Nobody owns the generator until the first outage, and by then it is too late to find out. You are the one who will be asked to start it, fuel it, and explain it to the utility at two in the morning. Settle the ownership now, while the power is on.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Name the owner of the test run
A standby unit that has not run in months may not start when you need it. Most manuals call for a regular test run under load, and the schedule is written there, not in your head. Ask who runs it, on what day, for how long, and who writes it down. If the answer is you, put the day on the calendar you actually check.
Check the manual for the service schedule too. Oil, filters, and the battery have their own intervals, and the hours on the meter count more than the calendar. Ask the installer or dealer who keeps the service record and where that record is kept.
Name who buys and stores the fuel
Find out what fuel the unit burns and how it should be stored. Stored fuel goes stale, and the manual will say whether it accepts a stabilizer. Limits on storing gasoline or propane come from local fire rules, so check with your fire department or the dealer before you stock up. Write down who buys the next load, who rotates the old fuel out, and where the spare sits.
Name the spot and the rules for it
Placement is the one part of this job you cannot leave to luck. Generator exhaust is deadly indoors, and the manual sets the minimum distances from doors, windows, and vents. Never run it in an attached garage or a shed. Ask who will move it into position when the power is out, and whether that person can do it in the dark, in the rain, on wet ground. If the answer is no, the spot is wrong.
Connect it the right way
A generator tied into the house should go through a transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician. Running an extension cord from the unit into an outlet is the kind of shortcut that endangers the utility crew and the neighbors. Ask the electrician which circuits the unit will carry, such as the refrigerator, the furnace fan, a lamp, and any equipment that needs power for care. Then ask what happens if the load is bigger than the unit can handle.
Make the outage plan a written page
Put one page in the binder with the make and model, where the manual is kept, the service company phone number, the fuel supplier, who starts the unit, who moves it, which circuits it feeds, and the utility's outage line. Ask your utility whether it keeps a list of homes with power-dependent medical equipment and how to get on it. Ask the pharmacist what to do with any medicine that needs refrigeration if the power is out for a long stretch. Those answers belong to the family, the doctor, and the pharmacist, not to the generator.
When you cannot be the only owner
If you already carry the week, do not add the generator to your list by default. Name a second person in writing, even if it is a neighbor or a relative who lives an hour away and is willing to make one phone call. Decide whether the first call goes to that person or to the service company. The St. Louis list on our Local Help for Caregivers in St. Louis page is a starting point for asking who can help with setup or planning.
You are allowed to own less of this than you think you should. Own the test day, the fuel line, and the spot. Hand the rest to someone with a name on it.