Gas generators are the most common backup power solution in American homes — and among the most reliably neglected pieces of equipment in the garage. They sit unused for eleven months, get called on during the next power outage, and sometimes don’t start. The carburetor has varnished from stale fuel. The spark plug hasn’t been checked in three years. The oil is overdue. None of this is complicated. All of it requires knowing where to look and what to do.
That’s the core of this book — and it extends to the full set of small gas-powered equipment a household actually depends on: chainsaws for clearing storm debris, snowblowers for winter mobility, pressure washers, wood splitters, leaf blowers, rototillers, and lawn mowers. The Editors of Cool Springs Press, working with the experts at BLACK+DECKER, have produced more than 200 DIY home improvement titles over 30 years. This is their approach to small engines: 144 pages of large-format step-by-step photos and diagrams, designed explicitly for beginners with no mechanical background. Seasonal tune-ups, oil and filter changes, spark plug service, fuel system maintenance, carburetor overhaul, troubleshooting charts — all of it laid out clearly.
On the NWS shelf, this sits alongside When the Grid Goes Down and The Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual as the third Energy title — the one that covers the small gas equipment layer that the other two don’t. More depth on backup power and energy resilience lives in our Energy guides.
