Although sought-after, valued, and appreciated, generators are big and bulky and impossible to keep in your house or office. Keeping your generator outside, on display for all, also does not add to the beauty of your home and can ruin the design of your exterior.
You do not have to live with your generator on display for all to see and in this guide, we will cover what to consider in your planning and give some brilliant ideas on how to hide your outdoor generator whether you have a garden or not.
You can hide your outdoor generator in some creative ways, through careful planning. You can hide it behind fences, in dog houses, behind plants and shrubs, in your rock garden and flower bed, and even under a false rock, to name a few options.
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Think It Through
It is rarely possible to keep your generator inside your home or office and an outside generator can be a real eyesore. A generator is a piece of electronic equipment that has to be maintained and kept under certain conditions, so it is not as easy as just placing it outside your home.
The first step is to remind yourself of the relevant legislative requirements you reviewed when installing it, to ensure that you do not break any laws. You also have to consider your neighbors, when selecting the outdoors location, as generators are noisy and generate exhaust fumes.
When designing your camouflage operation, consider the amount of air and ventilation the generator requires and the level of protection it needs from the elements. Your generator also needs easy access for normal maintenance and emergency operations.
You also need to consider the rest of your environment to ensure that your selected method of hiding your generator blends in well and compliments the surroundings and design.
Options for Hiding Your Outdoor Generator
Hiding your outdoor generator requires practical creativity and the following set of ideas should give you some inspiration.
Fence It in or House It
A good option to hide your generator is to build a fence around it. You can consider a lattice enclosure fence and even add creepers to add color and foliage to the lattice.
Another option is growing creeper vegetables such as beans and peas to add additional functionality. This way, the lattice can double up as a generator cover and a vegetable support structure.
There is also the option of a wooden fence that you can paint to either suit its surroundings or to add color and be a focal point in your landscaping design. Earthy tones, pastels, or bright enamel paint will do the job wonderfully.
An easy method to cover a small or portable generator is to use a dog house or generator housing unit. Using a dog house can look natural and appealing and you can put it on wheels for ease of moving the whole unit around.
Perhaps you can even use a wooden garden shed, or a wendy house, depending on your stylistic preferences.
Cover It with Plants and Shrubs
It is relatively easy and effective to hide your generator behind or between plants and shrubs. You can even hide your generator fence behind it.
A beautiful wooden fence with a bench in front of it surrounded by plants and shrubs makes for a much more appealing view than a generator in plain sight.
When choosing the plants and shrubs to use you need to consider the soil type and condition as well as the amount of sunlight the area gets. These greatly affect how well the plants will grow.
Also, bear in mind that you will still need access to the generator and cannot let it get overgrown and invaded by root systems.
Rock Garden and Flower Beds
One of the simplest ways is to hide your generator in your existing flower bed or a rock garden. You can also extend your current landscaping by adding to your bed or rock garden or adding new ones.
Edging is a good way to finish off any bed and draws attention away from the interior of the garden. Creating a false rock covering for your generator to really make it disappear.
A Final Thought
Generators are vital equipment for any home, shop, or office, especially during a power outage. They keep the fridges and freezers running and your food from spoiling and keep your business going.
These life-saving back-ups are especially useful in areas plagued by storms, hurricanes, and power outages to keep the lights on. This is why generators are vital but they are also bulky and need to be kept outdoors.
There are many effective ways to hide your outdoor generator to keep it from ruining the exterior appeal of your home or office.
I’d love more photos of these ideas.
My new generator sticks out like a sore thumb right where I walk thru. That’s where they said to put it.
I am with you. Ours is on the side of the house and like a big white sore thumb. There has to be some better ideas out there to “hide” this monstrosity. I am thinking fir trees, but that takes so long to realize due to growth time. Also, I don’t want my neighbors to have to look out her kitchen window and that thing for the rest of her time in that house.