Posted on 11/19/2022 1:40:05 PM PST by gop4lyf
I want to hire an electrician to set up my house so that I can just plug it in to my house when the power goes out. What additional things do I need to buy that the electrician will need?
Here is my generator - Westinghouse 12500 Watt Dual Fuel Home Backup Portable Generator, Remote Electric Start, Transfer Switch Ready, Gas and Propane Powered, CARB Compliant https://a.co/d/gSlgcUv
Also, what can I expect to be able to run on a generator of this size? I definitely want my refrigerator, and preferably my central heat and air conditioning (air conditioning will not likely ever be needed).
It would likely power a lot more than that. I’ve successfully powered a lot more with significantly less generator than yours.
We originally sized at 20 kW for 3,400 sq foot house. Then Briggs discontinued the 20 kW and upped it to 26 kW for the same price. We’ve got LOTS of power! We didn’t want the oven going out when we are cooking Christmas dinner.
The electrician did all the sizing calcs (which aren’t hard to do). But you need to be aware of high inrush current when devices start which complicates the design a bit. If you lost power with a lot of house loads on (clothes dryer, AC, oven), you won’t just be able to throw the generator on. You have to disconnect some of those loads and then sequence them back on. The “load shed” modules we bought do that automatically for us.
You need a licensed electrician to advise you. Period. You don’t go on FR, a political website, seeking answers to questions involving electrical connections of any kind.
You could get hurt or worse blindly following advice from anyone on this site foolish enough to respond to you technically.
Electricity can kill.
Having said that, didn’t the generator come with an instruction manual? That might be a good place to start.
It will power your whole house.
Unless you got people living there that turn everything on and leave it on. Or you got a house like some richster has.
A small battery tender to keep the battery happy. I have a couple around.
https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Trickle-Battery-Charger-1000mA/dp/B074Z2NFWW
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S
One is on my generator, one is on my scooter.
How many BTUs?
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Old Hee Haw joke:
Enough BTUs to cool a BUT as big as a TUB.
Yeah, it would run a space heater if the fridge compressor isn’t running. And it has run a microwave for short bursts.
I even ran the hw heater for a few hours to shower and do dishes.
YOu will be able to run everyting but your AC.
Don’t buy anything.
Call your closest Generac dealer and they’ll take care of everything. At least, that’s how it worked for us.
One of the best purchases ever. Whole-house standby, clicks on one or two seconds after the power goes off.
My system is a bit older school...
Manual, with separate circuits for the critical items. Fortunately I’ve never had to stress test it.
Hope his neighbors don’t complain about the noise or while he was out someone stopped by who need a free generator to support a habit.
12500/220 = 56 amps!!! That is a lot!!!
Everything you said.
Some may need to use more appliances during a power outage while some may be enough with having just a few of them running. But in general, a generator that can provide between 5,000 and 7,500 watts would be enough to power a house.
The problem with these huge gensets is they use a lot of fuel. If you need to run it for more than few hours you might as well check into a hotel and order room service.
I avoid calling any repair people. Their price tags are waaay too high. I do it myself, and if I don’t know, I watch video tutorials. Plus I like the challenge.
1. Call a licensed electrician or three
2. Tell them what you want to do and what you have
3. Ask them if they can do that and how much they charge
4. If you need any parts they will tell you.
I did something like that a couple of years ago. My Gen is smaller (9500) but is tri-fuel. It can run off of natural gas, too, and that’s why I got it.
I can switch from the utility to the Gen by simply flipping the transfer switch from one to the other and everything in the house works. No need for extension chords or fiddling with breakers.
A 12500 watt generation will be sufficient to run your whole, just don’t run, all the stove burners, the oven, the microwave, the electric clothes drier and a hair drier ALL at the same time. ;) Check out how much power each one of those require (Google will tell you) - you’d be surprised how far 12500 go.
And see if you can get your Gen to handle natural gas. (do some googling). Then you’ll be able to hook it up directly to your nat gas line and not worry about running out of fuel or dealing with stinky, dangerous gasoline or messing with propane tanks. That was one of the decision I made I’m most happy about.
The other is using a transfer switch to easily select the utility or Gen as the source. Works like a charm. There is no difference in how the house runs whether the gen or the utility is the source.
Good luck!
Electricians are a rip off. If you are inclinded at all you can do this yourself.
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