I suspect this very dangerous

[okie350]

During our latest snow and Ice storms people were buying generators incase the power went out ( it did not in this area) I was told by a home depot employee that you can shut off the master switch at the breaker box and plug you generator into a wall receptical and back feed into your house to provide elctricity, you just need to make sure the master breaker is cut off from the main power supply. IS THIS TRUE???

Don't bother beating me up over the safety concerns and the potential for accidents as I can see them. I am just wondering,

 

[rockinmywaypa]

Technically yes it's true. is it up to code, absolutely not, is it safe, who knows, not likely because all you would have to do is forget one step and a lineman fixing your supply line somewhere would be toast. Also if you were backfeeding 120 volts you would only be supplying one side of your distribution panel and only whatever circuits were on that side. if you went to the trouble of putting in a 220 plug and back fed it then you would have your whole panel covered but did you remember to cut off the power from going out into the grid. Hope so for that linesman's sake. Actual proper switches disconnect one line as it switches to the other so that you can't make the mistake of powering up your house and the whole grid along with it.

 

[LBrown59]

During our latest snow and Ice storms people were buying generators incase the power went out ( it did not in this area) I was told by a home depot employee that you can shut off the master switch at the breaker box and plug you generator into a wall receptical and back feed into your house to provide elctricity,
you just need to make sure the master breaker is cut off from the main power supply.
IS THIS TRUE???

Don't bother beating me up over the safety concerns and the potential for accidents as I can see them. I am just wondering,

That's the rub and the risk.
It allows the possibilty of current feeding from the GEN and the power company at the same time.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I back fed my panel through the dryer outlet the first time I used my PTO generator. Amazing the risks you will take when you haven't had power for 2 or 3 days. Actually, as has already been stated, the only risk is to people working on the lines if you fail to disconnect your main breaker. I was very careful about that.

Since then I had the power company install a manual bypass on our meter pole and a huge receptacle. The bypass switch means that the line can be fed by either the grid or the receptacle, but not both.

 

[JB4310]

It COULD be done pretty safely but is not idiot proof, to me the greater risk is to the user of that double male cord set, not a utility worker.
You don't think a lineman is gonna trust that no one is back feeding by accident? They treat every line like a loaded gun, as they should.

All back-up systems have to back-feed panel, the safety factor comes from the double pole transfer switches or interlocks, those are idiot proof.

These have been all the rage in the generator threads, I like the idea.
Generator InterLock Kit

JB.

 

[teg]

That's how I do it, it works for me. We tryed to setup our neighbors and their wiring was pretty screwed up so the only way we could hook up their house (and not backfeed) was to pull out the meter. Any other way we tried, we were backfeeding down the line... You'll know it since your generator will lug way down...

 

[woodchuckie]

I always back feed, but the most recent occasion for me to use my generator was when my service panel shorted out one night and awoke me with the noise of the arcing. By the time I got to it the breaker on the transformer had tripped so my panel was just smoking. I assume one of breakers had deteriorated over the 30 years they've been in. Anyway the next night after the new panel had been installed the power co. lineman came to finish the job and he could here my generator running. He asked me if it was backfeeding, which it wasn't because of replacing the breakers. I asked him about backfeeding and he wasn't against it at all. He said he didn't care as long as the breakers were cut off. His response surprised me after everything I've read. He has 30 years experienced on his job.

 

[20 20]

I wired in a generator box, no way for the same circuts to be on at the same time. Electricity can kill quite easy, why risk someone else's life? If I were a linemen and got killed because of someones stupidity I would hope they'd be held for manslaughter. Generators are a must in our area we lose power on average 5 times a year. I say hook one up and DO IT THE CORRECT WAY!!!!

 

[reb]

Another problem not mentioned is that the wiring at your outlet isn't rated to carry more than 15 (maybe 20) amps, so your can't safely power much in your house with the setup the salesman recommended.

 

[Tig]

During the ice storm of 98 I did just that through our dryer outlet.
HD employees should not be dispensing this type of information.
HD sells the panel required to disconnect and back feed your home legally.