I saw a comment in another thread regarding a 100 amp service panel and adding some 220V items....
Got me wondering.
My main panel is 200A.
I have (if I recall correctly) an 8-3 wire going .... let's call it 40 feet to a second panel in the garage.
On this second panel, I have a couple 20 amp circuits going to the downstairs HT setup. The rest of it will be used for some garage lights and circuits.
This second panel is on a 50A breaker in the main box.
Brings me to a generator question. We needed one a year ago and the brother in law happened to have a 10KW diesel unit he could bring over. We were able to hobble along for the week and keep things working as long as we rotated them.
If I were to buy a generator, I'm wanting a larger one than the 10Kw because I'd like to have the ability to keep the well pump on as well as the water heater!
So, if I were to get (what size?) a 20-30 Kw generator.... what I'd like to do is take another run of that wire (which again, I believe to be 8-3 or, was it 8-2 with ground....I get that third wire confuse sometimes!)
Anyways, what I envision is running an outlet to the outside of house. Being able to then, plug the generator into that outlet to it feed the second panel and then let that panel feed the primary panel.
Ultimately, my question is, with a 50 amp breaker serving the second panel, what might that restrict me to with regard to a generator?
(I'm aware that need some kind of control panel to prevent back-feeding to the electric company, that is independent of what size generator might be too big for that 50 amp circuit)