Yet again, another generator thread.

[GH85Carrera]

We are in the third day of a unusual major ice storm. The leaves are still on the trees, and have not even started to turn colors much less turn loose. The ice is devastating to all the trees. We have several trees that will have to be removed. Power is out to thousands of people in large areas of Oklahoma.

We are very fortunate, and we have electricity, and the only power outrage was about 20 second long. However, my wife has now decided we need a backup generator.

In the 20+ year we have lived here we have had two power outages that lasted more than an hour. Evey time we have a generator thread I get the fever, and then sticker shock sets in when I settle in on a generator. Pretty much the consensus seems to be the Honda 2200i inverter generator. That would run the furnace, fridge and a few lights and we would get by fine. If it was a summer event and we needed AC we can go to to a motel way cheaper than the cost of a whole house generator.

So my question is: How do I get the power into the house? The generator will be on the back porch and the extension cord through a door or window seems really stupid. I know they make the connectors that hook to the power panel in the house, and let us walk around in the house and turn the lights in that room. That would feed the fridge and furnace and any device in the house, we just have to be smart and not turn on too much. And I know that then prevents back-feeding to the grid and keeps the linemen safe.

Any suggestions on a type of connection, and what exactly it is called? I will hire a real electrician to install it. I just need to know what to ask him to install.

Would an electrician prefer I have the gizmo here and ready for them to install or do I trust them to sell me a good one?

If it was all up to me I would just live without the generator, but the wife says get one, so a generator it is.

[greglepore]

An electrician can add an "outlet" that will be used as an inlet next to the panel. It installs with a manual interlock that requires you to turn off the main before you can make the gen input functional.

[red-beard]

You need a three-way switch, sized to the same size as your service.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-200-Amp-240-Volt-Non-Fused-Emergency-Power-Transfer-Switch-TC10324R/100150463

Or you can setup a sub-panel for your "essential" circuits and go with a smaller three way switch

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-100-Amp-240-Volt-Non-Fused-Emergency-Power-Transfer-Switch-TC10323R/100171587

You then connect a Receptacle to the generator side of the transfer switch and the main power to the "line" side. The center is connected to your loads.

When the power goes out, plug in the cable to your generator, start it up, THEN move the transfer switch to generator.

[Baz]

Sure - you can get a more elaborate system - but if you're only talking about the rare occasional outage....you can't beat the practicality running an extension cord through a window.

Not that big of a deal and best of all it's free.

What you'll have to work out is how large the cord should be and how many more you'll need to plug in your designated appliances.

[Evans, Marv]

I bought a transfer switch with six circuits that is hooked into my main panel. Each circuit has a switch for "line" (normal use), "off" isolates the circuit from the line, & "gen" for power coming from the generator. When I had it installed for my generator, the electrician said, "Wow! This is cool. I usually make these." So I'd imagine you could have an electician make one to run power to the things you want to use during outages.

[red-beard]

Some of those premade units are pricey! The Generac units from HomeDepot are about $800 depending on options!

[Bill Douglas]

I got flamed last time I mentioned this... But here goes again.

A quick and nasty way to get power to the house is to turn the house mains off so you are not supplying the grid. Have the generator outside, an extension cord running under a door, and a suicide plug plugged into any outlet.

[rfuerst911sc]

As I am typing this we are getting pounded by rain/wind from Zeta and the lights have been flickering . I have a Honda EU3000 standing by ready to go . I have a overhead garage door in the basement so I just roll the generator outside and run an extension cord under the garage door . That cord then goes up the basement stairs and into the house . I want to keep the fridge cold and have some lights and be able to charge cellphones .

Yeah it's a redneck way of doing things but it works . Maybe sometime in the future I will do a proper switch setup .

[rwest]

One thing to keep in mind with a portable generator is that if power goes out and it is raining, you need to be able to keep it dry without asphyxiating yourself, so you might want to built a small enclosure to set it under.

I thought about putting a box on the side of the house under an awning of sorts and then have a plug from the box to the generator and then wiring in a few outlets maybe orange color near sump pump and near the fridge and then I could move the plugs into those outlets when the power goes out- pretty simple and low cost. Still manual work, but no extension cords running fifty feet through a window or door.

[Seahawk]

For years we ran extension cords to the things we wanted powered.

We got serious 15 years ago and had "plug" installed that leads to a transfer panel and fuse box, which are located right beside the main house fuse box connected to the grid.

Flip a few switches, plug in gen, start gen, power those items you want via the fuse box.

Since we have a basement (never again) and are on our own well, the important stuff are the sump and well pumps.

The rest is really not that much of a draw on power.

I do have a roll around a/c unit, 120v, just in case

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I got flamed last time I mentioned this... But here goes again.

A quick and nasty way to get power to the house is to turn the house mains off so you are not supplying the grid. Have the generator outside, an extension cord running under a door, and a suicide plug plugged into any outlet.

Glad you did it.

That is not an overly dangerous solution if you stay alert. Turn your main off, do not feed power back to the grid.

I would make a 220V version and feed the entire house. They are very common where I live.

It's like bungee jumping. If it scares you, don't do it.

[hcoles]

As a start while waiting how many outages and duration we will be getting here I installed an inlet receptacle on the outside of my house connected to a duplex receptacle inside. I connect the Honda generator to the outlet receptacle. This is used to keep just the refrigerator going and charging cell phones, maybe have a light on at night. I was looking at going with a more elaborate system including a transfer switch but I'll try this for a few years and see how it goes. There is some interesting reading regarding how to setup a transfer switch - e.g. do you ground the generator and/or switch the neutrals? If someone wants to post a diagram of a way or ways to do it that meets code that might be helpful.

[legion]

I recommend a gererator.

[KFC911]

I gave a generator and transfer switch away that I purchased for my parents.

Grounding. If you use a transfer switch, the "house" provides it from what I understand.

Do you guys running an extension cord(s), ground the generator?

If I ever lose power more than three hours ..... I'm heading to Oklahoma .... mebbe Glen will let me crash at his place .

Then again.... mebbe not .

If I go AWOL later today ....

Knock, knock....

[GH85Carrera]

Our house is in a neighborhood with all underground utilities. The only utility poles we have are for some street lights.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Our house is in a neighborhood with all underground utilities. The only utility poles we have are for some street lights.

The only electric poles we have are HV distribution lines. Wiring to the transformers and to the houses are all underground.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by red-beard

The only electric poles we have are HV distribution lines. Wiring to the transformers and to the houses are all underground.

The high voltage stuff is across the street in a different neighborhood. Once again we are lucky in that the local power company has been in the area all summer trimming back trees that overhang the wires.

[wdfifteen]

I went down that rabbit hole this summer. With three freezers full of food we can't afford a prolonged outage. The house was wired for a portable generator, there is a special plug on the outside wall to plug the generator into and had a manual transfer switch. I had it inspected and was told it was old but would probably work for our barest of needs.
Then I looked into generators. I would have to store it in a barn 100 yards from the house and go get it if there was an outage and we were home. If we were traveling it would just sit. I would have to start it up every few weeks to keep it limbered up and keep the fuel fresh. After adding up all the minuses of using a portable and the only minus to getting a dedicated generator ($$$) I went with a 13kw Generac running on natural gas and a 16 breaker automatic transfer switch. All in it cost $6000 but it is totally hands off and the entire system has a warranty. It still freaks me out at 2:00 PM every Wednesday when it fires itself up for 12 minutes of exercise. I get an email with a report on oil pressure, rpm, etc.
I really like the fact that it is totally hands-off and will keep the furnaces and freezers running even if we are traveling.

[GH85Carrera]

^^^ That is just where I kept ending up at. 6 large or more and so far in 20+ years of living here it would have been needed 12 to 20 hours total. So 6K for a day of power is just insane in my mind.

The longest outage we had was in the spring and the house got up to 80, and we were forced to eat ice cream for breakfast since it was melting.

We don't have a deep freeze, and never store a lot of meat. My wife does have a fresh water Tropical fish aquarium. Those fish would be in a serious hurt if they want a day without electricity. The koi pond out in the back yard is deep enough it would likely be OK for a few days with no pump action.

[wdfifteen]

You can get smaller generators. I went with the smallest 2-cylinder because a Generac service guy once told me the single cylinder units are less reliable.