Installed Transfer Switch in House

[Hullguy]

I am not electrician...but I did hire one! My 2023 PB is able to be backup power for part of my house.

When used, it is powering a small TRANE XR AC unit (minimum 13 amp in master bedroom/bath), 2 full size fridges, and powering lights and outlets (in family room, kitchen, master bathroom, and wifi routers in those rooms).

It works great. No grounding issues. Works as advertised! Love my PB!

Your electrician did a proper install!

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[thebluegoat]

We had an Eaton automatic transfer switch installed a couple years ago in anticipation of having some type of electric car or generator that could power the house. Had an electrician add a 30 amp twist lock plug a couple weeks ago and tested out the truck. Worked exactly as it should. Might be worth looking into.

 

[BadTime]

The easiest way to do all of this is with a Generlink meter mounted transfer switch..
Your local power company may even offer it as an option through them..

It is automatic so when the power comes back on it will auto transfer back to normal utility power..

It will power your whole panel.. You still have to load manage but being able to power up anything it can handle is a plus..

That looks like it was made for the PB.

 

["Steve"]

was able to use the truck as god intended this week. power was out for a few hours, but not in this house. i had the generac installed a long ass time ago and never even tested it (dumb i know), but fired her up during the outage the other day, and everything worked as expected. pretty darn cool.

 

[ndjackson17]

Great information here and in the many other threads on the topic that helped me get through the week long power outage after Beryl.

I'm not an electrician so looking for some advice. Would a 50A GFI breaker for the generator connection to the panel solve the problem and allow the use of a simple interlock solution?

They seem to be pretty expensive but have to be a lot cheaper to install than the Generac transfer switches.

 

[Kodiak]

Great information here and in the many other threads on the topic that helped me get through the week long power outage after Beryl.

I'm not an electrician so looking for some advice. Would a 50A GFI breaker for the generator connection to the panel solve the problem and allow the use of a simple interlock solution?

They seem to be pretty expensive but have to be a lot cheaper to install than the Generac transfer switches.

I may be wrong but I heard that a whole house interlock switch before the main breaker is quite expensive. I do not know much about it so I would glad to hear about it too.

I paid $400 for the Generac and paid an A+ BBB rated electrician $700 for the install. I did not need the 30 amp inlet as I had that already so if you need that you may pay a little more for the Generac with the input and install may be a little more

 

[HammaMan]

Great information here and in the many other threads on the topic that helped me get through the week long power outage after Beryl.

I'm not an electrician so looking for some advice. Would a 50A GFI breaker for the generator connection to the panel solve the problem and allow the use of a simple interlock solution?

They seem to be pretty expensive but have to be a lot cheaper to install than the Generac transfer switches.

No, you don't want a GFI breaker as an inlet mechanism. Just a regular old 30a breaker with the main interlock kit is all that's need plus the dogbone.

 

[YouHaveJamesWoods]

Prospective Powerboost owner here… If I get my house set up with a generac 6852/6854 transfer switch for the PB, will the same setup work for a Lightning or a standalone inverter generator, or will it have to be rewired for those? Thanks!

 

[Rah150]

Great information here and in the many other threads on the topic that helped me get through the week long power outage after Beryl.

I'm not an electrician so looking for some advice. Would a 50A GFI breaker for the generator connection to the panel solve the problem and allow the use of a simple interlock solution?

They seem to be pretty expensive but have to be a lot cheaper to install than the Generac transfer switches.

This isn’t specifically directed at you, but I don't understand folks who drop $70k on a truck and then spend a bunch of time trying to save a few hundred bucks on the interlock vs transfer switch.

 

[imnuts]

Prospective Powerboost owner here… If I get my house set up with a generac 6852/6854 transfer switch for the PB, will the same setup work for a Lightning or a standalone inverter generator, or will it have to be rewired for those? Thanks!

If you use ProPower on the Lightning to power the house, then yes. I believe the Lightning uses the same inverter. The better option for a Lightning would be to get the correct charger that allows the truck to back feed the house panel and then you'd have 80-100A service backup I believe.

 

[Kodiak]

Prospective Powerboost owner here… If I get my house set up with a generac 6852/6854 transfer switch for the PB, will the same setup work for a Lightning or a standalone inverter generator, or will it have to be rewired for those? Thanks!

The Generac 6852 = Transfer switch without the 30 amp inlet. Generac 6854 = Transfer switch with the 30 amp inlet. If you do not already that 30 amp inlet to some other subpanel, then you will need the Generac 6854 with the 30 amp inlet to plug the truck into.

This set up will work with the PB, and a gas powered generator that has a 4 prong 30 amp outlet, or even a higher level battery pack (solar generator) that has that 30 amp output. All these items will have a 30 amp cord plugged into the generators 30a output and that cord is plugged into the 30a inlet for the Generac. This powers the circuits you selected when you install the Generac.

The Lightning I do not know but if it has a 3 amp 4 prong output, then it will work too.

 

[Pierre.Granger]

The Generac 6852 = Transfer switch without the 30 amp inlet. Generac 6854 = Transfer switch with the 30 amp inlet. If you do not already that 30 amp inlet to some other subpanel, then you will need the Generac 6854 with the 30 amp inlet to plug the truck into.

This set up will work with the PB, and a gas powered generator that has a 4 prong 30 amp outlet, or even a higher level battery pack (solar generator) that has that 30 amp output. All these items will have a 30 amp cord plugged into the generators 30a output and that cord is plugged into the 30a inlet for the Generac. This powers the circuits you selected when you install the Generac.

The Lightning I do not know but if it has a 3 amp 4 prong output, then it will work too.

 

[YouHaveJamesWoods]

The Generac 6852 = Transfer switch without the 30 amp inlet. Generac 6854 = Transfer switch with the 30 amp inlet. If you do not already that 30 amp inlet to some other subpanel, then you will need the Generac 6854 with the 30 amp inlet to plug the truck into.

This set up will work with the PB, and a gas powered generator that has a 4 prong 30 amp outlet, or even a higher level battery pack (solar generator) that has that 30 amp output. All these items will have a 30 amp cord plugged into the generators 30a output and that cord is plugged into the 30a inlet for the Generac. This powers the circuits you selected when you install the Generac.

The Lightning I do not know but if it has a 3 amp 4 prong output, then it will work too.

thanks!

Since a transfer switch/wiring that works for most generators doesn’t seem to be compatible with the PB, I didn’t know if the setup that works for the PB also works on most generators (since it seemed to be PB specific).

 

[Tigmd99]

Prospective Powerboost owner here… If I get my house set up with a generac 6852/6854 transfer switch for the PB, will the same setup work for a Lightning or a standalone inverter generator, or will it have to be rewired for those? Thanks!

Yes. That is what I am doing.

 

[YouHaveJamesWoods]

If you use ProPower on the Lightning to power the house, then yes. I believe the Lightning uses the same inverter. The better option for a Lightning would be to get the correct charger that allows the truck to back feed the house panel and then you'd have 80-100A service backup I believe.

That is a cool setup, though I’ve heard it can be super pricey. Up to $20k between the devices and install.

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