Power outage

[retrieverman]

When we built our barn house, I had the electrician put in an extra 50 amp breaker for me to wire my generator directly into the box. All I have to do is turn off the main and crank the generator. My generator is a 15kw Generac and will run everything.

 

[Tanis143]

Once I can get some other stuff done in the house (really, really, really need new windows) I've got some electrical work to do and I think I'm gonna have ng backup generator installed. Just like the op, I too lost out on a home cooked meal last sunday. Wife was gonna make her awesome pasta salad and while she was boiling the noodles we had a popup thunderstorm that knocked out the power. Well, we have an electric range so she figured if she just left it on the burner it would finish cooking, just take a little bit longer. She over-estimated the time and the noodles came out as mush. Power stayed out until 4:30 am. It got warm enough in the house that wife didn't sleep well and ended up calling in for work the next day. So, I'm starting to look into the price of them as my gas line is super close to my power meter.

 

[dennishoddy]

backfeeding through a plug is a good way to burn your house down. make your connections outside on your side of the main breaker and don't just turn the breaker off---- remove it so you don't kill a lineman.

Linemen test/ground every circuit and open fuses on every segment they work on these days. In the past that was an issue.
I power my house from the shop by back feeding. Being in the Electrical/electronic field since the 70’s I’m aware of what it takes to safely do that.
The carbon Monoxide is nowhere near the home is why this happens. Lots of folks don’t understand how CO can get into a house and kills folks annually.

 

[tyromeo55]

But another extension cord and a male end. Put it in place of the female end and use it to back feed your service. TURN OFF THE MAIN FIRST. It'll save having to move those freezers.

Is this legal?

Why wouldn’t it be? Your generating your own electricity with your own generator and feeding it into your house. My FIL did this with the back feed going into the 220 outlet for the dryer. The dryer vent was on an outside wall and he’d feed the cord in through it.

Its still amazes me that unqualified people will give and support such terrible advice.

This is dangerous. Off the top of my head (I had to open my book for the specific) look at 406.7(a) in the NEC (adopted at a state level)

The real trouble comes into play if someone gets hurt or dies. You CAN and likely WILL be held criminally and financially liable. Burn the house down ya better hope the fire inspector doesn't catch it (and the wew I've dealt with are pretty good and would definitely catch it). Aslo, your insurance company will not cover the loss if somethinh like this results in a claim.

 

[tyromeo55]

Linemen test/ground every circuit and open fuses on every segment they work on these days. In the past that was an issue.
I power my house from the shop by back feeding. Being in the Electrical/electronic field since the 70’s I’m aware of what it takes to safely do that.
The carbon Monoxide is nowhere near the home is why this happens. Lots of folks don’t understand how CO can get into a house and kills folks annually.

To everyone else reading DH's post.... The man has been around this kinda stuff for decades and (as far as I know) really knows his stuff. He also understands the dangers and liability he imposes. Unless you really know what you are doing my expert opinion is to steer clear.

 

[PBramble]

backfeeding through a plug is a good way to burn your house down. make your connections outside on your side of the main breaker and don't just turn the breaker off---- remove it so you don't kill a lineman.

so basically, you're saying to add a plug that you can back feed, but say back feeding will burn your house down. You can't have it both ways. Please explain.

 

[PBramble]

Its still amazes me that unqualified people will give and support such terrible advice.

This is dangerous. Off the top of my head (I had to open my book for the specific) look at 406.7(a) in the NEC (adopted at a state level)

The real trouble comes into play if someone gets hurt or dies. You CAN and likely WILL be held criminally and financially liable. Burn the house down ya better hope the fire inspector doesn't catch it (and the wew I've dealt with are pretty good and would definitely catch it). Aslo, your insurance company will not cover the loss if somethinh like this results in a claim.

So how do you hook a generator up without connecting to your current service? Do you have extra wire run in your house that's only on generator power lines? Red generator only receptacles? I'm truly curious. Maybe you should just leave the power off til the linemen fix it? I really want to know how you do it.

 

[dennishoddy]

So how do you hook a generator up without connecting to your current service? Do you have extra wire run in your house that's only on generator power lines? Red generator only receptacles? I'm truly curious. Maybe you should just leave the power off til the linemen fix it? I really want to know how you do it.

Hooking up to the house for 99% of folks should require a dedicated service that automatically disconnects from line input when power goes down installed by a professional electrician.
That is the safest way.
Those in the industry understand what the generator output is in amps/watts and the wiring size needed to carry the load within the feed powering the home if fed from an outbuilding like I do to clarify an earlier post.
I’m also equipped with Fluke metering equipment to monitor voltage and amperage.
Definitely recommend a professional in the electrical business if one is not current on electrical code and power requirements.

 

[PBramble]

Hooking up to the house for 99% of folks should require a dedicated service that automatically disconnects from line input when power goes down installed by a professional electrician.
That is the safest way.
Those in the industry understand what the generator output is in amps/watts and the wiring size needed to carry the load within the feed powering the home if fed from an outbuilding like I do to clarify an earlier post.
I’m also equipped with Fluke metering equipment to monitor voltage and amperage.
Definitely recommend a professional in the electrical business if one is not current on electrical code and power requirements.

so what is the difference in 110 coming out of a receptacle versus 110 going into the receptacle? Or 220 to back feed my shop through the welder receptacle? Im truly curious how it's unsafe. Understand, I'm not arguing, I just want to know.

On a side note, you won't kill a lineman. At best, if you forget to kill the main, you'll power everyone elses house and put to big of a draw on your genset.

 

[Jason Freeland]

What I have on my panel is an interlock kit, which prevents backfeeding, by only allowing your generator feed if the main is off. This way I'm not limited to only a few circuits and can power the whole house. Here is a youtube video on how they work and installing them.