Bargain transfer switch instead of double male ended cord farmer fix

grsthegreat · Jul 3, 2012

I have 400 amps at my place also, but only the house (200 amps) is on the generator transfer switch. My generator only provides 50 amps , 240 volts but is plenty big enough to get us thru the worst outages.

whistlepig · Jul 3, 2012

I have a home owner portable generator set up that works for me. We have 200 amp service. What most of us have these days I think. Figuring out what I needed at first was very difficult. When folks start throwing in 400 amp service for a home owner that doesn't need 400 amp it just makes things that much more confusing for us.

grsthegreat · Jul 3, 2012

whistlepig said:
I have a home owner portable generator set up that works for me. We have 200 amp service. What most of us have these days I think. Figuring out what I needed at first was very difficult. When folks start throwing in 400 amp service for a home owner that doesn't need 400 amp it just makes things that much more confusing for us.

most people dont need 400 amps. On my property i have a shop with plasma table, welders, etc, ; a lit arena with 5,000 watts of metal halide lighting; a 30x60 shop and a horse barn. Add a 5,000 sf house to that, and 200 amps WONT cut it.

I wire alot of houses every year, and i do install quite a few 400 amp services...and some 600, 800 and one 1,200 amp service. It all depends on the size of structure, number of heat pumps, water features, etc.

I do load calcs on all houses i wire. The biggest mistake any new homeowner can make is to install too small of a service. The difference here in N Idaho between a 200 and 400 amp panel is about $400 in material and a few hundred in utility fees. Its not too much overall. Too add it later can cost ALOT more........A LOT more indeed.

BobRip · Jul 3, 2012

grsthegreat said:
most people dont need 400 amps. On my property i have a shop with plasma table, welders, etc, ; a lit arena with 5,000 watts of metal halide lighting; a 30x60 shop and a horse barn. Add a 5,000 sf house to that, and 200 amps WONT cut it.

I wire alot of houses every year, and i do install quite a few 400 amp services...and some 600, 800 and one 1,200 amp service. It all depends on the size of structure, number of heat pumps, water features, etc.

I do load calcs on all houses i wire. The biggest mistake any new homeowner can make is to install too small of a service. The difference here in N Idaho between a 200 and 400 amp panel is about $400 in material and a few hundred in utility fees. Its not too much overall. Too add it later can cost ALOT more........A LOT more indeed.

That was my reasoning. Only one of my 200 amp panels is fed by the generator.

buickanddeere · Jul 3, 2012

grsthegreat said:
most people dont need 400 amps. On my property i have a shop with plasma table, welders, etc, ; a lit arena with 5,000 watts of metal halide lighting; a 30x60 shop and a horse barn. Add a 5,000 sf house to that, and 200 amps WONT cut it.

I wire alot of houses every year, and i do install quite a few 400 amp services...and some 600, 800 and one 1,200 amp service. It all depends on the size of structure, number of heat pumps, water features, etc.

I do load calcs on all houses i wire. The biggest mistake any new homeowner can make is to install too small of a service. The difference here in N Idaho between a 200 and 400 amp panel is about $400 in material and a few hundred in utility fees. Its not too much overall. Too add it later can cost ALOT more........A LOT more indeed.

Doesn't anybody go with higher voltage services with 277/480 or 347/600 for the high demand loads?

whistlepig · Jul 3, 2012

Anything is possible. It's what you can afford. If you put a price on it that will limit your options.

DJ54 · Jul 4, 2012

I had been searching online for generator hookups for my new 320 amp service, a work in progress in the past couple of weeks. Our local co-op offers the Generlink, up to 200 amps. Quite by accident I found a co-op in MO. that offers a 320 amp.https://www.crawfordelec.com/electricity-101/portable-generators I sent them an email asking if it will work in a standard 320 amp meter base, (already installed), and name brand, so as to present it to my local co-op and see if they will accept it's usage.

I had planned on stopping by the first of this week to check on it, but the huge windstorm that came through Friday night put a damper on things. Most of the state is under a State of Emergency,and a lot of power not to be back on until late this weekend. Some areas, 3 to 4 weeks. I'm just grateful mine was back on within 36 hours.

daybreak1998 · Jul 4, 2012

DJ54 said:
I had been searching online for generator hookups for my new 320 amp service, a work in progress in the past couple of weeks. Our local co-op offers the Generlink, up to 200 amps. Quite by accident I found a co-op in MO. that offers a 320 amp.https://www.crawfordelec.com/electricity-101/portable-generators I sent them an email asking if it will work in a standard 320 amp meter base, (already installed), and name brand, so as to present it to my local co-op and see if they will accept it's usage.

I had planned on stopping by the first of this week to check on it, but the huge windstorm that came through Friday night put a damper on things. Most of the state is under a State of Emergency,and a lot of power not to be back on until late this weekend. Some areas, 3 to 4 weeks. I'm just grateful mine was back on within 36 hours.

Howdy,
I was in the same situation. My local utilty is Rappahannock Electric Coop. I have 2 different units from them. The smaller unit is in fact a Generlink unit (30 amp model), and was installed in approx 5 minutes. The other unit is for the central farm distribution. 320 amp service feeding house, barn, shop, sheds, well. The product is from PSP Products and was installed by the local utility. Model TC-200M26W

might be just what your looking for. My utility information page is REC Electrical Services. I am sure you could get the ball rolling with that information.

The other reason I went with these units was COST$$$$$

The overall cost is actually cheaper than any other method.

grsthegreat · Jul 4, 2012

buickanddeere said:
Doesn't anybody go with higher voltage services with 277/480 or 347/600 for the high demand loads?

For the most part, No state here in PNW will allow those voltages in residential operations. Those are 3 phase loads. I have seen them in large farm operations (dairy, large irrigation, etc) but never for house loads.