Installed Transfer Switch in House

[don.mullins]

Sure, but i already KNOW what i want to run when power goes out. I don’t need to play with the circuits and always make sure what works and what can overload the system. PIA IMHO.

When power goes out, my truck powers up my family room and kitchen along with window AC during the day. At night, it powers up my master bed central AC and whatnots.

There is no guessing. My kids can do whatever they want and i am not afraid of tripping anything that then requires me to go out to my truck in the rain/heat/whatever to reset it.

YMMV.

What happens if you run both the window AC and the bedroom HVAC a the same time? From how you worded it, it sounds like you are picking and choosing a subset of appliances as I do.

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[Tigmd99]

What happens if you run both the window AC and the bedroom HVAC a the same time? From how you worded it, you are picking and choosing a subset of appliances as I do.

Just the AC for obvious reason. Everything else is pre-determined. No need to micromanage what is on and what is not to avoid blowing a fuse etc. That’s my point. Truck is limited in what it can power. Just power the essential that is needed.

During a disaster event, I don’t need more headaches. I have other things to worry about.

If that is what you like, more power to you. I like simplicity in my life.

 

[Oakstone]

Hi folks,

I have the smaller 2.4KW Pro Power and would like to install a transfer switch or interlock.

This past week there was a multi-day power outage and via lots of extension cord stupidity, I was able to power my gas furnace, gas on-demand hot water, fridge, deep freeze, a couple of computers, router/wifi, lights and some phone chargers. I never broke about 1800W. I even used the toaster and blender a couple of times when the furnace wasn't on and it was fine.

TBH I felt like kind of a hero when we had no heat and I looked at my furnace that was connected to a switch and said "huh, I wonder if I could just put a plug-in end on that and then wire a receptacle below the switch so i can unplug it and connect to the truck?" So I did, and it worked 100% great. Only drew a couple hundred watts for the blower/computer.

Ideally, I'd like to have my whole panel available to me, and then I can go through and test/mark various breakers so I can come up with an optimal set that will give me the most functionality without overloading the truck.

I know I can never run AC or resistance-based heating with the 2.4, but based on this past power outage, I could be "just fine" in terms of comfort and not spoiling all my food if I can run things the way I did. Can't complain if I've got food storage, hot water, heat and internet lol.

Since I can only feed the house 120V 20A with my 2.4KW, how would you suggest I approach things?

I'd lean towards an interlock with the ground cut in the cable or the interlock, but I don't want to burn the house down

Thanks!

 

[DanielBoca]

Small update, after the recent PNW cyclone bomb, more than two days without power and my PB with my custom cable (without ground) and a standard interlocked switch, powered my entire house (2 fridges, furnace and whatever) for 48 hours continuously and a total of about 15 gallons.
The whole sub panel story is just not worth chasing, better buy a standalone generator than making all the changes, in terms of cost.

 

[Kodiak]

Small update, after the recent PNW cyclone bomb, more than two days without power and my PB with my custom cable (without ground) and a standard interlocked switch, powered my entire house (2 fridges, furnace and whatever) for 48 hours continuously and a total of about 15 gallons.
The whole sub panel story is just not worth chasing, better buy a standalone generator than making all the changes, in terms of cost.

Just an FYI. If you do go with the typical 5000-7000 watt stand alone generator, you would probably burn about 43-48 gallons during that same 48 hour period. The efficiency of the PB, as far as gas management is incredible.

Running out to fill up your 5 gallon cans, then filling up a hot running generator with those 5 gallon cans, can get old real fast.

 

[HammaMan]

Yeah, traditional generators don't come close, though inverter based unis can. The big difference is spring and fall when temps don't warrant much heating/cooling and appliances like fridge/freezer are caught up and hybrid mode kicks in. My dad's propane standby uses 7-10x more fuel than the PB does for the same load. (propane has less energy than gasoline, but it's more like gas vs diesel energy content, not orders of magnitude.

 

[BobbyG]

Hi folks,

I have the smaller 2.4KW Pro Power and would like to install a transfer switch or interlock.

This past week there was a multi-day power outage and via lots of extension cord stupidity, I was able to power my gas furnace, gas on-demand hot water, fridge, deep freeze, a couple of computers, router/wifi, lights and some phone chargers. I never broke about 1800W. I even used the toaster and blender a couple of times when the furnace wasn't on and it was fine.

TBH I felt like kind of a hero when we had no heat and I looked at my furnace that was connected to a switch and said "huh, I wonder if I could just put a plug-in end on that and then wire a receptacle below the switch so i can unplug it and connect to the truck?" So I did, and it worked 100% great. Only drew a couple hundred watts for the blower/computer.

Ideally, I'd like to have my whole panel available to me, and then I can go through and test/mark various breakers so I can come up with an optimal set that will give me the most functionality without overloading the truck.

I know I can never run AC or resistance-based heating with the 2.4, but based on this past power outage, I could be "just fine" in terms of comfort and not spoiling all my food if I can run things the way I did. Can't complain if I've got food storage, hot water, heat and internet lol.

Since I can only feed the house 120V 20A with my 2.4KW, how would you suggest I approach things?

I'd lean towards an interlock with the ground cut in the cable or the interlock, but I don't want to burn the house down

Thanks!

I'm very pleased with my Generac transfer switch. No cutting any ground cables. My electrician used mini breakers and got twelve 120V circuits in it plus one 240V (I have the 7.2kw)

 

[Samson16]

Just an FYI. If you do go with the typical 5000-7000 watt stand alone generator, you would probably burn about 43-48 gallons during that same 48 hour period. The efficiency of the PB, as far as gas management is incredible.

Running out to fill up your 5 gallon cans, then filling up a hot running generator with those 5 gallon cans, can get old real fast.

I have a dual fuel generator that provides 8.5kW steady running on propane. Less than a thousand on Amazon. It’s more efficient on propane than gasoline and much easier to maintain. I run it on load every month or so and call it good ?

The round looking outlet on the wall is for connecting the cable to my service panel.

 

[Samson16]

Pardon my chicken scratch. I’ll do better someday.
I have an interlock which prevents the generator and commercial power from being connected simultaneously.

 

[Ebrou]

I have a dual fuel generator that provides 8.5kW steady running on propane. Less than a thousand on Amazon. It’s more efficient on propane than gasoline and much easier to maintain. I run it on load every month or so and call it good ?

The round looking outlet on the wall is for connecting the cable to my service panel.

How many hours does the generator run on that propane cylinder? They are generally only filled to 17 lbs. from Blue Rino or Amerigas.

 

[Samson16]

How many hours does the generator run on that propane cylinder? They are generally only filled to 17 lbs. from Blue Rino or Amerigas.

I was pleasantly surprised by its efficiency on propane than gas. It seems to handle light to medium loading better. Since luck favors the prepared I haven’t experienced a power outage since I bought it lol, but testing shows likely 12 hours or more per tank and I have 4 of them. It has a 5 gallon gasoline tank I fill along with a 5 gallon portable container that way I’m ready to run it 24/7 for several days and can head out to refill while it’s on-line. The PB is my double secret backup ?

 

[HammaMan]

I have a dual fuel generator that provides 8.5kW steady running on propane. Less than a thousand on Amazon. It’s more efficient on propane than gasoline and much easier to maintain. I run it on load every month or so and call it good ?

The round looking outlet on the wall is for connecting the cable to my service panel.

There are inverter generators, and "not exactly".

Fuel source doesn't change efficiency, but it can reduce your power output per gallon of fuel.

This is the PB equiv w/ better surge power. Can be paralleled.
https://www.harborfreight.com/8750-watt-inverter-generator-with-co-secure-technology-71340.html

 

[Samson16]

There are inverter generators, and "not exactly".

Fuel source doesn't change efficiency, but it can reduce your power output per gallon of fuel.

This is the PB equiv w/ better surge power. Can be paralleled.
https://www.harborfreight.com/8750-watt-inverter-generator-with-co-secure-technology-71340.html

I’m sure it’s much cleaner juice than my Westinghouse third world dirty power delivery system lol. Mine is more powerful though, allowing me to run the house AC, and propane is just so much easier. Unless there’s a hurricane coming I keep the gas tank empty and the propane hooked up.

 

[Samson16]

@HammaMan I’m certainly no expert and very capable of getting things wrong. I’m currently using pure sine wave UPS units for the better electronics.
Something like this:

 

[Samson16]

They clean up the incoming power from whichever source before delivering it to the 77” OLED correct?

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