Generator Placement
A generator is the difference between rotting loot and a stocked freezer that lasts the whole run. But it is also one of the few base objects that can kill you outright, attract zombies, and quietly drain a fuel supply you spent days siphoning. Get the placement right once and it pays off for the rest of the save. The decision breaks down into a handful of constraints, roughly in priority order.
1. Outside or unroofed — the death rule
A running generator in an enclosed, roofed room poisons the air. The game shows a moodle and your health ticks down; left running it will kill an unaware character within a day or two. The fix is simple: place it on a tile with no roof above it. That means outdoors, on a balcony, in a fenced yard, or under an open carport. If you must keep it indoors, tear out the roof tiles directly above it with a sledgehammer so the square reads as exterior. Standing next to a running generator briefly to refuel or repair is fine — the danger is sleeping or working in the same sealed room while it runs.
2. The ~20-tile coverage radius
A connected generator powers appliances within roughly a 20-tile radius of itself, measured as a circle on the same building. Center that circle on whatever matters most. For a hoarder that is the fridge and freezer bank, because powered refrigeration multiplies how long meat, dairy, and perishables stay edible. For a crafter it is the room with the oven, microwave, and any powered crafting. You do not need line of sight or wiring runs — proximity is all that matters — so put the generator on the side of the building closest to your most power-hungry cluster, then verify the fridges hum after you hit "turn on".
3. Fuel logistics and consumption
A generator burns roughly 1 unit of gas per in-game hour, so a full tank lasts on the order of a few days depending on load. Gas does not regenerate, so the smart move early is to siphon every abandoned car and pump gas station fuel into jerry cans before the grid shuts off. Keep the generator close enough to your fuel stash that the daily top-up is a short walk, not a 200-tile round trip. A common trick is to turn the generator off whenever you are away on a long looting run: fridges hold their cold for a while, and you save days of fuel you would otherwise burn powering an empty base.
Condition, repair, and the electrician skill
Generators have a condition value that drops slowly as they run. A degraded generator becomes less efficient and eventually stops. You repair it with a wrench, a screwdriver, and a propane torch with welder mask depending on the part. Hooking a generator up at all requires the Generator Magazine (How to Use Generators) read at least once — without it the connect option is greyed out, so grab that magazine early. Higher Electrical skill improves both repair quality and how reliably you can reconnect a generator after moving it, and it reduces the chance of a failed connection. If you find a second generator in good shape, keep it as a cold spare so a sudden breakdown does not cost you a freezer full of food.
Noise and zombie attraction
A running generator is loud. It emits sound continuously, and that noise can pull wandering zombies toward your base over time, especially in or near towns. This is the main argument against placing it right on your front step facing a street. Tuck it behind a wall or fence, on the quiet side of the building away from the road, so the noise radius overlaps as little populated ground as possible. In a remote rural base the noise barely matters; in a dense urban hideout it is worth building a small walled enclosure around the generator to keep curious zombies off it.
Multiple generators and winter
One generator cannot cover a sprawling multi-building compound. Each unit only services its own ~20-tile bubble, so a large base may want a second generator dedicated to a far storage wing or a separate farming shed. Run each only when that area is in use to conserve fuel. Winter changes the math: with the power grid down, an unheated base gets dangerously cold, and a generator lets you run a powered heat source. Plan extra fuel for the cold months and keep the generator and your fuel cans somewhere you can reach without a long exposed trek in a blizzard.