petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
I had a rather long and drawn out exchange with some people recently that have a rather odd installation issue.
They have an attached garage with a subpanel in it that they had a transfer switch installed so they can hook up a generator thru a cord.
The first time I read this I said there is just no way to back feed the generator into the garage panel "legally", or safely for that matter. You would have to install the transfer switch at the service point to switch out the utility power and switch in the generator. I gather the expense involved makes this unpalatable, given it is already installed.
An electrician is suggesting some kind of "lost key" system that is made by someone that is allegedly UL listed and backed up by a PE sealed letter where there is some kind of key in the service panel that can only be removed when the main is off, and can be used to turn on the back fed breaker in the garage. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? It just seems convoluted for a residential system.
Does the code even allow for something like this in lieu of a real transfer switch?
I usually just stay out of the threads about generators there because the usual wisdom involves a suicide cord and the dryer outlet. But this one caught my eye because it was so unusual.
They have an attached garage with a subpanel in it that they had a transfer switch installed so they can hook up a generator thru a cord.
The first time I read this I said there is just no way to back feed the generator into the garage panel "legally", or safely for that matter. You would have to install the transfer switch at the service point to switch out the utility power and switch in the generator. I gather the expense involved makes this unpalatable, given it is already installed.
An electrician is suggesting some kind of "lost key" system that is made by someone that is allegedly UL listed and backed up by a PE sealed letter where there is some kind of key in the service panel that can only be removed when the main is off, and can be used to turn on the back fed breaker in the garage. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? It just seems convoluted for a residential system.
Does the code even allow for something like this in lieu of a real transfer switch?
I usually just stay out of the threads about generators there because the usual wisdom involves a suicide cord and the dryer outlet. But this one caught my eye because it was so unusual.
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