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In case of blackout, how do you hook up a generator to the house? Do you run extension cord from the main panel to the generator or do you run each appliances to it. We just moved out of the city to the country and just trying to figure everything out. Thanks for your help!!!
do you hook up a generator to the house? NO!!!
Do you run extension cord from the main panel to the generator NO!!!
Permanently installed generators all come with a "transfer switch" (of varying sophistication)
which **isolates** the two power sources attached to the house...
the UNFUSED power company and the generator.
Something of this sort should be done even with a portable.
Quote:
...or do you run each appliances to it. Closer.
The problem is the term "each appliance"...
the portable generator is not going to produce enough power to run each appliance at the same time.
There are compromises to be had...
but anything you install needs to isolate the power company feed.
It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you just want enough power to run the coffee pot and a hair dryer, just get a small generator and plug the appliances into it. Make sure the generator you purchase has the power you need to run the appliances you wish. Generators come in many sizes. How big do you need? Depends on how much you wish to spend.
If you want a whole house generator, do as Mr Rational recommends and have professional install a large one with automatic switching gear. A good unit will sense the power going out and will start and switch on is seconds.
Of course the cost difference will be huge. A small generator will be a couple of hundred. A professionally installed "Whole house" generator will cost thousands, depending on how fancy you wish to go.
If you have frequent power outages, spend the money and go first class. One thing to remember, no matter if you go big, or go small, the generators must be maintained and serviced on a regular basis. That fancy generator won't do you any good if it won't start when you need it. We check out our generators monthly. Go through a check list and then fire it up and run it until warmed up.
If you live in cold country, you can get a water jacket heater to keep it warm, so It will start when needed..
Time to go shopping and educate yourself...
The big generator cost $3000 to buy and about the same to install. The transfer switch was about $800 for a switch to handle 16 circuits. A whole house switch wodl have been another $1200 plus increased installation costs. We decided that 16 circuits is enough. Power goes out, generator kicks in. It take less then ten seconds (or at least seems like it). Sometimes we barely notice except that all of our clocks go to 1200 and out computers reset.
I do not remember the size. It is 16 or 20 Kw. It provides plenty of power for everything including AC unit and pool pump both of which draw a lot, especially upon start up. There are no cords or anything to do. It is all hardwired into the house. It just comes on when the power goes out. You need to change the oil once a year. You need a new air filter every couple of years. Otherwise it just sits there. It starts once every two weeks for a short time to charge the battery. It is stationary, mounted on a concrete pad and cannot be moved. It sits in a lightly insulated metal box and never had any problem starting even when it was -30. Runs on Natural gas or propane. Very quiet. Sometimes we have to open a window to discern whether it is running. Maintenance is about 1 hour per year.
The small generator (5700 watts constant 7500 peak), you have to pull out of the garage, hand start it and plug in extension cords. It runs on gasoline. If you use long extention cords, you get more resistance (less power at the end of the cord) and it cannot power much of anything. Thus, you need to put the generator close to any major appliance and used very heavy extension cords. I used 10 gauge when powering a fridge. A standard 14 guage 100' cord is not likely to be able to power a hair drier. A fridge is out of the question. Among other problems, you will melt the cord. You do not want it too close to the house because the exhaust can suffocate you. Sometimes idiots put them inside their house or in the basement and then they die. The only advantage of hte little ones is cost and portability. The little generator cost about $300 - $350 (on sale). I can drag it out to the woods to run my compressor so I can use the nail gun on sons fort; I can take it to my dad's house if he looses power. I can take it to a picnic or camp out. Problem is it is really loud.
If it is really cold and the power goes out and you desperately need power, the little generator is pretty much guaranteed not to start. But when you bring it to the repair shop to have them look at it, it will start right up and run perfectly. Just the nature of the things. I think that they are assembled by deamons.
You do not need a transfer switch or an form of isolation for a small generator becuase you plug the appliances or whatever directly into the generator. It is not connected to the power grid. You would only need a transfer switch if you connected it to your house wiring and that woudl be stupid becuase it cannot power an entire house. Two or three devices is pretty much the maximum for most reasonably sized portables.
Personally I had a small, portable generator with an industrial extension cord. My belief was we would just need to run a few things on/off for a few days. If any longer then a few days. Out of here to the nearest hotel that has room service. Call me when the power is back.
I did start the thing up twice a year and replaced the gasoline supply (5 gallons) every few years.
you can have a male plug wall-mounted on your house that allows you to simply plug a portable generator in. You need to have an interlock kit installed at your panel if you do this. Its basically a manual transfer switch. You'll have a separate circuit breaker for the generator installed below the main; the interlock prevents both from being in the "on" position simultaeously.
automatic transfer switches are the easiest; it requires nothing from you except to have the annual maintenance done. An automatic generator will test itself weekly, and any errors will be reported on the LCD screen in the generator.
not being able to operate all appliances on your generator shouldn't be a concern, because the code no longer allows us to install a generator w/ an automatic transfer switch that can't power all connected loads in unison. manufacturer's offer a "load-shedding" panel that can selectively disable appliances that are overloading the generator.
The big generator cost $3000 to buy and about the same to install. The transfer switch was about $800 for a switch to handle 16 circuits. A whole house switch wodl have been another $1200 plus increased installation costs. We decided that 16 circuits is enough. Power goes out, generator kicks in. It take less then ten seconds (or at least seems like it). Sometimes we barely notice except that all of our clocks go to 1200 and out computers reset.
I do not remember the size. It is 16 or 20 Kw. It provides plenty of power for everything including AC unit and pool pump both of which draw a lot, especially upon start up. There are no cords or anything to do. It is all hardwired into the house. It just comes on when the power goes out. You need to change the oil once a year. You need a new air filter every couple of years. Otherwise it just sits there. It starts once every two weeks for a short time to charge the battery. It is stationary, mounted on a concrete pad and cannot be moved. It sits in a lightly insulated metal box and never had any problem starting even when it was -30. Runs on Natural gas or propane. Very quiet. Sometimes we have to open a window to discern whether it is running. Maintenance is about 1 hour per year.
The small generator (5700 watts constant 7500 peak), you have to pull out of the garage, hand start it and plug in extension cords. It runs on gasoline. If you use long extention cords, you get more resistance (less power at the end of the cord) and it cannot power much of anything. Thus, you need to put the generator close to any major appliance and used very heavy extension cords. I used 10 gauge when powering a fridge. A standard 14 guage 100' cord is not likely to be able to power a hair drier. A fridge is out of the question. Among other problems, you will melt the cord. You do not want it too close to the house because the exhaust can suffocate you. Sometimes idiots put them inside their house or in the basement and then they die. The only advantage of hte little ones is cost and portability. The little generator cost about $300 - $350 (on sale). I can drag it out to the woods to run my compressor so I can use the nail gun on sons fort; I can take it to my dad's house if he looses power. I can take it to a picnic or camp out. Problem is it is really loud.
If it is really cold and the power goes out and you desperately need power, the little generator is pretty much guaranteed not to start. But when you bring it to the repair shop to have them look at it, it will start right up and run perfectly. Just the nature of the things. I think that they are assembled by deamons.
You do not need a transfer switch or an form of isolation for a small generator becuase you plug the appliances or whatever directly into the generator. It is not connected to the power grid. You would only need a transfer switch if you connected it to your house wiring and that woudl be stupid becuase it cannot power an entire house. Two or three devices is pretty much the maximum for most reasonably sized portables.
Jesus @ highlighted text. I was considering buying a big one as you described but approximately 5K is a bit much for something i'll get to use may be once or twice a year.
Jesus @ highlighted text. I was considering buying a big one as you described but approximately 5K is a bit much for something i'll get to use may be once or twice a year.
For us it was worth it becuase the power company was unable to put in the power lines for several weeks (I think it ran to several months). We were paying $30 - $100 a day to run gasoline generators for contractor's tools, my tools, pumps, heaters, etc. Once we put in the generator, the cost of natural gas was negligible in comparison. Now it is nice to have. We lose power from three to ten times a year. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for a few days. I would not have bought one if it weren't for the power problem during rehabilitation of our home, but it sure is nice to have. We pay someone to come and service it once or twice a year on a schedule. I could do it myself, but I would probably eventually forget at some point in time and end up with an "Oh S**T!" moment when it seized up. It costs very little and it is worth it just to be able to dump the responsibility to keep track of maintenance onto someone else.
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