portable generators

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petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
I beelong to another forum where the subject of portable generators comes up pretty regularly. Unfortunately, the insane cost of installing a transfer siwthc is usually not something that is popular, so the ever popular suicide cord is ofetn suggested and many think it is a great solution.

I udnerstand the reluctance to spend the money on a proper transfer switch, but the suicide cord idea just leaves me shaking. I usually suggest extension cords. This seems like a safe solution, but does not address just how one gets the power through the outside wall into a home.

A thought that occurred to me on my way to work this morning was to install a male receptacle on the outside that a standard extension cord could hook into a portable generator, and wire the male receptacle to a female receptacle on the inside, extension cords to power things inside.

I can't really think of a downside to this, although it does not address things like water heaters and furnaces that technically cannot be plug and cord connected, but when your power is out, no one is really going to care.
 

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
I don?t see a problem from a code perspective, provided only that the wiring inside the wall is done correctly. My problem with the idea is that I would need more than one receptacle. I don?t own a portable generator (yet). But if I did, the most likely time (in my area) that it would be needed would be winter. I would want to power the fridge and freezer outside (no problem with your idea there). Inside, I would want to power the fridge, a portable lamp or two, and the fan associated with the fireplace. That would take two extension cords. I don?t know if I could split the receptacle pair such that the top and bottom are fed by two extension cords from the generator, without exceeding the rating of the receptacle.

All that said, I think it a good idea to promote in that other forum. It certainly beats the heck out of the widow maker concept.


 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
the insane cost of installing a transfer switch is usually not something that is popular, so the ever popular suicide cord is often suggested and many think it is a great solution.

Use a factory made breaker interlock kit at the main panel, often around $50.00 and a male inlet to connect the generator too.
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
I believe that we (rather recently) hade a very long thread where we discussed some guy's 'circuit extending' arrangement. His kit included a power 'inlet,' a receptacle, a couple boxes and a length of Romex.

Such an arrangement is exactly what you can do to use a generator (outside) to power DEDICATED receptacles inside. With no connection to the house wiring, there's no need for a transfer switch.

I quarrel with your characterization of the cost of a proper transfer switch as "insane," though. A six-circuit manual transfer switch costs about $400- or about half the price of a very small quality generator. As for the cheaper gennys, well, you get what you pay for. That's another topic.

Outdoor generators tend to get stolen - even when running - in a crisis. So, the homeowner will need a plan to secure the generator and the fuel. There's also the issue of noise. (Noise level being one of the hallmarks of cheap gennys.) Overall, the cost of the genny itself is but a fraction of the cost of the entire installation.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
That is a common solution and works except that most people do not seem to have much in the way of spare spaces in their load centers.


When they buy the breaker to back-feed they could usually also buy two twin breakers to make some space assuming the panel is not already loaded with twins.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
I believe that we (rather recently) hade a very long thread where we discussed some guy's 'circuit extending' arrangement. His kit included a power 'inlet,' a receptacle, a couple boxes and a length of Romex.

Such an arrangement is exactly what you can do to use a generator (outside) to power DEDICATED receptacles inside. With no connection to the house wiring, there's no need for a transfer switch.

I quarrel with your characterization of the cost of a proper transfer switch as "insane," though. A six-circuit manual transfer switch costs about $400- or about half the price of a very small quality generator. As for the cheaper gennys, well, you get what you pay for. That's another topic.

Outdoor generators tend to get stolen - even when running - in a crisis. So, the homeowner will need a plan to secure the generator and the fuel. There's also the issue of noise. (Noise level being one of the hallmarks of cheap gennys.) Overall, the cost of the genny itself is but a fraction of the cost of the entire installation.

A lot of these guys get quotes from real electricians that are often well over $1000 to put in a transfer switch. The noise and security issues are generally well understood by the people there. To me a $1000 generator that costs $1500 to hook up is an insane cost.

The fuel issue is something else though. Some of them scare me with their plans to store 50 or 100 gallons of gasoline in jerry cans in their garages. I generally suggest natural gas, but the extra cost seems to be a major deterent, along with the inherent lack of portability.

A Honda invertor style generator seems to be the most popular and relatively quiet.

When they buy the breaker to back-feed they could usually also buy two twin breakers to make some space assuming the panel is not already loaded with twins.

To be candid, I am not of a mind to suggest diyers mess around inside a panelboard. Some of them already give me the willies with the things they say they are doing.
 
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