Transfer switch - hooking generator to home panel

[Socalman]

A while back I picked up a generator capable of 3,500 watts continuous power and 4,000 watts starting power. I know it is not going to be enough to power all the lights and appliances my wife wants to use at once, but figure that it will give us some comfort and convivence when SoCal Edison can not supply us. Early in Sept we experienced four consecutive days of 112 degree weather, with no electricity, smoke from fires horrible. Our power went out for that same time period. We suffered at night, all we had in the bedroom was a small battery operated fan. Had to take a a freezer full of food to my daughter's house. NEVER AGAIN!

We are going to have an electrician install a transfer switch so we can hook directly into our panel and not have to drag out extension cords. We have our choice of two switches, either 6 circuits or 10 circuits. The price differential is $100 in the two. His installation charge is the same. I have traced out what circuits power various things in our home and we could get by ok with the 6. That would power things like our garage which has an electric opener and houses the freezer, laundry room so we can still clean clothes, stove, microwave and a few kitchen wall plugs, wall plugs that will keep our internet connection and computer, TV, some wall plugs in bedrooms and bathrooms. We would also have the fan on our forced air heater. The 10 circuit switch will power almost everything, though not at once.

What do you suggest? Save $100 and "rough it" or spend the $100 and be totally comfortable?

Any suggestions about having this done?

BTW, I have enough fuel in storage to run this thing for, according to its published specs, about 160 hours of continuous running.

Give me your opinions!

[Fidel MD]

Go with more knockouts....

[eagle326]

More knockouts.

[bacpacker]

Better to spend the $100 now, than find you need something else down the road.

[ak474u]

More is better. You never know what your future needs will be. I want one too.

[Socalman]

Thanks for the upvote on the direction I was leaning!

[bacpacker]

I'm thinking about getting some electrical work done. This thread has spurred me into adding a transfer switch now. I only have a small genny now, but want to add solar later. For now it'd be nice to be able to power the freezers, maybe the fridge.

[Twitchy]

I agree with others, for 100 bucks, its worth the upgrade if you ever end up getting a different generator with more power.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

And a Cheery Aye Aye, Ha-rumph an all that shit! You'll use them. I'll probably be hooked up to solar by spring unless uh, something else makes me do it sooner. Y'all can figure that one out yourselves.

On subject, I installed one of those at the mother-in-laws. went with the 6. House built in the 40's, small, etc. Just enough for "that" house. Worked fine.

[Socalman]

We decided to go with the 10 circuit transfer switch. It is manual, meaning when I hook the generator up/ I have to select the circuits to power. While I will not be able to run everything, it will operate most of the circuits in our home, though not all at once.It will be installed in January.

Side note, I am visiting my son's family and on Sunday the power went out about 1600 hours and did not come back until around 2330. Where they live there is no natural gas, very little propane use, so everyone cooks with electricity. Our main dish for dinner, by lantern light, was grilled cheese sandwhiches for the main course, cooked in cast iron on the grill.

[helomech]

I just wired a double male plug from my generator to the side of my house. And then put a 220 breaker labeled generator. Just have to turn off main, turn on the generator breaker and power everything I need. Just remember to turn the main off first. I once messed up, and all it did was overload the generator and kill it.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

I have this BIG FONT laminated instruction book I made hanging on the switch panel and big ass stickers on the plug ins and breakers. So one does not get in "I know what I'm doing big ass hurry" Dont want to light up the poor guy workin on the power pole.

[Kesephist]

Double male extension cord isnt as absurd as it sounds. I'd 10gauge the cable, though, and maybe stick an inline fuse.

A den of thieves err nursing home that I unfortunately once worked in had two separate power circuits. Power outages autoflipped to a generator that powered the "blue" circuit... limited kitchen and all the admin offices.

The maintenance guy showed me the double male rig he had to get power into the "gray" circuit. Since each room had its own a/c-heater, Mike (not his name) would have to shut down a lot of stuff, or you would have ppl baking or freezing... but the Admin folks would be comfortable. :rolleyes:

For switchovers, I would stick to plain old brute force switches instead of computer controlled.

[Illini Warrior]

you always go with the bigger box - if for no other reason you have more room for the wiring you do use ...

with a few more extra open breaker spots - you can always use them to tie-in some loose extension cord lines for powering up something special for just the emergency ....

[Fidel MD]

you always go with the bigger box - if for no other reason you have more room for the wiring you do use ...

with a few more extra open breaker spots - you can always use them to tie-in some loose extension cord lines for powering up something special for just the emergency ....


I believe that code requires at least 2 empty slots in any new box installation.....for future expansion. Even though you can fill the box up later.

[Gunfixr]

I also think that code does not allow a generator hookup without a grid lockout.
So that it's not possible to turn on the generator connection with the grid still on.

I'm looking into a gen/alt power hookup myself....

[Illini Warrior]

I also think that code does not allow a generator hookup without a grid lockout.
So that it's not possible to turn on the generator connection with the grid still on.

I'm looking into a gen/alt power hookup myself....


those things are usually simple as pie and idiot proof >>> if there's ANY chance of someone dealing with powering up your set-up besides you or someone trusted & detail trained - you need that lockout in place - hate to be you if your power set-up BBQs some lineman ....

[Domeguy]

I agree with everything said. When you have power from a generator or solar power powering to the main fuse box, and you are grid tied, it’s called “ISLANDING” due to the fact that during a power outage, you are an island on your own with power. You must have an automatic shut off to the grid if you have your emergency power automatically kicking in to the panel if the grid goes down, like you said, so you don’t fry the lineman, as electricity will flow both ways.

Also, Square D makes thin breakers in at least 15A that allows you to but 2 breakers into one hole. I have had to put several into my panel as I outgrew my panel quickly. My electric inspector would only allow 5 outlets per breaker. I bought a Square D 40 hole panel, and still needed more space. And there is talk of having any circuit that has a motor associated with it on its own separate circuit, no matter how low the amperage is. They are even putting motors in faucets these days.
I wired my home myself, but in no way am I an expert...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn a few times.

[Domeguy]

I’ll preach it again, I know I’ve written this many times...but I beg of you. Buy as many solar gadgets as you can afford on your budget. Look on places like Amazon for rechargeable batteries, mainly AA and AAA. Get some small solar chargers to recharge the batteries. But it wouldn’t skimp on the batteries, look for good quality with a higher mAh. This means it will give power longer than a lesser mAh. I just ordered a 20 pack of AAA made by a company called EBL from Amazon. Ni-MH 1100 mAh high capacity. They say they can be recharged 1200 times even when fully or partially discharged. Only 19.99 w/ free shipping...that’s $1 per battery. That will power a lot of flashlights for a long time. Get some solar powered garden lights, usually around $1-3 depending on quality. These will take the rechargeable AAA batteries if you can’t use the solar built in solar panel. Buy some 12V DC powered light bulbs. They are easy to wire up into a string, and can be powered by a 12V battery, which can be recharged by a solar panel. Check out the solar companies, sometimes they will sell “damaged” panels at a steeply discounted price. This may only mean they have scratches on the frame. Spend a few extra bucks on a good MPPT. This is a unit that is the brains of the system. It knows how much solar energy to put into the battery so it’s not over or under charged.
Just get what you can when you can. The bigger the better, but the smaller is better than nothing...or the dark!

WARNING...AC POWER, WHAT YOU RUN YOUR TOSTER WITH HAS BLACK FOR POSSITIVE, AND WHITE FOR NEGATIVE!
DC POWER, WHAT YOU POWER YOUR ITEMS WITH A BATTERY HAS RED FOR POSITIVE, AND BLACK FOR NEGATIVE!
Both powers use green for the grounding wire.


Ps...I saw a few yrs ago a video of a woman using a weed eater powered by solar energy. She had a solar panel in a wheelbarrow facing the sun, movable to get the most sunlight. It was wired to a MPPT then to the battery sitting also in the wheelbarrow. The extension power cord was normal, but instead of the male plug, there were alligator clamps instead to the battery. The female end of the extension cord was plugged into the weed eater as normal. So instead of a weed eater, what could or would you power up. The possibilities are endless. Power tools, lights, electric motors to power what ever you need. Or you could run the extension cord into the house to run what ever you could with the correct 12v. So in closing, where will you be when the vibrator stops working. I’ll get off my soap box now.

[Gunfixr]

Thank you, but I did know about the black/white, red/black thing.
I would like to put in solar backup here.
Actually, i'd like to have several of the more necessary circuits on solar full time, so if the grid goes down, I lose the extraneous stuff. Since I understand solar/battery should not just sit and wait.

Our place is a modular, out in the country. So, the first thing that happened was a pole was installed, with a meter, and box. A line runs from this box into the house, to it's box.
That means I have an outside, seperate box to work with. Currently, it has about 4-6 circuit spots, and it feeds the well and septic, and an rv hookup back on the property.
I want to replace this with a box having more spots, so I can run my alt power in, as well as feed the garage i've added, and a few extra, for any expansion.

The house is already lit by leds, and my two most used ceiling fans are DC motors, using 1/2 to 1/3 the power of ac fans. So, running that, well, septic, fridge, maybe microwave won't take that much. Maybe run the washer, when microwave not in use.

[Domeguy]

Sorry Gunfixr if you took my post personal, but it was a more open post to anyone looking to delve into do it your self solar.

[Gunfixr]

Sorry Gunfixr if you took my post personal, but it was a more open post to anyone looking to delve into do it your self solar.I didn't take it personal, just letting you know I already knew about the color thing.