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).
A big chain and a bad to the bone lock, and something to attach it to, somewhere safe-ish (like in your back yard, hidden beneath your deck). So when you’re running it in the middle of the night, no one
The optional bigger muffler that might be available. Quieter is good. BTDT. My first generator was ear-splittingly loud with the stock muffler.
Sounds too small/inefficient, for whole house.
We had a neighbor try to do similar....himself, unfortunately....he blew out just about every electric appliance/gadget in his house.
🙃
We have a whole house that switches over, automatically (via the transfer switch....all work done by a certified electrician :)
Good luck!!
Next step: Gain control of the world’s oxygen supply.
All you need is about 8 minutes.....
You need to go back and ask the people that sold it to you what the parameters of the system are. They probably sent a manual with it, read it. And those two things should happen before you hire anyone to consider the installation of the system. (And may have been needed before you put any sale in operation.) If you don’t know what you have, you can’t hire anyone to install it correctly as you don’t know if they have any experience at the system at all other than what they tell you. And how would you know if it’s right?
wy69
Find a good, reputable electrician. That solves those problems. I had the company I hired for the generator here before for a number of other projects. It’s family owned and I deal with the main guy and his dad (who founded the company). They have a GREAT reputation locally and I totally trust them to do quality work and at a fair price. They aren’t the cheapest, but I know their work is high quality.
12500 watts is surge watts for this model. You have 9500 running watts.
For Christ’s sake yall!!!!
12500 Watson is 10amps at 125 volts ac.
That doesn’t power much in today’s homes.
It is 100 amps at 12 volts dc..DC... which can power quite a bit.
I have a 9.5 kw genset. It reliably powers a fridge, freezer, TV, internet router, and a lamp or two.
Similar to our situation.
We did this after Ike.
Best decision, for storms/power glitches, etc., evah.
“”Put it in your share bedroom and tune it on!
Gotta see if it works.
Come back in a hour and check on it!””
Do you recommend napping during the test.
We have a generator that can handle 7500 watts steady with surges to handle 10,200 watts max. We have it set to handle two fridges, a small upright freezer, the furnace, a few outlets in the kitchen, the tv, and a convection microwave. We have a transfer switch for the inside items, but the second fridge and freezer in the garage we have to plug in ourselves. So it sounds like yours can handle quite a bit more than what we are able to cover.
Is it logged in?
“You’ll need an out building to house it”
Not true. They all have weatherproof enclosures. Ours sits outdoors. It had to be a minimum of 24 inches away from the house and out from under the eaves. I installed it 36 inches from the house to meet those criteria.
Absolutely agree with you that you want a continuous duty rated unit.
The founder of Generac died this week. He had an interesting life story.
The chance the electrician will have everything on hand to complete the job, even if you buy some materials up front, is vanishingly small. He WILL needs a trip to the supply house once he assesses what is needed.
You need a consultation / bill of materials / pricing trip, then an installation trip after he acquires all the materials.
Honestly, the guys suggesting you should have engaged an electrician up front are probably correct. I wouldn’t, but as you probably can figure by now, I’m not the average homeowner on this stuff.
The dealer/store that sold you the generator can tell you exactly what additional items you will need to get it installed...
A reputable & licensed & American English-speaking electrician will handle notifications of the power company and any relevant local governmental organizations about what he is about to install...
You need to notify the utility company.
If it isn’t a “break then make” switch you could back feed during a storm outage.
Your electrician could do this for you.
Whups. That’s 100 amps. It’ll run a bit, but not every thing at once....
You get less output on propane
The generator has a 100 foot extension cord with a 220 plug at the gen side and a 220 clothes dryer plug at the remote end.
the generator is positioned out of earshot (quiet running anyway) and convenient to the laundry window.
In a power outage, I shut down my main breaker box, disconnecting my house from the external electric supply.
I move the dryer away from the wall and plug the dryer plug end of the extension cord into the dryer wall socket
THIS IS CALLED BACK FEEDING
When I start my generator, it is feeding 220 into my entire house via the clothes dryer wall socket.
I can have lights, low wattage microwave (it wants 1200W but doesn't get it)
I have a $100 Best Buy 7W TV that plugs into the regular 110 wall socket so we have TV
We have back-up kero (actually we use diesel) wick space heaters that provider warmth.
We've never had outages longer than 4 days and we've survived with boiled water food (over the space heaters . . . perfect cook stoves . . . sort of) ... Ramen, eggs, hot dogs, etc.
Everyone should have cases of water to drink and every laundry jug and etc filled with water to flush the toilet.
Water can be (has been) warmed hotly over the space heaters for washing up etc.
Depends but the easiest way is a simple generator / load switch unless you want all that automated crap. Mine has wifi as well and I said no to that crap.
Best set up12.5k watt you’re good with a 50amp plug or hardwire direct to a generator / load switch: Simple load position meaning you’re on power from whatever company you have and then generator position when the power goes out and it protects the line guys when their working.
I added lights to mine. Normal power I have a green light always on. Power goes out it’s out. I switch to generator it light up red. If the power is restored both lights illuminate red and green then I can switch over and shut the generator down and red light goes off.
12.5k will run a lot but if you have a heat pump etc the you could run into surge issues when it starts. I’ve got a 16k watt but still shut the heat pump off. My main concern is refrigerator, freezer, hot water tank and well pump. Got a fireplace and gas stove so heat wasn’t an issue for me.
Good luck!
That’s what the transfer box is for. It switches off the mains when the genset is running. The transfer box can be automated.
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