Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire portable generator to home question

I bought a Champion (Yep, Chinese) 5kW inverter generator for about $800.00. Not the quietest, but it works well.

I am thinking of adding a generator also when needed. I saw a "generlink" set-up installed at the meter itself that would suit my needs better and easier I think. I will talk to my electrican and see what he thinks. Hope this helps...

That’s a great idea. Jury rigged generators are a bad idea. Fire hazard, insurance problems, life safety problems.
Duel fuel is a good idea for anyone using a generator. Gasoline becomes a problem long term. Storage and procurement.
Look online for appliance wattage use. It gives you a better idea to help size your generator needs. Hasbeen

No need to do this.....^^^^^^^

If you have a X/fer switch wired into your panel...

Select furnace breaker & you're all set !

If I were 20 years younger......but I'm not

This would be my choice in NG.....gas meter is 10' away

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200665217_200665217

We've got an interlock and breaker wired to a 50A inlet on the side of the house. Went with a 50A in case we ever upgraded. The portable gen hooks into the inlet via a 30A->50A cable.

Lose power..?

Plug in the generator. Start it. Flip the main to off. Move interlock. Flip the gen breaker to on. Instant power to the house. You can isolate portions of the house with the other breakers.

I'd get a dual fuel generator. That way you're not as limited and propane doesn't have the storage problems of gas.

as long as NG service is not destroyed in whatever outage you have.

Since we have all kinds it seems not foolproof. Though keeping fuel or propane on hand isn't either. Depending on length of outage.

not familiar with interlock. Will have to search that.

But if you are relying the main being off to protect linemen from getting electrocuted. DON"T

If I went with the generac, I think I could get by with that 10kw model
, heck I know I could if I'm trying to rig up a 2000w generator

Small transfer switch.

I picked up a Wen 2000 Gen/inverter as a lightweight spare....

Great product....runs very quiet & only weighs 44#

Well worth the $400


https://wenproducts.com/collections/generators

"Easy Button".... Cut the 110v electric supply line to your furnace. Put in a duplex receptacle on the breaker side of the cut. Put a male three prong plug on the furnace side of the cut. When the power goes out, run an extension cord from the generator to the furnace. Plug the furnace into the extension cord instead of the wall outlet. Less than $20 in parts. Less than 1 hour. If you can wire an outlet, you can wire this up. No electrician needed.

The interlock physically prevents the main and the generator breaker from being closed at the same time. One or the other. It's code compliant.

If you try to hook a 120v generator to your breaker panel, you'll run into some problems. The incoming grid power is 240v. It feeds through 2 arms of the panel, 120v on each side. If you hook up a 120v generator, only the breakers on that side will get power. Depending on how the box is built, it won't be all the breakers on the left or the right. They'll probably alternate as you go down the row. Whether a circuit gets power depends on where the breaker is in the panel. A 240v gen will power both sides so they'll all get power. I haven't seen any 240v generators under about 4k watts.

I actually did that one year when we lost power, but the location of the generator and the effort to run other stuff was a bit of a mess

We have had a loadside transfer switch like the one in the link Raeford posted for the past 22 years and it has worked well. The circuit switches are 3 position: 1)incoming utility power on 2) off , and 3) 30 amp exterior generator plug routing power when the gen set is plugged in and running..

We've used a 6kw open cage portable generator successfully for up to a week at a time to power 220v well pump, sump pump, hot water baseboard heat, refrigerator, freezer and interior lighting circuits.

With the installation of a new hot water boiler combination unit with digital sensors and controls we've switched to a Honda EU7000is portable generator. Expensive, but plug and play with our existing exterior 30 amp plug and interior loadside transfer switch. This generator model is used by the boiler manufacturer engineer I spoke with who lives out in the country and has the same heating unit. And you can take it with you if you move or need temporary power elsewhere. Inverter generators providing clean power are necessary to avoid damaging digital components in modern HVAC, computers, power tool battery chargers, smart TV, etc.

Can't be any simpler, safer, economical.
3 Easy payments added to electric bill.
20' generator cord included, longer lengths available.

Electric Co-op installs free !

Uhhmmm.... that's basically what I did.
I have a 120/240 generator.
I hard wired a plug on my covered back porch. The generator sits on the outside porch. A 6 foot male/male cord connects generator to outlet.

I have one dedicated circuit that runs:
1) LPG heat unit or one AC unit (both 110ac)
2) TV
3) refrigeration units
4) a couple of lights

LPG hot water and cooking.
Wood stove can furnish heat, hot water and some cooking.
Generator and air compressor can furnish water (air lift pump).

Uhhmmm.... that's basically what I did.
I have a 120/240 generator.
I hard wired a plug on my covered back porch. The generator sits on the outside porch. A 6 foot male/male cord connects generator to outlet*.

I have one dedicated circuit that runs:
1) LPG heat unit or one AC unit (both 110ac)
2) TV
3) refrigeration units
4) a couple of lights

LPG hot water and cooking.
Wood stove can furnish heat, hot water and some cooking.
Generator and air compressor can furnish water (air lift pump).

* - inside connections are extension cords, needed appliances are unplugged from house circuit and connected to surge protectors. Generator also has breakers.

.

Interesting. Its not a physical break so I'd think it not legal. Like if one breaker or the other melts or fails contact could be established as a possible.

But if the code allows then it passes that.

Physical disconnect is what we use since we have been around both ends of power quite a bit over the years and I simply try to be the safest we can for linemen. Even though they should be protecting, yes we never trusted anyone and wore all our gloves, used mats etc...