Diggin It
Super Star Member
I do have 12V LEDs scattered through the house wired to a 35Va battery on a trickle charger, but that won't run the refrigerator, freezer, water heater or furnace.
How to generator power pass through to inside the house.
- Thread starter Rebeldad1
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MF RED in MT
Veteran Member
Thank you for the lesson CobyRupert!
I guess I am just and old style thinker, left/right, and not an electrician...
KC
Industrial Toys
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Getting your various facilites back in operation is important. But having light really is the first priority. It's why I like a main transfer switch so even with a small generator, you have all your lighting. If I had the time, I would make 12 Volt lighting systems too.
RalphVa
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At our house in Baton Rouge parish, I'd connect the generator through an open window to the clothes drier plug. Turn off the main power switch first.
Here, the previous owner had put in a switch that disconnected the main power breaker while open up to a generator output. Later on, I put in a generator to back feed from our carriage house to that same box that auto disconnected main power and brought the back feed in. Later, we had an electrician install the 12.5kw and an entirely new 200 amp breaker box with the auto switch for the main power/generator and 6 electrical boxes that determined when they could come on from amount of power left in the generator. Works great, and the Isuzu diesel is a gem, only 0.3 gph or less fuel consumption over the last 7 years, and can run one hot water heater and clothes drier in power failures plus upstairs and ductless heat pumps.
Ralph
Here, the previous owner had put in a switch that disconnected the main power breaker while open up to a generator output. Later on, I put in a generator to back feed from our carriage house to that same box that auto disconnected main power and brought the back feed in. Later, we had an electrician install the 12.5kw and an entirely new 200 amp breaker box with the auto switch for the main power/generator and 6 electrical boxes that determined when they could come on from amount of power left in the generator. Works great, and the Isuzu diesel is a gem, only 0.3 gph or less fuel consumption over the last 7 years, and can run one hot water heater and clothes drier in power failures plus upstairs and ductless heat pumps.
Ralph
lennyzx11
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Though not esthetic, I visited a cabin once that the owner had ran two uninsulated bare wires down the middle of all ceilings with insulated standoffs tied into a big deep cell battery outside connected to one fairly large solar panel. It was all off grid.
The ingenious part was that he had 12 volt light bulbs with sockets with a short length of wire pigtailed to each one for positive and ground. The other end was alligator clips. He could fasten that bulb(s) anywhere along the length he wanted and as many.
Poor mans track lighting.
Toyboy
Platinum Member
LED lights are the way to go with generator use
Travelover
Elite Member
The earliest wiring was done this way. It is called knob and tube. Knob-and-tube wiring - Wikipedia
lennyzx11
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Close. But not exactly.
I have a farmhouse built in the late 1700s and am familiar with knob and tube.
The cabin had two uninsulated wires ran down the center of each rooms ceiling for positive and negative.
By alligator clipping on ( or even twisting a wire around each one)
The owner could move and set lights wherever he desired.
The insulators? One inch chunks of PVC or pieces of a broom handle about an inch long.
PILOON
Super Star Member
Gee, I simply drilled a large enough hole thru the concrete for the genny power line to enter the panel area.
Plugged the gaps with putty and clamped the wires.
But then my genny lives in my attached wood shed just outside of ta basement wall.
That leads to my manual transfer panel that isolates the generator circuits from the power company as per code.
My panel is small as it has only 8 possible circuits but that suffices for our needs.
Since I accidently blew my 6.5 genny I upgraded to a 10 Kw so I can also run 3-4 ceramic compact heaters.
LOL, I manually connected my septic pump and accidently clipped onto the wrong side and back fed the hydro system but the genny did not like that and blew hence the upgrade to a 10 Kw genny.
Guarantee U that wont happen again! lesson learned,
(I used alligator clips but attached to the wrong side of the septic disconnect fuse box)
The septic pump is not wired thru the transfer box as it is really not an 'essential' circuit but a good idea to occasionally lower the tank level which is what I was in the process of doing.
LOL, next time I'll simply pull the septic pump breaker as a precaution.
My excuse was that I was tired and not thinking clearly.
Would also help to identify 'in and out'. of that knife switch fuse box.
Anyhow with the newer 10 Kw I will be able to eliminate feeding the fireplace and run 3 ceramic heaters instead.
(I know what it is like to 'survive' a 3 day cold winter power outage.)
On the sofa all bundled up feeding a fireplace is no fun.
Plugged the gaps with putty and clamped the wires.
But then my genny lives in my attached wood shed just outside of ta basement wall.
That leads to my manual transfer panel that isolates the generator circuits from the power company as per code.
My panel is small as it has only 8 possible circuits but that suffices for our needs.
Since I accidently blew my 6.5 genny I upgraded to a 10 Kw so I can also run 3-4 ceramic compact heaters.
LOL, I manually connected my septic pump and accidently clipped onto the wrong side and back fed the hydro system but the genny did not like that and blew hence the upgrade to a 10 Kw genny.
Guarantee U that wont happen again! lesson learned,
(I used alligator clips but attached to the wrong side of the septic disconnect fuse box)
The septic pump is not wired thru the transfer box as it is really not an 'essential' circuit but a good idea to occasionally lower the tank level which is what I was in the process of doing.
LOL, next time I'll simply pull the septic pump breaker as a precaution.
My excuse was that I was tired and not thinking clearly.
Would also help to identify 'in and out'. of that knife switch fuse box.
Anyhow with the newer 10 Kw I will be able to eliminate feeding the fireplace and run 3 ceramic heaters instead.
(I know what it is like to 'survive' a 3 day cold winter power outage.)
On the sofa all bundled up feeding a fireplace is no fun.
I have pretty much the same set up. A harbor freight 9000/8750 runs out whole house with the exception of the water heater, oven, ac, and electric baseboard. I can run one circuit of electric baseboard at a time.
The harbor freight gent lives in this:
