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Went to a couple electrical supply shops this morn and found the transfer switches available through them are REALLY pricey! $370 for a 100 amp and 410 at least for a 200! And the boxes are huge, besides!! This is for residential use and these boxes look like they belong on commercial building! All I want is an 'either/or' switch. Either the power company/or the generator supplying the house needs. Am I looking in the right direction for this? AM I asking the right questions? Just find it hard to believe a panel like that costs more than a new panel full of new breakers...
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Bob, you might find it easier just to use a 100 amp main lug panel with two 100 amp breakers. generator input goes to one breaker and your meter power goes to the other. the load going to your regular panel would come off the main lugs. the 100 amp breakers may cost around $47.00 each. only thing to remember when transferring loads is that one breaker must be off before the other one is thrown ON. maybe you could rig up some sort of a mechanical bridge between the two breakers so that if one is thrown the other automatically is open. -
Not good electrical practice
What Haz said would work electricaly but as an electrical inspector I would turn it down. They make a panel that has a main breaker/ generater breaker, set up. The main point to this approved set up is you CAN NOT run generator power back through the power line and you CAN NOT run PUD power into your generator. The guy trying to cut corners will always tell you he will remember to switch the breakers but what if he forgets.
Try HD or some other box store. You may have to change the whole panel out to make it happen. I have a 200 amp. Main with a 30 amp generator input. During a power outage my generator will do the job, not as well as PUD but it is temp. power
JohnComment
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Transfer switch.....
Okay, Sugarloafthree. What kind of panel is that? It has a built in socket for the gen? Or an integral main breaker that is switchable from utility or generator? I just recently installed a SQ D unit and presently am doing the 'dance' of shutting the main before powering up the gen should we lose power. I prefer the either/or switch function for everyone's protection. It is the 'right' way to go, true, but .... my GOSH the price! There HAS to be some affordale, yet safe, way to accomplish this.Comment
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Switch...
By the way, the first place I checked was HD. The next were the two pro electric supply shops. HD carry's the generator panel along with the emergency use circuits. That won't work for me, as I want the freedom to use items throughout the house at our pleasure within the limits of my (same as yours) 30A generator. Was entertaining similar thoughts as HayZee suggested. Sure wish there was a less expensive approach to this. Just feel like there's a path here, but need to find it...Comment
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gen - main transfer
bob, here's a simpler diagram of how to do the transfer switch. A mechanical link between the main breaker and the gen breaker is all that is needed. no need for another panel.Comment
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Transfer switch..
Okay, HayZee. Presently there's a main switch directly at the top and on center. So what you're proposing is to install a 100 A breaker opposite a generator breaker? I like that idea. Will check into that....I'm betting there are ready made bridge links for this application...Comment
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bob since your main runs up and down and is centered, all you got to do is install a breaker in one of the top slots horizontally not to purchase another 100. that would be redundant. because of the orientation of the main breaker a mechanical connection cannot be installed. you'll just need to remember shut off main before closing the 50 and starting your generator.Comment
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And if you forget to remember, have you thought about the consequences?Comment
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I gotta tell ya Hazy it's hard for me to believe that you would actually tell someone, let alone on a public forum, how to do something that's not only totally against NEC rules but is also dangerous and life threating.
Opening the main breaker and backfeeding a circuit may work for you but it's also dangerous and illegal to do. That's the reason for the installation of a manual/transfer switch per code.
"If you forget to shutoff the main you can KILL somebody. Not just hypothetical, but actual. A search of the internet will reveal stories of linemen getting killed.
Some who do backfeed try to justify it by saying they won't forget to shutoff the main, and linemen should be properly grounding and testing before they handle the wires. Well fine, but that just leaves you 2 mistakes away from killing someone. Both of those mistakes can and do happen.
A transfer switch, by design, does not allow the generator to backfeed through the main. It doesn't rely on you to remember to switch anything. The transfer switch mechanically either allows your selected house circuits to get power from the main or to get power from the generator, but not both at the same time. It is dummy proof.
Another reason to have a transfer switch is so you can manage your loads. For example, if you have a 6 circuit transfer switch. One leg of the 240 feeds circuits 1-3, and the other leg feeds circuits 4-6. You balance the draw when you assign those circuits, and you have 2 meters on the transfer switch to view the draw off of each leg. In order to run a 240, you tie circuits #3 and #4 together so you are drawing from both legs.
Bear in mind that utilities take back feeding very seriously. If they find voltage on a line which is supposed to be dead, (1) they will search the neighborhood for houses which are lit up, ask to see your transfer switch, and if you don't produce, (2) they will report you to code enforcement.
If one of their men is injured, skip step two, and go directly to lawyers. The burden of proof is on you, and your liability is nearly unlimited, to the extent of your net worth"
Bob, yes the transfer switches are expensive but what price do you put on a life, sure hope you think it's worth more than the price of a transfer switch. Of course you're still free to do whatever it is you want to do, just didn't want you or anyone else to not know the ramifications of your decision. Here's a link that'll tell you about them and why you should hire a licensed electrician to install it for you. Hope this helps
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OK FORGET THE DOUBLE BREAKERS - A manual two pole flopover IS the way to go. I have purchased a 400 amp three pole flopover for "our" hydro station because we have an emergency generator here. It's cost is about $1200. Sorry Bob I shouldn't have said anything kactus and hube and the other guy is correct. Just because I use the setup doesn't mean its correct but it works for me. And.... with the gen hitched up there is NO backfeed into the crib line.Comment
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Well said, and I absolutely agree with every word.
Bottom line;DO IT RIGHT or not at all.Comment
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Thanks Hube. Maybe I'm too old for this forum. I make mistakes too.Comment
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Too old......
You're not as old as you think, and not too far off base on this.
Found this item from Reliance:
Great set up (except for the price!)....Comment
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