My small help for those without power

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

My dad is an electrician and he rigged his house up so when he loses power he can plug in his generator and power most of his house.

That said I am NOT an electrician and know very little about electric in general.

This should only be done if you are comfortable working with electricity AND working in your circuit breaker box.

He tells me the easiest way to hook up your generator to run your house is to go to Lowes or Home Depot and get a double pull double throw switch that you would hook up just before you main power goes into your breaker box. That way you throw the switch which turns off your main power and switches you to backup. That is the easiest but he said that switch costs a fair chunk of change.

Since my dad is an electrician and used to working on a breaker box he just put in another breaker at the bottom of the panel that he only turns on when his generator is hooked up and running. YOU MUST TURN OFF THE MAIN ELECTRIC BEFORE TURNING ON YOUR BACKUP SWITCH IN THE BREAKER BOX. If you don't then your whole breaker box goes boom when the electric company turns your power back on, even if it's only for a second.

So he setup his backup on another breaker switch at the bottom which receives power through a female plug that hangs from his box about a foot. I'm not sure what gauge wire he uses to plug the generator into the breaker box but it's a thick wire, like an inch in diameter. That way he can have power throughout most of his house by choosing only a few breakers to turn on at a time. Really it depends on how much you generator can output and how much each of your breakers pulls from your generator. I'm no electrician but it's something to do with AMPS, vacuums, hair dryers, A/C units pull a lot more AMPS than pluging in your TV or whatever. I think most things tell you on the box how many AMPS they pull and your generator probably tells you how much it outputs.

Don't try this unless you are comfortable using electric and messing around in your breaker box. Obviously turn your main power off before attemping anything just incase your electric comes back on while your messing with it. Maybe someone else around here knows a little more about the subject and can explain it better, or can hook it up for those that don't want to try in themselves.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

X, you may be opening a bag of worms on that one. I'm very good with electricity and everything you said is legit, but its not for the masses. Your going to have someone with a small say 3500 watt generator trying to run there entire house (A/C alone would consume that). A best case scenario is what I'm doing where I have gone and measured the startup locked rotor amp draw for all my appliances, (A/C, Stove, Water Heater, Microwave, and lighting to get a feel for the needed kW. For a typical 2000 sq ft house I would say 15 Kw generator is needed. I'm getting a Generac Guardian system that runs on Natural gas. The benefits are nice for NG number one not having to store gasoline. Most people don't even know that you just can't store gas for long peroids of time (over 3 to 4 months without it breaking down. You need fuel stabalizers.) The cost of these systems is extreme but they are the only ones adequate to do what your saying. Only the select VERY VERY few like your Dad that will really know what they are doing need to attempt what your saying. I will have an automatic transfer box on my system. This alone is 700 to 900 dollars. Long story short a small 1500 to 5000 watt generator is good for running eccentials like the fridge and some fans and lights but if your going to n\be out of power long enough to warrant trying to wire it to your house you should think about getting out until utilities can be restored.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

I mean, I'm a professional. Just look at the electrical prowess I showed at the first Armageddon wiring it up for 140+ computers from a 600 amp 3 phase main through a 1920's breaker box. Lol, Mind you, standing in water the entire time.

Note. Ladies and Gentlemen do not under any circumstance try this at home. I'm a trained proffesional idiot.

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

:stu

[cd]

haha, I forgot all about that

[LA_MERC_Drax]

My dad's boss has a tractor with a genetor gig hooked to it somehow. He powers his whole house(including a/c) from this tractor. Runs on diesel fuel, and since he owns the company(dad works for a small company) all the shops and stuff are behind his house, he's got a 800 gallon gas tank and a 400 gallon diesel tank. He sat fairly well for his few days without power.

[LA_MERC_T4rg3T]

They have used tractor engines for years to power the water pumps to pump water to crops. Not only could a tractor power a generator, they now make generators for your trucks which install right under your hood and inline with your belts.

Its not the engine that generates the electricity per say. Its the magnets and load coils (wrapped wire coils) that generate a magnetic field which then pushes and pulls electrons generating energy. You just need an engine to spin the magnets around the copper coils.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

That's an awesome pic, andy...lmao

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Yeah, those are great pics Scott. That actually was a fun job. Pay close attention to my dramatic use of electrical tape.

P.S. I also wanted to clarify Toby's post. Most generators do use magnets. They are based on electromagnetic induction. This means that the magnet causes the electrons to move through the copper wire but what has to happen is the copper wire (or wires, since more wires equate to more energy) has to be placed in a loop and then rotated inside the magnetic field. Most don't actually spin the magnets as it's less efficient to spin the heavier metal magnets than it is to spin the copper wire loops. The spinning wire loops inside teh magnets is called the rotor. The stationary magnets around teh copper windings is called the stator. Now in an electric motor they put the copper windings around the magnets in the stator. This way when the wires are electrified by an alternating current it changes the poles of the magnets and will spin the rotor which will consist of laminated iron bars to keep the rotor spinning. Since the rotor is stationary and would not spin in the initial charge ac induction motors need a start capacitor. This is a device that stores electricak energy and through a centrifugal switch will charge one set of windings (Phase) to get the motor running. The centrifugal switch will release and then the motor runs on. I designed ac and dc motors for the piston compressors I designed at my last job. I know. I'm a nerd but I love educating people. I believe I will teach near the end of my career. Hope this helps at least someone. The rest of you I appologize for further complicating things for you.

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

I believe I will teach near the end of my career.

:crazyeye

:stick

[LA_MERC_Drax]

teachin how to brew your own booze classes andy? :stick

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Yeah I can definately cover that course.

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

Like I said a couple of times, if your not completely comfortable working with electric AND working in a breaker box, then you shouldn't attempt that setup. If you want it done and don't think your up to the task ask a friend or relative that's an electrician to hook it up for you. I just wanted people to know that you could run more than just your 2 outlets worth of stuff on your generator. Also like Andy said your almost garunteed that you can't run your whole house off the generator unless you buy a big bad one.

You can only select a couple breakers to turn on, not everything in your panel.