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Choosing a Backup Generator Plus 3 LEGAL House Connection Options - Transfer Switch and More
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Jan 25, 2024
Learn how to build a *solar powered generator* _(no prior knowledge required)_ š baileylineroadlearning.com/p/three-solar-projects š Want to choose a backup generator wisely and connect it to your house legally? You've got to make a connection the right way to keep line workers safe and to avoid trouble with the law. This video is about choosing a backup generator and understanding the 3 legal methods for connecting it to your home. READ MY POPULAR ARTICLES ABOUT: Polyurethane Finish - https://bit.ly/powerbuffing DIY Hoop House Plans - https://bit.ly/hoophouseplans Submersible Pump Installation - https://bit.ly/pumpinstallation Air-Drying Wood Tips - https://bit.ly/wooddrying How to Build a Table - https://bit.ly/tablebuilding How to Stain a Deck - https://bit.ly/deckstain Choosing Waterproof Outdoor Glue - https://bit.ly/exterioradhesives How To Build A Wheelchair Ramp - https://bit.ly/wheelchairrampplans FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: https://bit.ly/2T3USuy PREVIOUS EPISODES: https://bit.ly/2EVDuFg WATCH MORE BAILEY LINE ROAD:
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0:00
If you're looking to buy a generator to boost household energy security, you've
0:06
got three things to consider. Size, type of generator, and the quality level that
0:12
makes sense for you. Large portable models putting out 7,000 watts and up
0:16
are a popular choice because they offer the most power output for a given price
0:21
They're also versatile and you can use them for off-grid building projects
0:26
Large portables put out enough power to supply all the electricity a small home
0:31
needs or enough to power the essentials in larger homes. I've used many
0:36
generators over the last 30 years and Champion currently offers the best
0:40
combination I've seen of economical price, reliable performance, and responsive technical support. The 7,200 watt model here provides backup power for an entire
0:51
small rural home. As you shop for a generator, look for features like
0:56
electric start, a long runtime, and a rolling chassis with a handle. Large
1:01
portables are heavy enough that wheels make a big difference. The model here
1:05
delivers power that's safe for all items and includes something called Volt Guard
1:09
to protect against power surges. If you've got a portable generator and you
1:15
want to use it to power things in your home during an outage, you're going to
1:19
have to make some kind of connection between the generator and your house
1:23
And this first of the three legal methods that I'm going to tell you about
1:28
here is really pretty simple. It does have some drawbacks though. So imagine
1:34
for a moment that a power failure sets in. You can simply grab some ordinary
1:41
extension cords, plug them into the regular outlets on the generator, and
1:47
fish those extension cords into your home and plug things in that you can
1:52
plug into cords. Not everything can be plugged in of course because many
1:57
items are hardwired into your home and that's one of the drawbacks of this method. Another drawback is is limited output. I mean here you can see we only
2:05
have two outlets for two extension cords. Now one way around this problem is to
2:12
get a dedicated generator extension cord essentially. So it plugs into one of
2:20
the larger outlets, this one you see here, and at the other end it has multiple
2:25
female outlets. Four is pretty typical. So you get essentially four taps from one
2:32
outlet on the generator. It's a reasonable option but far from ideal
2:38
So why do I say that? Well even with the best extension cords you can get plugged
2:44
into a generator you'll find that how many things can you plug into it? That's
2:52
really the limiting factor and even when they're all connected you're going to
2:57
fail to make use of all the wattage output that your generator can produce
3:02
Big portable generators can put out 9,000 10,000 12,000 watts and there's no
3:09
way you can use all of that with extension cords. It's kind of like
3:14
trying to pour a lot of water from a big bucket into a funnel with a small
3:18
opening. It's just not all going to go through. So to sum up this is an easy
3:23
method. It doesn't require very much preparation ahead of time but there's
3:28
some serious drawbacks and if you've got a big portable generator there are better ways to connect that unit to your home than extension cords. The
3:37
second method of legally connecting a generator to your home uses something
3:42
called a transfer switch and panel and it's a lot better than extension cords
3:48
because it lets you power things that are hardwired in your home and it lets
3:53
you make full use of your generators capacity. So to make the transfer switch
3:59
method work you're going to need to have some hardware professionally installed
4:04
and the first thing is what you see down here and that is an outdoor connection
4:11
port. So this is something that will allow you to plug in a cable that
4:17
connects the port and your electrical system to your generator. The second
4:23
thing that needs to be installed is the actual transfer panel and that's what
4:29
you see here. So part of the installation process involves identifying essential
4:35
circuits that you want powered during an outage. A portable generator probably
4:41
can't power all the circuits in your home but it doesn't really need to. You'll
4:46
want to power things like a water pump, some outlets, some lights, maybe a
4:51
furnace circuit, things like that. So all of the essentials would be relocated
4:57
during installation from the main panel to this transfer panel and with that in
5:03
place you're all set and ready to go in the event of an outage. So when things go
5:10
black you're all set to do two things to get your generator powering
5:16
your home with this transfer switch situation. The first thing you need to do
5:22
is to connect the generator and the outdoor port with a special cable that's
5:27
meant to do this. It can handle all the power the generator puts out and it has
5:31
the appropriate ends first on the generator side and then the port side so
5:38
that they can all connect together and then you start up the generator. Now at
5:43
this stage you still won't have any power in your house and that's because
5:48
of this thing here, the actual transfer switch. That switch connects either the
5:54
grid to your home circuits or the generator to your home circuits but
5:59
never both at the same time. That's why legalities matter so much in this regard
6:05
If your generator were able to connect to the grid it could feed power back
6:11
into the power lines here and that would endanger line workers who aren't
6:15
expecting power to come from people's home generators when they're working to
6:20
restore power. So at this stage your generator is running, it's plugged in but you
6:25
still don't have any power to your home. For that you need to actually manually
6:30
flip the switch over like you see here. The switch is now in generator mode
6:37
which means that none of the power can back feed through into the main panel
6:42
and subsequently through your meter base into the lines. The only power involved
6:48
is coming from the generator cable through the conductors in this conduit
6:53
and then into the panel here where it is distributed to the circuits that have
6:59
been identified ahead of time. So that's the way this works and when the power is
7:05
restored you start by switching this switch back off again, back to the grid
7:11
position and then you shut off the generator and you remove the cable and
7:17
the little door here, the weatherproof door is closed and everything's sitting
7:22
waiting for the next outage for you to connect your generator and get things
7:28
working again. The third legal method for connecting your generator to your house
7:32
uses a piece of hardware called a generlink. As far as I know it's the only
7:38
thing of its kind out there and it actually requires the least
7:45
modification to your home electrical system. It's not a perfect system though
7:51
there are some drawbacks as I'll explain but essentially the generlink unit is a cylinder that fits between your meter and your meter base. Now the
8:06
cost of this unit is going to be more than the cost of a transfer switch and
8:12
panel that I discussed previously but the installation costs are very low. It
8:18
doesn't take an electrician very long to install one of these. So on balance I
8:23
think the generlink is probably going to be about the same amount of money as the
8:27
transfer switch option and here's how it works. The generlink does a
8:33
couple of things. First right down here there's a port that will accept a cable
8:38
that connects the generator to the generlink and you'll see that happening
8:43
in a minute that connection happening in a minute. Now also inside this cylinder
8:49
there are some pretty sophisticated things going on. The first of which is
8:53
that the system can recognize whether the grid power is on or off. When the
9:00
grid power is on you're free to hook up the generator with the cable and start
9:05
up the engine but if the grid power is on the generlink is not going to let
9:10
power get past this point right about here. It's not going to go to your house
9:15
and it's definitely not going to back feed through the electrical grid which
9:20
is the main concern. It's that's the main idea behind all of these safe legal
9:26
connection methods. So when the power goes out you've got to do two things if
9:34
you have a generlink system. The first thing is to connect the generator to the
9:40
generlink with a cable. Now this cable is quite a bit like the one that was used
9:45
with the transfer switch system except in this case this end of the cable is
9:51
proprietary. It's specially made to connect with the generlink. The company provides these cables. They're available for connecting to all different kinds of
10:00
generators and they come in different lengths too. Now when that cable
10:05
connection is made and the grid power is off and you fire up the engine of your
10:10
generator you're going to get full generator power delivered to your home
10:15
And that's a good thing but that may not be probably won't be all of the things
10:20
you want to do because as it stands now the generator is going to be trying to
10:26
feed power to all the circuits in your house. And as I mentioned previously even
10:32
a large portable generator probably can't power everything you've got going. So the second thing that you need to do is to go to your electrical panel and
10:42
switch some of the breakers off for circuits that you can do without. So an
10:48
electric water heater for instance. It uses a lot of power and you can probably
10:53
live for some time without hot water or without generating new hot water
10:57
because you still will have hot water stored in your hot water tank. Other
11:02
things like an electric clothes dryer. It's not operating all the time but you
11:05
might as well switch it off so that nobody in the house turns it on by mistake and overloads the system. Now if an overload should happen that's not
11:13
that big of a deal because every generator has a built-in breaker that's
11:19
going to protect the generator from trying to produce more power than it
11:22
safely can. So if you overload the system all that's going to happen is that you
11:27
have to go ahead and reset the breaker on the generator. With things the way
11:31
they are now as you see them this system can continue to power your home
11:37
indefinitely. And when the power comes back on again you just simply disconnect
11:43
everything. You shut the generator off, you remove the cable, and you return the
11:50
breakers in the panel to their former position and it's business as usual
11:54
until you get another power failure. Now there's one other thing I need to
11:59
mention about this option. Not all jurisdictions in the world have approved
12:05
the GenerLink to be installed. They haven't all got around to studying it
12:12
and accepting the existing approvals. So before you go out and buy anything you
12:16
should contact your local electrical authority. Just see if they permit this
12:21
kind of hardware the GenerLink to be installed and if they do then you're
12:26
then you're good to go. If they don't then really that your best option is
12:31
some sort of transfer switch and panel arrangement
#Electricity
#Generators
#Home & Garden
#Industrial Materials & Equipment
#Law & Government
#Power Supplies