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[ctechbob]

Physics is a cruel mistress.

All the hopes, dreams, and unicorn tears can't erase the fact that you can't pull power from nothing, there's got to be a source.

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[Racket]

A whole house generator, with the ability to power every circuit in the house (not necessarily at the same time), needs a transfer switch, and it must be wired in between the service entrance and main panel. You're not going to just drive up to any house and power it up. Any setup other than that, such as backfeeding the main panel, will require that the main breaker be shut off to avoid killing linesmen working on the poles. This kind of setup is illegal in most states, and for good reason.

Lots of YouTube videos on installing a transfer switch on your house. In this day and age it may become a common thing.

 

[AzScorpion]

Lots of YouTube videos on installing a transfer switch on your house. In this day and age it may become a common thing.

Many newer homes (especially in a natural disaster area like FL) now come with a transfer switch. The builders are adding these in as a common accessory now. I'm adding one to my new build right now as a precaution because it's better to have it and not need to than need to and not have it. Plus the convenience of not having to drag out a bunch of extension cords and having them scattered all over the house is worth the price of the transfer switch alone.

 

[shovelhd]

Lots of YouTube videos on installing a transfer switch on your house. In this day and age it may become a common thing.

You don't need Youtube. You need a licensed electrician, enough money to be self-insured, or balls of steel. These are your choices.

A small, manual, multi-circuit transfer switch can be installed by a homeowner in certain states. That is not a whole house solution, though. For a whole house solution, the meter has to be pulled. Most electric companies won't do that without a licensed electrician pulling a permit. If local ordinance doesn't require a permit, then the homeowner (who is not a licensed electrician) can either pull and replace the meter themselves (see balls of steel), breaking the seal, or hire an electrican to do that and do the rest themselves. No matter what, you better check with your insurance company, because most will not pay out for unlicensed work that causes a claim.

I'm not an electrician by trade. In my final days of work as an electrical engineer, I worked with high voltage industrial machines, and had to understand the NEC, permitting, and the dangers of bad electrical work. I would NEVER install a whole house automatic transfer switch myself.

 

[shovelhd]

Many newer homes (especially in a natural disaster area like FL) now come with a transfer switch. The builders are adding these in as a common accessory now. I'm adding one to my new build right now as a precaution because it's better to have it and not need to than need to and not have it. Plus the convenience of not having to drag out a bunch of extension cords and having them scattered all over the house is worth the price of the transfer switch alone.

We are looking at putting on a small addition to our home. It has 100A service, which will be upgraded to 200A along with an automatic transfer switch and disconnect for a whole house generator.

 

[Grumpaw]

Physics is a cruel mistress.

All the hopes, dreams, and unicorn tears can't erase the fact that you can't pull power from nothing, there's got to be a source.

Yoda say's....
The Force is what you are searching for....
The Force is the Source !!!!!

 

[LanoTX]

You don't need Youtube. You need a licensed electrician, enough money to be self-insured, or balls of steel. These are your choices.

A small, manual, multi-circuit transfer switch can be installed by a homeowner in certain states. That is not a whole house solution, though. For a whole house solution, the meter has to be pulled. Most electric companies won't do that without a licensed electrician pulling a permit. If local ordinance doesn't require a permit, then the homeowner (who is not a licensed electrician) can either pull and replace the meter themselves (see balls of steel), breaking the seal, or hire an electrican to do that and do the rest themselves. No matter what, you better check with your insurance company, because most will not pay out for unlicensed work that causes a claim.

I'm not an electrician by trade. In my final days of work as an electrical engineer, I worked with high voltage industrial machines, and had to understand the NEC, permitting, and the dangers of bad electrical work. I would NEVER install a whole house automatic transfer switch myself.

I’m not a homeowner even so forgive dumb questions. But what’s the issue with creating a separate circuit on your house for emergencies that isn’t connected to the meter? With its own power sources, inverter, controller, outlets, etc. Is this illegal? I’m talking for powering some essential appliances and smaller things. Not to turn the power back on for your whole house.

 

[shovelhd]

I’m not a homeowner even so forgive dumb questions. But what’s the issue with creating a separate circuit on your house for emergencies that isn’t connected to the meter? With its own power sources, inverter, controller, outlets, etc. Is this illegal? I’m talking for powering some essential appliances and smaller things. Not to turn the power back on for your whole house.

That's not a whole house system, it's a parallel system. It's not uncommon in hospitals, large buildings, and industrial sites. Even if the power source is not tied to the grid in any way, and won't require pulling a service meter, it may still have to be done by a licensed electrician depending on your state, town, and insurer.

 

[AzScorpion]

We are looking at putting on a small addition to our home. It has 100A service, which will be upgraded to 200A along with an automatic transfer switch and disconnect for a whole house generator.

I had a Generac whole house generator when I lived back in MA. I needed it because I was on a well, had a sump pump lights/fridge/basement freezer and needed to run the HVAC. Here I just bought a dual fuel Champion 4,375/3,500 which will be enough for the fridge, lights and possibly the AC. I might have to shut the other two off (lights/fridge) to run the AC but that's not a big deal. I'm not to worried about the furnace because I'll have a wood burning fireplace that'll heat the whole house. Everyone here's told me if/when we lose power it's usually for only hours to maybe a day. I think the worst was a week and that was over 10 years ago.

 

[Grumpaw]

You don't need Youtube. You need a licensed electrician, enough money to be self-insured, or balls of steel. These are your choices.

A small, manual, multi-circuit transfer switch can be installed by a homeowner in certain states. That is not a whole house solution, though. For a whole house solution, the meter has to be pulled. Most electric companies won't do that without a licensed electrician pulling a permit. If local ordinance doesn't require a permit, then the homeowner (who is not a licensed electrician) can either pull and replace the meter themselves (see balls of steel), breaking the seal, or hire an electrican to do that and do the rest themselves. No matter what, you better check with your insurance company, because most will not pay out for unlicensed work that causes a claim.

I'm not an electrician by trade. In my final days of work as an electrical engineer, I worked with high voltage industrial machines, and had to understand the NEC, permitting, and the dangers of bad electrical work. I would NEVER install a whole house automatic transfer switch myself.

Agree about the need for a licensed electrician for an install.
We have a whole house genny with a transfer panel, professionally installed. Here in Va, if/when you sell your home, a home inspection is almost always required. A transfer panel must be installed by a licensed electrician, and you must have proof/paperwork to that effect.
If it's a DIY, the inspector can make you rip it out and return the house to original, or have you install the panel correctly, via licensed, before they will sign off on the dwelling.
If the local electric co-op observes a genny installed without a proper panel to prevent back-feeding it can cause problems for the homeowner.
Here, a permit is required when a genny is installed, and inspected when the job is completed.

 

[Joeiconic]

I had a Generac whole house generator when I lived back in MA. I needed it because I was on a well, had a sump pump lights/fridge/basement freezer and needed to run the HVAC. Here I just bought a dual fuel Champion 4,375/3,500 which will be enough for the fridge, lights and possibly the AC. I might have to shut the other two off (lights/fridge) to run the AC but that's not a big deal. I'm not to worried about the furnace because I'll have a wood burning fireplace that'll heat the whole house. Everyone here's told me if/when we lose power it's usually for only hours to maybe a day. I think the worst was a week and that was over 10 years ago.

You will have to put a soft start device on your a/c compressor or heat pump to reduce the power draw at start up to run heat/air with a generator that size. They draw a ton at start up, but are a modest draw once they are running. Also, unless you have a wood stove in your fire place with a blower, it won’t heat much in really cold weather, depending on the size of your home of course.

 

[LanoTX]

As mentioned above this design is what is called a series hybrid. But, the new popular term for these is EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle). Ford is also trying to develop one of these for the Super Duty.

EREVs do have a use cases where they can work quite well. That would mainly be where you primarily use it for urban/suburban uses and shorter road trips. It would work nicely for many commercial and contractor uses where long road trips are rare.

Here is where it falls apart. Notice that is claimed that it can tow 14,000 pounds. It can probably do that very well for shorter towing trips. But, it will not perform well on a long haul with a heavy trailer (e.g. a snowbird towing a fifth wheel to Florida). Once that 92-kilowatt-hour battery pack is largely depleted on a long haul (and that will happen), then you are left with a 3.6L Pentastar® V6 engine supplying all the power for a heavy truck (due to the battery pack) that is towing a heavy trailer. Think about what that will be like on a long interstate grade or trying to go up a mountain pass. It might be able to maintain 25-35 MPH in that situation which would be a miserable driving experience.

Ford is trying to build one of these in the Super Duty where the generator is a 5.0 Coyote V8. They are struggling with the exact problem I described above.

I can see the problem with towing over large distances. Maybe standard diesel power trains will always be needed for towing larger loads. So focus on hauling passengers/regular cargo. Huge market for that still. I see the weak link as the battery weight/capacity

 

[AzScorpion]

You will have to put a soft start device on your a/c compressor or heat pump to reduce the power draw at start up to run heat/air with a generator that size. They draw a ton at start up, but are a modest draw once they are running. Also, unless you have a wood stove in your fire place with a blower, it won’t heat much in really cold weather, depending on the size of your home of course.

I am adding a soft start kit the the AC. Before moving to AZ I've been burning wood for years and have never had a problem heating my whole house this way. The zero clearance wood fireplace I'm using has 2-80cfm blowers and will heat a house up to 2,000 sq ft. My house is a wide open concept and I shouldn't have any problems heating it except the master bed. But for that the fireplace has a heat distribution system where you can add two ducts off it into two different room.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Also, unless you have a wood stove in your fire place with a blower, it won’t heat much in really cold weather, depending on the size of your home of course.

We've used our woodstove to heat our 2400 SF house in pretty cold weather (ice storms knocked out the power for 3 days a few years ago and another time probably 10 years ago). The downstairs was very comfortable - the upstairs is cool, but not bad at all. I'm always amazed at how much heat it puts out. And it has no fans at all.

 

[Joeiconic]

We've used our woodstove to heat our 2400 SF house in pretty cold weather (ice storms knocked out the power for 3 days a few years ago and another time probably 10 years ago). The downstairs was very comfortable - the upstairs is cool, but not bad at all. I'm always amazed at how much heat it puts out. And it has no fans at all.

A stove without a blower is just a radiator, so I guess it depends on a lot of variables such as the layout of your home, where the stove is positioned, the insulation value of your home, etc., and ultimately your definition of comfortable.

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