Choosing a Backup Generator Plus 3 LEGAL House Connection Options - Transfer Switch and More

Learn how to build a *solar powered generator* _(no prior knowledge required)_

Want to choose a backup generator wisely and connect it to your house legally? You've got to make a connection the right way to keep line workers safe and to avoid trouble with the law. This video is about choosing a backup generator and understanding the 3 legal methods for connecting it to your home.

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[paulross]

Wow...I could only wish that all YouTube presentations were as calmly and professionally communicated as this one! 10 out of 10!!!

[titusnelson]

Special Note: excellent review. My added input is based on a 6 day ice storm and complete power outage. Out of 22 homes. Those without generators had houses freeze. That included pipes and cans of food. They lost every thing in their refrigerators too. Things defrosted. Houses with sump pumps had flooding in basements and under houses without basements. It was a mess. Those that had large generators like 5kw and up ran out of gas the first day and were siphoning gas out of cars to keep going but then had no gas to do important chores.

I purchased the smallest Honda generator at the time about 1200 watts. Still have it. It ran all night on a tank of gas or all day. I ran extension to the furnace (natural gas) and it kept the house toasty. I ran another cord to refrigerator and/or microwave. I was the only house that was running after three days. Everyone else went to hotels if the could find one. Hotels and eating out for families cost at least $1000 and the other losses about the same. I lost nothing. I ran all week on five gallons of gas. Car was fill and we didn’t have to eat out. We had a warm house, warm showers, hot food and it was like a mini camp out. We enjoyed popcorn on the fireplace and felt comfortable being together and not having to worry about the house being empty to potential vandals. I converted the same generator to try fuel so it runs on propane, easy to store for long periods and to natural gas. I can now plug into my barbecue outlet and run continuously with only periodic oil check. Last thing if you use gasoline get ethanol free gas from hardware (TruFuel). It won’t destroy your carburetor. When you periodically change oil, even if you don’t use it, run for 30 min or so till warm. If you have gasoline in it, run it out of gas completely. So only use enough gas for the amount of time you are going to run, even if you use ethanol free gas. Thats why i like propane or natural gas. Everything stays clean snd ready for use. Lastly have everyone in family, except kids, even a neighbor, know how to use. The only large generators i would use would be build in like Generac that run on natural gas or propane. Determine largest size generator by the minimum you can run and have at least a week of fuel. Remember in earthquakes you loose water, electric, gas. So the TriFuel comes in handy especially propane. As you may be in a tent. There an electric hot water pot, microwave, lights, ceramic heater, and radio/TV. Those that had generators in Northridge Earthquake were kings. Keep safe.

[crankychris]

Retired Union Electrician here, good article, code correct. Here is #4, a cheap and 'legal' [NEC compliant] method:
Use a mechanical interlock on your main breaker [must be the correct part for your electric panel] it will prevent both the main and genset breakers from being energized at the same time. The interlock cost $71 for my Cutler Hammer 200 amp panel. Buy a couple of CO2 detectors, too, cuz more people die from CO2 fumes than in hurricanes and tornados combined.
PRO: Cheap, safe, easy to install.
CON: You must manually switch off 2 pole high load circuits to reduce demand below your genset's capacity. In my house, this includes the HW heater, dryer, 4 ton HVAC, and range. If you don't, you'll trip your genset's breaker, requiring a manual
reset, usually in the dark, just as you fall asleep!
BTW, do not worry about linemen's safety. These men know how to work safe with very high voltage. The danger is that any service sharing your 'step down' line xfmr [13.2 KV to 240 volts] will also become energized, meaning your neighbor's houses!
Stay safe folks, remember that gensets kill more people than storms every year. Don't do electrical work if your unqualified.
--'Ten fingers' Chris

[alexcortez]

Great video! I’m a lineman and a supervisor for our service department. This explains generators and how to hook them up in a very simple way that most anyone can understand.

[vegasfordguy]

I prefer to use a generator interlock switch which wasn't mentioned in the video. By far the easiest and most user friendly. In my case I paid a few extra bucks and purchased the interlock made by GE specifically for my panel. Between the interlock, power inlet box, 30 amp breaker, 10 AWG wire and all needed conduit it set me back about $180 total. Unlike a transfer switch which only allows you select a pre determined amount of circuits (usually 4, 6 or 10) Also costs a lot more money, also has to be wired to each existing breaker you want to utilize. With a interlock switch you simply turn the main breaker off, turn the 30 amp interlock protected breaker on and it's up to you as far as which circuits you want to leave on or off. I flip the A/C off and I can leave everything else on. It's not like you're going to be running everything at once anyways. This is where simply thinking comes into play.

[aprilbrown]

This was so incredibly helpful! I am a single woman and live alone so your thorough explanation was absolutely perfect. Within 12 minutes, I now understand not only how to hook up a generator but what I need to do electrically to separate out the essential power I will need as well. Thank you very much. 💗

[biggusdickus]

As a member of the IBEW, I thank you for mentioning linemen can be injured or killed by generator feedback from generators being hooked up by diy folks that just do not realize the dangers.

[rupe]

I do this for a living so let me throw in a few tips: The typical portable gen set will use gasoline or LP at the rate of about 1 gallon per hour for each 5 KW draw. What that means is your 7 - 9 KW set running at 50 - 60% capacity will drink about a gallon per hour if you draw that much juice. Since so many thing in a house run in cycles of varying lengths you may find your consumption is not all that much. IOW, the fridge or heat will shut off when the t-stat. says it's up to snuff. The well pump will only run for 1 - 2 minutes at a time. Basically you will need the gen's higher capacity to start these loads but after a few hours it's not much load at all and the fuel use will drop off in proportion. Here's a few more things to consider: Your fridge can hold most of it's cold for a good 8 hours if the door is closed and it will reach temp with 3 - 4 hours of run time. If you can run your gen for 3-4 hours in the morning and another 5-6 in the evening, then that's enough to maintain some heat in the house, some cold in the fridge, and keep up with minimum demands of other needs. (water and such) Keeping all this in mind you can run the average small home on about 5 gallons of fuel daily... but you need to stick to the rules. One more thing.... it will cost you about FOUR TIMES more to make your own power versus what you pay the utility company, not counting the cost of the gen or it's installation / maintenance. Basically you need to shut off things that are not important and you will be fine.

[missmurder]

Watching this as I sit in below freezing weather in Houston, TX with no electricity very informative. Thank you 😊

[jimb]

Very informative video! I just bought a Duromax XP 12000EH, am a fairly new home owner, and have never used a generator for anything besides powering construction equipment. In March of this year (2020) my area was hit with an F4 tornado. Both the house my wife and I live in and another we own on the same street were damaged, so we've been through several months construction and are now trying to be prepared for the next disaster (and also sell the smaller home). Aside from a tornado shelter lagged to my garage floor, I've bought the DuroMax for power-outage scenarios. Wasn't sure what kind of a hookup situation I wanted to go with, or even what all is available, but your video here helped me decide: transfer switch/panel. Looks like the best option. Thanks!

[michaelb.]

This is great ! At 7:30 I think option #3 the Generlink and turning off breakers to unessential items such as clothes dryer, etc makes the most sense. Never heard of one til now.

[joeskosana]

Soo... gratifying when one comes across an empowering and educating video on YouTube. This is life-enhancing. Five Stars for you.

[SgtRudySmithbRet]

INTERLOCK KIT-
I have an interlock on my panel and just used it for the last 4 days: AMAZING item and a must for all homeowners.
I can run everything except the A/C and that's limited by the size of my generator.

[bernie]

I have a main disconnect at my panel. I have a large generator in my garage. When the power goes out for any length of time I first disconnect the power from the pole and then start up the generator. The power from the generator feeds the main panel thru my welder circuit. (60 amps). The longest I've had to run my generator is 5 days. With a full tank of gas the generator will run for 12-13 hours depending on usage. In 20 years I've only had to run the generator for multiple days 3 times. I've used it with my welder to provide mobile welding more that that. My one piece of advice I would give is to purchase your generator at a time when there is no emergency. You don't need a generator the size of mine. I purchased mine at a time of emergency and by the time I got to Lowes all the small generators were gone. That said, I'm glad I have the bigger one now. When we had a power pole that snapped there were on 4 of us that lost power. I was able to power up not only my house, but my neighbors as well. Everybody's situation is different. Chose what's right for you. And first and foremost, be safe. Being in the dark won't kill you but screwing around with electricity if you don't know what you are doing can kill you.

[buck-intrends]

After a recent power outage with the outside temperature at 22 BELOW, I investigated generators for my home. I came upon the Generlink system and was impressed. As instructed in this video I contacted my power company. They were completely unaware of the Generlink system and told me they would get back to me. That was FOUR MONTHS ago and I still haven’t heard from them. As I live in a rural area and have had two more power outages since then, I am getting frustrated at not being able to install such an easy and powerful system. THANKS for the great video, I will keep trying to get my home protected!

[themodernmystic]

Thank you. After freezing for days in Texas I'm looking to get a generator and this video was very helpful. I am going to go with option 2 as option 3 limits you to the location of your meter and for me that doesn't work. Far side of my house where theft could easily occur

[mariopironti]

Thank You so much for taking your time to make other people understand this process. YOU are why Youtube is making the world better.

[nydrell]

This is by far thee best darn explanation of generator hook up on you tube....period.i'm going with option #3

[machone]

Option #2 is the best. I did an install with a manual transfer switch, and I have less than 1K in the entire setup including the generator.

[royshashibrock]

I was going to mention the breaker box interlock. It is by far the simplest solution. It ensures that you do not feed power back into the grid because it forces the main breaker to be off anytime the generator feed breaker is on. Just don't forget to turn off the breakers for your heaviest-draw items such as water heater and AC unit.