Generators

[Five Seasons]

14 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

My parents house was done that way and my dad had to get rid of it before selling the house because it wasnt up to code.

I'm sure it varies by county and town but my understanding is the interlock switch is ok, but having a tie-in into the panel without one is not. Don't quote me on that haha.

The kit is pretty easy to install without an electrician, but I had him do mine while he was in there.

[Jeremy K]

5 minutes ago, Belo said:

For those reading this I want to throw out a few things to consider. 

The dedicated circuit solution above

Pros

It's a lot harder to overstress your generator as you've hopefully spec'd out the size of your generator to power the circuits you've selected, understanding that if they feed rooms you still need to be careful of what's plugged in.

No need for free slots in your panel

Cons

No flexibility to cycle anything else on or off

The units themselves are usually over $300

Can be a little messy with wiring as you have to tie in additional wiring from switch to each breaker

 

Now the interlock kit that I posted above

Pros

Cheaper ~$50 (give or take the added cost of a dual 30 amp breaker)

Flexibility to turn on and off every breaker in your home (see below)

Cons

You need 2 free slots in your panel

You can overstress your generator if you're not careful by turning on and drawing more power than your generator can handle.  The system itself isn't smart, your house acts like it's on the grid and of course running an electric dryer or stove is possible but a bad idea.

The math here isn't super hard, there are many handy calculators out there to determine peak (this part is important) draw for appliances and add it all out to spec the size of your generator or in reverse, understand what your current generator can handle. I like this because in the summer I don't' want my pool turning green so I'd like to be able to cycle it on and off here and there while having to maybe turn off some rooms for a while when doing this (load balanceing). This same thing can be done with a transfer switch above, but for a unit with more circuits (like 7 instead of 5) you're paying more.

Then of course you can get a generac lg or ng system that automatically turns on and runs your whole house even the A/C haha.

Not all panels are set up to use an interlock device like you have , my panel is older and the main is in line like the rest of the breakers . It's not possible to use an interlock without changing the entire panel to one that has the main breaker separate at the top of the panel. That's what I thought I was getting into until It was explained to me . So older house might not have the ability to use one.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Jeremy K

[ncountry]

2 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Not all panels are set up to use an interlock device like you have , my panel is older and the main is in line like the rest of the breakers . It's not possible to use an interlock without changing the entire panel to one that has the main breaker separate at the top of the panel. That's what I thought I was getting into until It was explained to me . So older house might not have the ability to use one.

One like this would maybe work?

 

[Chef]

Hello fellow members,  how many of you have some kind back up plan in place if you should lose power ? I have a 7500 watt portable and a transfer switch wired in for 10 circuits . I'm all in at less then 2 grand and that includes someone else installing the transfer switch . It seems odd that so many people can be unprepared to deal with a power outage.

I have a generac built in generator, it is powerful enough to run the entire house including both AC units. It’s great!


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