What did he say?
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Whole house generator
- Thread starter ucfireman
- Start date
mallardsx2
BANNED
He told me how much it was going to cost. I told him what my intentions were and he told me that if I back-fed into the line that I could be thrown in jail for life if I accidentally killed someone…
gobbleinwoods
Keeper of the Magic Word
Most counties now require a cut off switch between the meter and the main feed.
One cannot get to the meter the way my subpanel is wired. The feed breakers for the sub panel are mechanically connected. When the emergency connector is selected the panel is disconnected from the normal house feed.
gobbleinwoods
Keeper of the Magic Word
Emergency disconnector is the term I was searching for.
That`s only one reason we grounded out the powerlines we were working on, with 2 sets of 4/0 grounds. Not only would we be safe from the backfeed of any generator but it would burn your generator up and destroy it. And it wouldn`t take long to do it either.
I see you laughed and thought what you said in you first post was cute. There`s nothing to laugh about possibly killing the very people trying to restore your power. Keep that in mind.
I have a honda 6500 watt pórtable generator. Have a wire from my house panel run to the door of my crawl space for connection to generator. When power goes out, turn off the main breaker to the house and all breakers. Go outside, hook up generator, start it, and go inside and turn on all
NECESSARY breakers. We are total electric. Generattor will not run heat/ac system. Do not run hot water and well pump together. Run well pump to fill your hot water heater, turn off hot water heater after water gets hot, leave will pump on until need hot water again. Can run one eye on electric stove. All else; lights, fridge, freezer, fan on wood stove(use wood for heat in Buck Stove insert), Have to be selective on what you run at same time.......always worked for us.......have no natural gas and propane with tank and price of propane would not fit my budget........but the above has always worked for us.......and, I don't have and never intend to have an
electric vehicle...................
NECESSARY breakers. We are total electric. Generattor will not run heat/ac system. Do not run hot water and well pump together. Run well pump to fill your hot water heater, turn off hot water heater after water gets hot, leave will pump on until need hot water again. Can run one eye on electric stove. All else; lights, fridge, freezer, fan on wood stove(use wood for heat in Buck Stove insert), Have to be selective on what you run at same time.......always worked for us.......have no natural gas and propane with tank and price of propane would not fit my budget........but the above has always worked for us.......and, I don't have and never intend to have an
electric vehicle...................
GT90
Senior Member
I have quotes from a couple of months ago. The pricing runs from $10.5K for a 22kW to $12K for a 26kW. All are Generac.
DannyW
Senior Member
A very real possibility that actually happened in my family.
Son of a cousin was working on a pole in Virginia in 2020. He tested and the lines were cold. While he was hands on, a generator from a nearby house kicked on. It did not have a backfeed device, or it was not properly installed. I don't know which. But it bit him bad.
He lived but lost his most of his arms, and a leg from the knee down on one side and part of his foot on the other. He is wheelchair bound for the rest of his life.
He was just 22.
You probably saw something about it, it made the national news when it happened. Heck of a way to make the news.
Saw him last summer. He has accepted his situation very well. He is not bitter or remorse. In fact he is very happy. Guess he is a half-full kind of guy. And he realizes it could have been much worse.
Artfuldodger
Senior Member
That sounds doable, just a learning experience on what you can and can't run at the same time.
I have heard the same thing. I would only do it with a licensed electrician. And I will ask about the back feed.
Howard Roark
Retired Moderator
Our fire station has a large generator. I am not going to get the terminology exactly correct but we have a large box with 1 handle and selections on the box of off, on Ga Power and on generator.
If I remember correctly the step by step instructions read:
If the power is off switch this box from Ga Power to off.
Start the generator
Switch from off to generator.
No chance for back feed.
If I remember correctly the step by step instructions read:
If the power is off switch this box from Ga Power to off.
Start the generator
Switch from off to generator.
No chance for back feed.
It’s a federal law that airlines have generators or other means of backup power with auto switch. The operations center has to be powered when controlling airplanes. Been this way for decades. A commercial electrician can make back feed a nonissue. My house is a manual switch with mechanical interlocks that prevent any possibility of back feed. It was installed by a commercial electrician.
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Big7
The Oracle
What is back feed?
When power your producing leaves your home through feed lines. Lineman have been hurt when people plugged generators into wall outlets or into pigtails to circuit panels without proper switching mechanisms. The feed line the lineman are working on is dead and been isolated in their feed circuit. You powering that isolated line can kill someone.
