One for the Electricians out there

[woody_tobius_jr]

I'm thinking of purchasing a portable generator, and was wondering what I should be looking for. I want to hook it up to my house, so when the power goes down, I can flash it up. I believe I need a switch in my breaker box for this right? What should I look for in regards to continuous wattage. 6000W? 8000W? It would need to run the furnace, 2- fridges and 2- small freezers. Any brands I should steer clear of? I'm on a budget for this too, so I don't want to be spending a fortune.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Trashy]

Not trying to be a smartass, but I would think you should start looking around 15,000 watt & diesel. Anything less would be dead the first time you use it. imo

 

[underdog]

Not trying to be a smartass, but I would think you should start looking around 15,000 watt & diesel. Anything less would be dead the first time you use it. imo

My Grandpa has a 6500 watt diesel generator that he kicks on if the power goes out here. use it for lots of other stuff around here too, and it powers his house just fine. He called the 1 night, and I got the generator going before the end of jeopardy. He was pretty happy about that. :d

 

[Trashy]

My Grandpa has a 6500 watt diesel generator that he kicks on if the power goes out here. use it for lots of other stuff around here too, and it powers his house just fine. He called the 1 night, and I got the generator going before the end of jeopardy. He was pretty happy about that. :d

Hmmm...... I would have never guessed that. Thanks!

 

[hypnotoad]

get a rough estimate of how much power the appliances you want to keep running use and then go 1.5-2X that for your generator to be on the safe side.

 

[Summiteer]

You need a transfer switch installed so that there is no chance of backfeeding the grid when the power comes back on. Here is a link to a generator sizing web page....seems to pick them big.

There is also a device that can get that permanently plugs into your meter socket (then your meter plugs into it) has a weatherproof receptacle on the bottom that a gen set plugs into. Is basically a transfer switch.(I'm just waiting on a text to get the web site)
Your need really depends on how often it is used. once or twice a year for a couple of hours, I wouldn't buy a 10kva diesel for but if you lose power fairly regularly then it's probably worthwhile to spend the extra dough.

 

[Polarblu]

i had one and didnt turn off my main power feed. Somehow i f@ckT the microwave, dvd player and tv. Maybe the electricians can chime in on that also!!! 4500 watt just pluged it into a 30 amp socket, but didnt turn off the main. What a mess........... Now works fine. 4500 will run fridge deepfreeze, tv, and a most of the lights before it starts grunting.

 

[modmanmike]

i had one and didnt turn off my main power feed. Somehow i f@ckT the microwave, dvd player and tv. Maybe the electricians can chime in on that also!!! 4500 watt just pluged it into a 30 amp socket, but didnt turn off the main. What a mess........... Now works fine. 4500 will run fridge deepfreeze, tv, and a most of the lights before it starts grunting.

The generator you had might have had a floating neutral. this is the same where if you try to charge cordless drill batteries on a generator. it cooks them every time.

a 4500 can run quite a bit. Just before Y2K We wired up about 50 houses with gensets and the biggest most guys had were 6500 and they could run the whole house. as long as they werent using the stove and the toaster and the coffee maker and drying clothes all at the same time the 6500 was more then enough.

 

[Polarblu]

The generator you had might have had a floating neutral. this is the same where if you try to charge cordless drill batteries on a generator. it cooks them every time.

a 4500 can run quite a bit. Just before Y2K We wired up about 50 houses with gensets and the biggest most guys had were 6500 and they could run the whole house. as long as they werent using the stove and the toaster and the coffee maker and drying clothes all at the same time the 6500 was more then enough.

It was kinda comical cause it just started grunting for 20 seconds before it kicked the overload. I was standing there thinkin"well that aint right" then as the overload kicked i thought"oh crap" then the tv wouldnt turn on........ the whole reason i was messing around to begin with.....oops!!

 

[Trashy]

It was kinda comical cause it just started grunting for 20 seconds before it kicked the overload. I was standing there thinkin"well that aint right" then as the overload kicked i thought"oh crap" then the tv wouldnt turn on........ the whole reason i was messing around to begin with.....oops!!

Sorry..... but lmao!!!

Sounds like something I would do!!!

 

[modmanmike]

Sorry..... but lmao!!!

Sounds like something I would do!!!

X2 Lmao

some people are too funny!

 

[underdog]

Sorry..... but lmao!!!

Sounds like something I would do!!!

X2 Lmao

some people are too funny!

You guys are mean!




















































I would have done the same thing hahaha :d

 

[Cyle]

The generator you had might have had a floating neutral. this is the same where if you try to charge cordless drill batteries on a generator. it cooks them every time.

a 4500 can run quite a bit. Just before Y2K We wired up about 50 houses with gensets and the biggest most guys had were 6500 and they could run the whole house. as long as they werent using the stove and the toaster and the coffee maker and drying clothes all at the same time the 6500 was more then enough.

Charge cordless drill batteries on a generator all the time, never had a issue. Not sure why you would?

 

[overkill131313]

I put the major things on a seperate breaker box like fridge, fan on fireplace, water pump, lights, and TV of course lol..... 4500 watts will run my parents place no problem........they have a cheap homelite that I paid $350 off of Craigs list.......no transfer switch but just make 100% sure you turn the main switch off.......the way their house is wired, is it has two breaker boxes and two main switches........we turn the one main switch off for the box that the generator is hooked to.......we leave the other one on so when the power comes back on, it will light up the other half of the house to let us know the power came back on! so total cost was about $350 and some time switching some wire around to make one breaker box the gen box! power goes out at least a few times a month here!

 

[modmanmike]

Charge cordless drill batteries on a generator all the time, never had a issue. Not sure why you would?

the older gensets like about 15 years ago. not the new ones

frick I'm getting old!

 

[Polarblu]

Charge cordless drill batteries on a generator all the time, never had a issue. Not sure why you would?

As i figure i tryed to power 10 houses, then overload kicked and it flowed back enough to kill the delicate parts....... but im no electrician just know it was an f-up!!

 

[MATTIAC]

Yes you would want a transfer switch to have an external power source hooked up to prevent back feed.


As far as wattage goes. A typical fridge draws 5-7 amps. So 2 fridges 2 freezers and a gas furnace with electric fan would total +-4000W. You would Want to avoid resistive devices like any heat source. Those and motors have big draw.

 

[Summiteer]

i had one and didnt turn off my main power feed. Somehow i f@ckT the microwave, dvd player and tv. Maybe the electricians can chime in on that also!!! 4500 watt just pluged it into a 30 amp socket, but didnt turn off the main. What a mess........... Now works fine. 4500 will run fridge deepfreeze, tv, and a most of the lights before it starts grunting.

Any chance that you plugged into your 220V receptacle on the genset and a 120V Rv plug or something on the house? that'd f*&k things up in a hurry.

 

[Polarblu]

Any chance that you plugged into your 220V receptacle on the genset and a 120V Rv plug or something on the house? that'd f*&k things up in a hurry.

nope cause i use it 4-5 time a year since..... works fine!

 

[Summiteer]

nope cause i use it 4-5 time a year since..... works fine!

hmmmm, weird.