I am going to install a SquareD Generator Interlock Kit.
It is a easy way to safely connect a portable generator to the house wiring.
I am putting on an outside receptacle as well.
I thought I would share this because I didn’t realize it existed before.
It’s a cheap alternative to something that could be potentially life-changing expensive. http://static.schneider-electric.us/docs/Electrical Distribution/Load Centers/Accessories, Homeline (HOM, LK, PK, QOM)/40273-809-02.pdf
Of course, I will likely avoid all outages after installing, knock on wood.
I have had mine installed, passed inspection, and ready for work since sometime last year. It is a fantastic and cheap way to transfer the whole house to generator power safely and legally.
In my case I was changing out the panel anyway so I had the new panel equipped with the interlock tab so that the UL sticker is valid. I used a 30 amp “generator” circuit and the connecticut electric outside receptacle with the same twistlok connector as my generator uses.
No, I won’t be running the electric water heater or the range but I will be running the fridge, microwave, coffee pot, lights, TV, etc. from their normal switches.
Cool! It sure seems like a good solution.
While I’m waiting for the kit to arrive, I put on the outside receptacle, a 30 amp model by Reliance, with that same twist lock connector that my generator uses. I am using the higher capacity 8 gauge wire inside the house, like the kind the electric range uses, versus the 10 gauge that could have been used. The wire to the generator is 10 gauge.
For me, the deep (450’) well pump is the big user. I tried to run it with my 5kw generator and it wouldn’t work, a scary experience to me as I visualized all those dollar bills flying out the window. The compact flourescent lights went out and the kill-a-watt meter read 80 volts on one leg, and the pump seemed to have tripped out after a very short while and it seems to be normal since. I got a clamp on ammeter and measured 37 amps surge and 11.7 amps steady state! My other 7.5 kw generator ran the pump.
I figure, pick the spots to run the water pump. Other loads include yours and for me the oil-fired boiler.
I wouldn’t know the minimum to run the generator to keep food cold enough though. Maybe an outside digital thermometer (with a wire) could be used, with the sensor on the inside of the freezer section and the gauge on the outside.
Newer refrg’s and freezers take very little electricity to run and are pretty easy on start-up. I use a 5500 watt generator to power some general lighting circuits (all CFL’s), the 240v deep well pump, the sewer lift pump, refrig, freezer, microwave kitchen outlet circuit, and the outlet circuit that runs the computer (so I can keep up on the latest posts to the Hearth Forums). No problem at all.
When needed we run the generator about 1 hour every 4 hours.
That is interesting Jim. I don’t think voltage drop was a factor at the time going to my well pump, but who knows.
Maybe my new setup will be better, but I just don’t think my 5kw generator’s 6kw surge capability was enough to get that motor turning (with 37 amps=8800 watts).
I’d prefer to use the lower wattage unit if only to save fuel. Plus, I want to ‘save’ the good one, lol.
Perhaps use the bigger one once to take showers and fill a bathtub with water.
The only broadband we can get where we live is cellular wireless (verizon aircard), and of course it’s not really broadband.
I have a feeling though that even if land lines go down, even if the cell towers have power, the network might become overloaded.
We usually lose our coaxial feed during power outages which means loss of network television, land line phones, and internet during a power outage. So our entertainment options are reduced but we make due with movies and such. We have a good time all hunkered down in the stove room.
I have run my old tecumseh 11HP powered 5500 genset in the past during outages and found it to be a major gashog even when lightly loaded. 0.5 gallons per hour lightly loaded and loud as heck. So when it died I replaced it with a physically smaller (I can pick it up), quieter, and more fuel efficient genset that I can use for camping as well. Only 3500 max running watts though so I can’t weld with it but the fuel consumption reduction is very positive. Oh and to be sure, anyone thinking about using an interlock MUST have a 220 volt generator. You need both phases.
I used the cheap 10-3 romex to run my generator circuit and the breaker is 30 amps, the twistlok is rated for 30 amps. Everything is 30 amps. If I had a critical appliance (well pump) that needed 37 amps then I would have upsized the wire. I have a couple of other heavy gauge runs at 50 and 60 amps that use the big wire and that material is very expensive and much harder to work with than 10 gauge.
6 gauge copper romex, 6-3, at 3$ per foot for 50 -60 amp cuircuits. It was much heavier per foot and much stiffer than the 10 gauge which was much much cheaper. I would have suffered through it and done it with the 6-3 in your situation. I ran two long 6-3 circuits, one for a 50 amp welder and one for a 60 amp hot tub. It is rated for 55 amps but you are allowed to use the next larger standard breaker.
So you really want to make a single run with the 6-3 wire from the panel to your outlet or whatever. When you need to run 80 feet to the outlet, you need to drag that 80’ roll of 6-3 through the attic, through the crawlspace, over the rafters, etc. and it get’s heavy really fast. Hard to pull through conduit too. Smarter guys use stranded but then you need to use conduit.
For me, it was all basement and then come out under a porch, and it was only a 50 foot roll which was 94 bucks at the hardware store (maybe they didn’t have the latest commodity price on it ).
What’s interesting to me is that there’s that 10 gauge orange romex going to that well pump, fed from a 20 amp breaker.
I guess it can take some surge before it trips. I don’t know anything about the specifics of your average breaker.
That’s a good price for 6 gauge romex. Maybe it has gone down recently with the bizarre economy.
10 gauge is good for 30 amps whether 220 or 110, so you really have some oversized wire which is a good thing. I believe you’re right that the breakers are “slow blow” to some extent to allow for surge loads like when you kick on that well pump.
Here are some pictures.
I didn’t take a closeup of the bracket that holds the breaker in, but it is in the picture of the kit.
Easy to install. Had to make room in the upper two right breakers.
If you’re going to the trouble of installing an interlock and switch, you might want to go with at least a 50-amp receptacle and 6-ga. If the future, you might want to run a larger generator and $ adds up every time you put in a new receptacle, etc. That was the first thing installed in our “new” home (after the woodstove of course). Added a plug in for the generator. There is no interlock, so I’ll have to label it “aux power outlet” when we sell so no future owner does anything dumb. We have two trips - a main at the house and a second on the pole in the driveway. As has been mentioned, you can’t just feed one leg of the panel @110V; you might do bad things to some expensive appliances like the well pump/range/furnace. Also, check the quality of the $80 generators - I’m not sure you want to run computers or sensitive electronics off them. Finally, the frigge and freezer don’t need much juice - if the power goes out open the freezer once to move stuff you need to the fridge/freezer and then leave it closed; if full it’s safe for a long time before it’ll warm up too much. Use the fridge/freezer (or outdoors in winter) to keep stuff cool and run that off the gen. Good luck!
you need to have a interlock kit to be up to code. and beside how would you feel if you forgot to switch something and killed the lineman trying to do a repair. the transformers on the pole take 5000 volts down to 120/240. if you backfeed that transformer with 120/240 you get 5000 out the other side. if you don’t have anything like a well pump or electric stove 10/3 romex is fine. surge ratings are hard to find out per appliance unless you do a amp probe reading under normal conditions. 10/3 will actually hold 40 amps but the nec code book says for housing it’s rated at 30 amps. you need to check what you inlet on the outside of the house will take for wire size. if you have a 30 amp plug and run 6 gauge and break off strands of wire to fit, under a heavy load it may overheat and melt. cheap way out if you going to run a larger size wire than you need run 6/3 ser aluminum. and then splice smaller wire size with a burndy connector for alum and copper. 6 gauge will not fit into a 30 amp breaker. alum wire is cheap.
startup current on motors is a killer. some oil burners depending on the motor used will draw 30 to 50 amps on startup then drop down to 5 amps. some older fridges can draw high teens for startup current and then drop to 4 or 5 amps. air conditioners. older window units 12000 btu runs at 12 amps. i’ve seen them take 30 to 50 amps on startup. central air conditioner condensors (outside unit) 3 ton runs at 16 amps startup 50 to 70 amps. 5 ton runs at 24 to 28 amps startup 100 to 115 amps. on a 50 amp 2 pole circuit breaker. their made for surge current
That’s great fbelec. My electric stove uses a 40 amp breaker but I can certainly run it with my little 3500 watt genset. Like anything else, you need to manage your power needs and it is easy on the oven by only using the range burners one at a time. I cooked up my top ramen noodles while my kids watched TV during the last outage. The small burners use a very low percentage of that 40 amp oven breaker and I barely noticed the load on the genset.
Trouble with these modern glass top electric ovens is that the element is either on or off and it cycles to give you the heat setting you set with the dial. So, your genset will be getting loaded and unloaded over and over as the elements cycle.
you need to have a interlock kit to be up to code. and beside how would you feel if you forgot to switch something and killed the lineman trying to do a repair. the transformers on the pole take 5000 volts down to 120/240. if you backfeed that transformer with 120/240 you get 5000 out the other side. if you don’t have anything like a well pump or electric stove 10/3 romex is fine. surge ratings are hard to find out per appliance unless you do a amp probe reading under normal conditions. 10/3 will actually hold 40 amps but the nec code book says for housing it’s rated at 30 amps. you need to check what you inlet on the outside of the house will take for wire size. if you have a 30 amp plug and run 6 gauge and break off strands of wire to fit, under a heavy load it may overheat and melt. cheap way out if you going to run a larger size wire than you need run 6/3 ser aluminum. and then splice smaller wire size with a burndy connector for alum and copper. 6 gauge will not fit into a 30 amp breaker. alum wire is cheap.
startup current on motors is a killer. some oil burners depending on the motor used will draw 30 to 50 amps on startup then drop down to 5 amps. some older fridges can draw high teens for startup current and then drop to 4 or 5 amps. air conditioners. older window units 12000 btu runs at 12 amps. i’ve seen them take 30 to 50 amps on startup. central air conditioner condensors (outside unit) 3 ton runs at 16 amps startup 50 to 70 amps. 5 ton runs at 24 to 28 amps startup 100 to 115 amps. on a 50 amp 2 pole circuit breaker. their made for surge current
I’d recommend the interlock if you’re going to do a proper install. I didn’t sweat it because a) I’m the only one that will use the generator and b) we have a 1926 house that was a rental/foreclosure - believe me, the interlock is the last code concern I have; the bare live wires in the basement when we moved in, the 3K wats on a 15A circuit, the wires electrical taped together in a wood chase, etc., all seemed more critical to bring to code. Home wiring by homeowners is a chancy thing (says I, a homeowner and DIY-er!); especialy when you get into 220 and feeding a panel vs simply replacing an outlet or light… Take the time and put it in right, it sounds like you have good knowledge and tools to do it.
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