expert in Tallahassee's exterior cleaning industry. With over a decade of experience, he's passionate about two things: delivering incredible results for his customers and finding innovative solutions to do the job right.
