Question for electricians

[WranglerX]

Thank you all for your help! I decided to give it a try and placed the order.
Next gen maintenance run I'll test it turning on and off appliances one by one and make a list of wattage/amps. After that I don't need this device to be connected all the time

Not so much about local utility company BTPM, extract (pdf file) gives pretty good description of what appliances draws how much power....

 

[ultrarunner]

Living in rural area its common for 22-25 KW generators run on propane, common installation usually with a 250 gallon propane tank and if you own the tank (not lease) you can buy propane from lowest provider....

On another note in a few days we get to test my new 7.5 kw generator (old 6.5kw puked it guts out) as local utility company is going to shut me off for the day as they are replacing pole and transformer for my utility drop.... Its going to be interesting as they have provided me with a BTPM (Back up Transfer Power Meter) switch then goes between my main breaker and their meter as a automatic transfer switch after I manually start my generator..... Sure I can probably not run my AC (same as with old generator) but I was able to run well (1.5 HP pump) and TV and refrigerator and ceiling fans and internet .... BTPM switch is only good for 30 amp, so we will see.....

Backup Power Transfer Meter Program

I have PGE and high fire danger and have many PSPS events during fire season… plus the Honda EM5000

 

[WranglerX]

And we need to rename PG&E to Pacific Graft & Extorsion....

 

[Hoho223]

I had a non-standby gen (7.5 kw) with a Honda engine and 2 manual transfer boxes. The gen had a a 110 and a 220 output and I used two cables. I live in the woods so I have a well. This generator served me well for about 6-7 years until I got a standby gen. The key to using an undersized gen for whole house use is judicious use of power. Lights down, no washing clothes, no microwave while fridge is running or someone is showering,etc. I never monitored power use, never blew a breaker.

 

[panamaguy]

Finally bought new generator Westinghouse 9 kw. Installed manual disconnect switch with 50 amp cable so the whole house will be supplied during power outage. Would be nice to monitor output wattage... Found this on Amazon
The problem is 10 awg cable. 10 awg supposed to support 30 Amp. Sent txt to the seller and his answer:
"The short distance (1.3 ft) means that the resistance is low and the cable is resistant to high temp., so it can pass 50 A current".
I find it hard to believe. Any opinions? Are there other similar gadgets? Don't want to overload the generator.
View attachment 3684254

Sounds like we have the same gen 7500/9000 been a good unit and has lots of hours. The question is why do you want to monitor output? You might look at it once or twice and after that not even notice it as all you really wantvis a house full of power. I also use a manual switch and it works good. I converted mine to propane. Never have to worry about old gas etc. Here in Panama we have 25 pound bottles, a little bigger that the BBQ size and i get 10 hours from it. 100 hour oil changes without fail after the first change at 5 or 10 hours to get and machine dust, bits out of it

 

[WinterDeere]

I had a non-standby gen (7.5 kw) with a Honda engine and 2 manual transfer boxes. The gen had a a 110 and a 220 output and I used two cables. I live in the woods so I have a well. This generator served me well for about 6-7 years until I got a standby gen. The key to using an undersized gen for whole house use is judicious use of power. Lights down, no washing clothes, no microwave while fridge is running or someone is showering,etc. I never monitored power use, never blew a breaker.

Same. I run the whole house on a 7 kW portable, including 3/4 hp well pump, by shutting off breakers to things like AC compressors, air compressor, pool heater, etc.

The primary trouble I have with the portables is power quality, as my Lutron low-volt lighting goes absolutely nuts (flickering wildly), and my small fleet of computer UPS's constantly squawk about voltage or frequency variations.

For those switching from portable to standby, did you notice a big difference in power quality, and how things like UPS's respond to it?

I'm not overly taxing the portable, voltage is not dropping because of overload, so that's not the trouble here. I honestly wonder if the frequency variation may be causing more trouble than the voltage variation, as the regulation seems reasonably good.

 

[TerryR]

Same. I run the whole house on a 7 kW portable, including 3/4 hp well pump, by shutting off breakers to things like AC compressors, air compressor, pool heater, etc.

The primary trouble I have with the portables is power quality, as my Lutron low-volt lighting goes absolutely nuts (flickering wildly), and my small fleet of computer UPS's constantly squawk about voltage or frequency variations.

For those switching from portable to standby, did you notice a big difference in power quality, and how things like UPS's respond to it?

We used a 3.5kw standby generator for 25 years, running the whole house on it when needed, including well pump, two refrigerators, and a freezer, but no electric appliances but the oven and microwave, with no capacity issues. I did cut the breakers on the heavy loads when I started the generator after the power had been out for a while to be on the safe side, then reset them one at a time so they wouldn't all start at once.

But the UPSs did go crazy, refusing to run at all, on that generator. We replaced it with a modern standby generator a couple of years ago and the UPSs are no happy.

The dealer sized the new generator at 5kw, but we went with a 10kw unit because the 5kw one was pretty basic and I thought moving up the line a bit would be a good idea.

 

[qualsite]

Since your generator input will have a separate breaker in your panel, probably easiest to put a power monitor from the panel, since those wires are separate and easy to put the current transformer on. Amazon has a number of cheap power monitors that work great. I put two in a tailed-off box from the solar panel to monitor each inverter, and small ones on my generator panel and well panels. These are tiny and cheap, and were easy to mount on my generator and well panel... Pardon Our Interruption... And no, you won't notice the small voltage drop in the short generator cable, which will easily be able to absorb the small wattage loss heat generated. Amazon.com
Most power meters will also tell you the frequency, which is nice to know with a generator... just in case. Also, if you put in a meter box next to the panel, wouldn't hurt to put in a couple MOV surge protectors to kill any surges that may come from the generator... also, just in case. Insurance is always best applied while it's easy and cheap, and before you find out that you needed it. If you want to get even fancier, voltage protection relays are cheap now, will monitor and display the parameters, and drop out if voltage is too high or low, over current, etc.. I put one on my well to protect the motor, since we've had so many low voltage issues with the local power. Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[John_Mc]

The primary trouble I have with the portables is power quality, as my Lutron low-volt lighting goes absolutely nuts (flickering wildly), and my small fleet of computer UPS's constantly squawk about voltage or frequency variations.

Not all portable generators are like that. You generally want one where the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) is less than 5-6% if you are running sensitive electronics - including those in many heating control systems (and meets that spec under load. Some manufacturers cheat and give you the spec at half load.)

If a portable generator manufacturer doesn't list this spec, and gets evasive if you ask for it, it's generally because it's not good. Last I checked, the Generac GP series of portable generators had something like 24% THD. That's pretty bad... but it doesn't stop them from mentioning emergency backup power as one of its intended uses. They are not the only ones selling that crap. The last thing you need is to find out during a winter outage that your heating control system won't run on the dirty power from a cheap generator.

Inverter-based generators generally have very clean power - often better than grid power. There are some non-inverter portable generators that make fairly clean power.
__________

For years, we ran during extended power outages on a 4 KW (6.6 KW surge) portable generator. Our heat & hot water is a propane boiler, so all we had to run on that for electricity was the control system and a few small Taco pumps to circulate the hot water. Often, we'd just heat with the wood stove instead. We'd only turn on the circuit breakers for the items we absolutely needed. The well pump would stay off until needed, then we'd turn off the fridge and freezer or any other significant loads when firing up the well pump. IT was mostly the startup surges we needed to worry about. Fortunately, It rarely gets hot enough here that air conditioning is an actual necessity.

When that generator got fried by lightning (left out when building a tree house), we replaced it with a Honda EM6500 (5.5 KW continuous, 6.5 KW surge).

 

[ultrarunner]

I have no idea what the THD of my 1990 Honda EM5000 is…

I do know some less expensive generators cause the APC UPS to go into alarm.