"Rolling your own" power

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Electric Utilities and Y2K : One Thread

Out of all the USENET newsgroups I participate in, alt.energy.homepower is about the best for understanding basics of how the electric system in your house works. A lot of folks these days are opting for a backup power source, for whatever reason, Y2k or otherwise.

A few of the power companies that I work with on Y2k issues have expressed concern that if everyone ran out and bought a generator, there would be a lot of people getting hurt (homeowners *and* electric company lineman being inadvertently electrocuted by improperly installed generators). Running a backup power source in your home is not something you want to do unless you really take the time to learn about what you're doing in advance of needing it.

Here's a post I made today to alt.energy.homepower:

On Mon, 01 Feb 1999 10:24:40 -0800, alwynaubrey@earthlink.net wrote:

(snip)

>Additionally, one of the manufacturers told me that most consumers
>buying these smaller generators (under 8KW) generally "have no idea 
>of what to do with them once they've got them."
>
>The problems come from under-estimating the actual power needs of 
>your home, according to the manufactureres, causing the generators 
>to run for lengthy periods of time, then prematurely fail, while
>simultaneously causing damage to underpowered appliances. 
Amateurs and guns don't mix in time of war. Guns kill. That's why the Army spends lots of time and money training foot soldiers for battle.

Amateurs and alcohol don't mix on New Years Eve. Drunk drivers kill. That's why I generally party at home.

Amateurs and electricity don't mix any time. Electricity kills (ask Ted Bundy). That's why power companies such as Snohomish PUD (Washington State) are scared to death of "amateurs" running to Home Depot and buying a generator for *any* perceived power problem, Y2k or otherwise.

From the www.euy2k.com newsroom:

"Snohomish County, Wa. (January 30) - At a recent meeting of the Snohomish Public Utility District Commissioners, the commission was briefed on Y2k progress within the utility. Ms. Julee Cunningham of the Communications and Marketing Department also noted that Y2k community outreach efforts the PUD included distributing instructional brochures on portable generator safety throughout the county; offering generator safety classes; and running quarter page advertisements during early December in local newspapers on generator safety. Generator safety tips are also available on the SnoPUD website. "

Links to SnoPUD source documents are available from www.euy2k.com.

A couple of morals to the story for those new to home power:

1. Understand what you want (and expect) a genny to do before you run right out and buy one as an "emergency power source". Plan ahead of time and do it right; understand your essential power needs to properly size a genny. You might find that you're better off buying a few boxes of candles, extra flashlight batteries, and another cord of wood for the woodstove or fireplace. If you're buying a genny as an emergency backup power source, the object of the game is not to maintain your current lifestyle, but simply maintain minimal essential services (fridge, heat, some lights, water pump, sump pump, etc.).

2. Plan ahead of time. Don't expect to roll your genny out of Home Depot, gas it up, plug in a few extension cords, and maintain the lifestyle you currently have - not without burning down your house or ruining your genny within the first 20 hours of runtime. I suspect that's why many folks in here report low runtime hours before failure, even on the cheapie gennys.

3. It's been said in here many times - electricity can kill you or someone else if you don't do it right. Don't shave a few bucks by using some Rube Goldberg wiring arrangement on your main breaker box. I saw Square D Generator Transfer Switches for $129.00 apiece at Hechinger's (a northeast U.S. home center chain) over this past weekend. Cutler-Hammer makes them, as does GE and just about every other load center manufacturer.



-- Anonymous, February 01, 1999

Answers

Rick,

I showed my husband the post about "rolling your own". We bought a diesel generator and he just got a transfer switch. He wanted me to ask you this question so I'll just quote it:

"I'm an electrical engineer and have owned an electrical contracting business for over 20 years. I have priced transfer switches and have found that for a 200A load, and 100 Amp transfer load the price is about $350.00. What are the specs on the Square D version you found out Hechinger's. I'm concerned it may be a little light for a house."

Thanks

-- Anonymous, February 01, 1999


All,

Here's another useful link for those "rolling their own";

http://209.52.183.182/agitator/juice_page.htm

I'd like to know about that low cost transfer switch myself.

Steve

-- Anonymous, February 01, 1999


After suffering through several days without power during the winter in the mountains, I bought a generator, and installed it with a transfer switch. My local electrical supplier only had the large economy size (200 amp, GE) switch, for $350.

But, I was only putting in a 3500 watt generator, to run my furnace, pump, a few lights and a microwave. I didn't need a 200 amp switch, and indeed -- I did not wire it as a whole house switch:

a. pick off the 220 that originally went to the pump, use this as the transfer switch input.

b. wire the switch output to a secondary breaker box, and feed only a few circuits -- mentioned above -- from that box.

Those circuits no longer go through the main breaker, only the secondary braker box that uses either utility power or generator power as the input.

That's exactly how the low priced models operate, except that they include the secondary breaker box. Lowes's, for instance has a model that has the gen transfer switch and four (4) circuits. Not enough to do the entire house, but as Rick noted, that's not the idea of the program.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 1999


After much research I found that using a typical SqD transfer switch is OK if your generator is sized to handle the entire load in your power panel. A better type of switch that allows you to selectively choose which house circuits you will be providing power to is the GenTran type. It also positively prevents the dreaded backflow of genny power into the local grid that can be so dangerous for linemen. I bought a Gentran 10 circuit system @ HomeDepot for about $275. Also:buy a good quality genny or don't bother

Be careful out there! Bob in Seattle

-- Anonymous, February 06, 1999


I have put up a site to help educate those using or planning to buy a generator for their home.

The link is: http://209.52.183.182/agitator/juice_page.htm

Here's what it contains:

Site map Ok, so the search engine was overkill and it didn't want to work on the new server anyway Here's a site map (Table of Contents) that should make things a little bit easier.

Pointers on selecting a generator What types of generators are out there, what to look for in a good one, the relative merits of the various fuels, etc.

Safety Your generator can kill you. Don't skip this page. Find out about it.

Application charts What are you going to be powering? How much juice do you need? What about electric motor start current requirements? What about my well pump?

Transfer switch info How are you going to power up your stuff? Run 15 extension cords around your house? Like to lock your doors at night?

Oil/Fuel Treatment & Storage Gasoline and diesel must be treated for long term storage; here are the treatment products you need and the drums/tanks to put that fuel in.

Generator Maintenance & Operations/Storage/Repair Make sure your generator is going to work the next time you need it, and then keep working.

Generator Video! Ok, so I'm not C.B. DeMille but you might want to check these out anyway!

Engine Manufacturer Links Seven different engine manufacturers. See also Generator Manufacturer Links below.

Generator Manufacturer Links Fourteen different generator manufacturers.

Classifieds - Generators & Power Related Stuff For Sale If you're having trouble locating a stationary set, some good ads are already in folks, check out this page

Sales/Service Outlets A ton of links to generator sales/service outlets and small engine parts places. Also propane conversion parts. Many of these links contain notations that they provide a particular bit of important information or a particular service. Don't skip this page either.

Generator Rental Outlets

Reviews Looking for more information on alternative energy approaches? I review the POWER HOUSE video and workbook by Stan Pierchoski.

Really Stupid Generator Tricks Bona fide geeks only.

Reader's Rigs

-- Anonymous, February 08, 1999



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