Generators......back up for home

[boneaddict]

I've been thinking about getting a generator in case of outages.  I have a 1500 watt little guy which just wont cut it if I needed it for anything but powering a lightbulb.   I ahve a saltwater reef tank which is very vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and in interuptions in waterflow.   I have a battery back up system for it but it will only last about 17 hours.   Ive dreamed of a generac, but installation costs almost as much as the unit itself and I dont have 10K to spare.  I thought about sticking with code and having an electrician hardwire a transfer switch in and or a plug in.  Ive also thought about since this is emergency only, I could just flip my main and plug the thing in.  I know they advise against that for electrocution reasons but....   I also find it interesting that two 9kws are cheaper than one 12kw.  Is it that much of a disadvantage of running two in parallel other than noise and gas.....

all opinions welcome even those that arent safe or compliant

[KFhunter]

mine is NOT code 

I think if an electrician seen mine he'd shake his head and go na na na na see no evil hear no evil na na na na and walk away shaking his head

but it works and it was cheap, and besides I live rural and we just do things like that in stevens county 

[boneaddict]

Now see, I appreciate that kind of answer.   

[KFhunter]

so "hypothetically" speaking 


one could utilize an existing  220 box on the side of their house, like for an AC unit or hot tub and tie into that. 

You could make special 120v lines and tie two black wires of your 120v plugs to each leg of your 220v outlet,  then tie your common white lines together and run to the common in your fuse panel.   

that would give you 220v to the whole house and power both legs of your fuse box and it seems to be working great (hypothetically speaking of course)

[Mudman]

If a "Person" was to go to Lowes and buy the gen. plug and a dryer plug and some proper 30+amp wire in theory you "could" unplug the clothes dryer turn off main power supply, (Gen Transfer switch recommended) and plug your outdoor gen into dryer plug. 3500w 30amps 220v.  Well, light or two, fridge etc.  It is redneck yes.  It works great.  Be safe and smart and this isn't legal either.

[CP]

I have one of these in my off grid cabin to switch from generator power to inverter.

https://www.amazon.com/EZ-GENERATOR-SWITCH-Generator-UNIVERSAL/dp/B00FADDE0A/ref=asc_df_B00FADDE0A/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198064505516&hvpos=1o9&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6502024846375847600&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033394&hvtargid=aud-801381245258:pla-320968523428&psc=1

It works well and was easy to install. 

Code?  What code?

[CP]

Be sure that you don't back-power the grid.  That would endanger any repair people working on the lines.

[KFhunter]

I would take inventory of all the things you want to power and that'll dictate the size of your generator. 

electric water heaters?  1, 2 more?
deep well pump?
house heat? electric gas?
lights x?
fridge, freezers?

generac has a nice calculator.   If you have gas heat and city water that makes it pretty easy, a 5500w generator will power *most *of what you need, it'll keep the fridges running, lights on and your fish warm., but don't run the clothes dryer and toaster oven

[High Climber]

Backup generator is a great idea, if you are wanting to run the entire house with no limits then one of the big generators will suit you. If you are just wanting your fish tank, fridge/freezers, and some lights then a much smaller generator would work.

As far as flipping the main and plugging it in to a socket goes, the big hazard there is not to you... if you miss a step or do something wrong, the hazard is to the line crews working in the area or your neighbor that decides to move some downed wire out of his driveway (Bad idea), as the back feed through your transformer will step up the voltage back to 7200 volts or whatever the nominal voltage of your feeder is. Spend the extra cash and have an electrician do it 

[KFhunter]

Be sure that you don't back-power the grid.  That would endanger any repair people working on the lines.

        


but the actual threat of this is very very low, truth is so many people have so many things running its virtually impossible to back feed the system, it'll pop the generator overload fuses like instantly. 

[boneaddict]

I wouldnt be on an auto set up....so the first thing I'd do would be to switch the main power off at the meter.  That would stop backfeed or the other way when the power came back on.

[wapiti hunter2]

I have a 6500 watt Honda propane generator. It backs up my entire house. I have had to use it on numerous occasions where I live. I do not heat with electricity, are yous wood. I also cook with propane and have a propane hot water heater. Don't get less than 5 KW and have it properly wired in with a electrician putting in a switch.

[High Climber]

Be sure that you don't back-power the grid.  That would endanger any repair people working on the lines.

        


but the actual threat of this is very very low, truth is so many people have so many things running its virtually impossible to back feed the system, it'll pop the generator overload fuses like instantly.

There is a lot of assumptions you are making here. If you live in a rural area and maybe just you and a few neighbors are fed of the the same tap line... your line is down towards the source or a lineman has made an open... now you are heating things up. Not trying to bust anyone’s balls here but DONT be the Ahole that kills somebody just to save a few hundred bucks

[Special T]

I mentioned this in past  posts but this will help your situation.
1 while the power is on map out the lights, plug ins and such in your house. take this map that has the breakers on it and  put it in a ziplock bag and tape it to the inside door of your breaker box.
2 make a list of circuits that you must have to power necessities. likely the outlet you have for your fish tank also has a light on it. I doubt you need to light the whole house, and powering the whole house up draws power.
3 Figure out how many Amps each of the necessities need to start up and run. This should help.
https://www.rcpw.com/rip/repair/generators/calculating-generator-output.html

I had a 7500watt generator that i used for almost 2 weeks one time. It ran my refrigerator, 2 freezers, some lights, and the fan for the natural gas furnace. I ran it about 8-10hs a day not the whole time i was out.
I had not done any of these things before hand, it would have made my life much easier.

If you are going to disconnect your main breaker and back feed the panel it is quite helpful if you can plug your generator to a high amperage plug in like what you might use for a welder or electric cloths dryer. You can burn your house down overloading a simple 120 outlet to charge the pannel.

[boneaddict]

Personally I'd like to put a 50 amp plug right after the meter.  That way the generator could be out at my garage to decrease sound.   Do you need them covered at all from rain or snow?
I'm assuming if an electrician did it, theyd say no to that and put the transfer switch in the house next to the mother board and the plug in would be just outside there.