www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com
In this case I will not be running the whole house. Just lights, a mini-split heat pump, and well pump. I would have an interlock in the panel and the customer would operate loads manually.
What kind of loads are we talking? Electric heat? Electric water heater? What are your large loads? In most cases, a 20kW generator will do a whole house with non electric heating. You can use a service rated ATS between the meter and main panel and. It have to worry about switching on which breakers or overloading.
www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com
Basically, anything that can turn on by itself or be left on must be considered, like lights, HVAC, cooking, water heater, etc.
Actually, given the overload characteristics of typical breakers, it is just as likely that the prime mover will overload and lug down or overheat before the breaker trips, as long as the overload is not large enough to activate the thermal trip quickly.No matter what size PORTABLE generator you get you will not be able to run a central AC unit (even if it has a 50A receptacle on it - just a point of info). You can probably run a fairly small mini-split without a problem. Usually with a 30A, 120/240V output on a generator you can run pretty much anything in the house (within reason). The biggest draws in your case will be the mini-split, well pump and the fridge. Anything beyond that shouldn't be a problem unless you try to run EVERYTHING at the same time. The breaker on the generator will let you know when you have too much running.
I've run my 3 ton central AC from my portable generator without issue. I also ran my parents 2.5 ton AC for three days from the same generator along with other basic things in the house. Generac 8Kw run, 10Kw starting current.No matter what size PORTABLE generator you get you will not be able to run a central AC unit (even if it has a 50A receptacle on it - just a point of info). You can probably run a fairly small mini-split without a problem. Usually with a 30A, 120/240V output on a generator you can run pretty much anything in the house (within reason). The biggest draws in your case will be the mini-split, well pump and the fridge. Anything beyond that shouldn't be a problem unless you try to run EVERYTHING at the same time. The breaker on the generator will let you know when you have too much running.
Before I installed my whole house generator I ran this house with an 7500W, 9000 surge generator. It would run one of the three ton AC units, but not both.No matter what size PORTABLE generator you get you will not be able to run a central AC unit (even if it has a 50A receptacle on it - just a point of info). You can probably run a fairly small mini-split without a problem. Usually with a 30A, 120/240V output on a generator you can run pretty much anything in the house (within reason). The biggest draws in your case will be the mini-split, well pump and the fridge. Anything beyond that shouldn't be a problem unless you try to run EVERYTHING at the same time. The breaker on the generator will let you know when you have too much running.
FWIW, I am sure some AHJs would take issue with the fact that the snap switches are not listed as manual transfer switches.
Not true. There's a company or two that makes something called a soft start that allows big AC units to start on small generators. I've never used one, but I've heard good things about them.
The mini-split can be used for heating or cooling but in this case we are concerned with heat because like you said, the outtakes are in winter
That's the key. YOU know what you're doing as I'm sure others here in the Forum do as well. But, the average HO doesn't have any concept of what it takes to manage their electrical loads. It's 100 degrees outside, it's raining, I need my sump pump on, my fridge working, my TV on, my computer on and above all I want to be cool while doing this BUT, I only invested in a small generator to run all these things
That's why you need a dumb portable generator. Your system is too smart.
