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Generator for House Backup

Yahoo Message Number: 56097
Although I have yet to need it, this recent snow got me to thinking about how or if I could use my coach generator to power my home (or at least parts of it).

Has anyone had any experience in this area?
I can back the coach up my driveway to within 25 feet of the electric distribution panel in my garage. Since I have added a 50amp outlet in the garage, I know my cable will reach.

George

'04 Inspire 51061

Re: Generator for House Backup

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56098

In short, I think you can do that, but you have to be very careful not to back feed power into the power company service lines, the main breaker in the house would definately need to be turned off...could prove to be deadly for the power co. workers....
May be better to use an extension cord to power what ever you want to power...
There are local codes that require certain equipment when connecting directly to main power supply....
Marvin

Re: Generator for House Backup

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56099
--- I

George While I have not done this I believe it could be done quite easily. The previous post is very correct in that you don't want to feed back the power to the Grid but you could put in the same switch gear as in the coach, such as when you start the generator in your coach the generator power takes over even if you are plugged in to 220 such as in an RV park. You could then , solve the problem of 2 feeds to your panel. If you do it legally, and you should, because if you had an insurance claim and it was not done properly, your claim would be denied, You should check with a local electrician and get together with your power authority, so that all is done properly. I can't see why the same system would not work in supplying power to the house.

Ron Baran 09 Magna 7025

Re: Generator for House Backup

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56101
George, How long do you expect outages to last? It may not be worth the $.

About six years ago we had an outage for twenty-four hours. The following day when the power was restored we were talking to our neighbors. "What did you do during the blackout last night they asked"?

We replied, that we had sat down to a cooked meal, watched television and retired to a nice warm bedroom.

They looked at us in complete disbelief until we explained that when the power outage hit we simply went into our yard and occupied the motor home for the duration of the outage.

Motor homes have their uses even when not on the road.

David

Re: Generator for House Backup

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56102
George;

Several years ago we had an ice storm in central Ohio. We lost electrical service for 8 days. the ole powertech in the coach had a full 110 gals of diesel and keep the house from freezing up.
Priority one was the furnace. I have a three way switch above the furnace. Goes to a separate curciut breaker on the electrical panel and the other is a line/ outlet to the garage bay. Turned off the breaker in the panel, flipped the three way switch above the furnace to the outlet in the garage and plugged the coach into it. 120volts, uninterupted power which keep the house warm. no frozen pipes and a warm house. When the power was restored, I flipped the three way switch, unplugged the coach and flipped the breaker. Back to normal.
Since it's a 8Kw generator, I ran two extention cords from the coach/ cargo bays. Keep the refrig and freeze going on one and the TV, two lights and misc items running as needed.
It was simple, kept the needed items going. We have electrical issues at least once a year, usually for just a few hours. Country folks. But the coach saved a lot of time and money during that ice storm.
Marvin is right, you can use the breaker box, but with a lot of caution. If you have a common occurance of lost power, you might want to consider it, but???? Once in a blue moon, I don't think you'd find it worth it.

Steve

magna 5220
 

Re: Generator for House Backup

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 56103
We've only lived here for two years and have not yet had an outage. However, our neighbors have told us that outages are frequent in this area and last two to three days normally.
I just figured if I can get it done reasonably, it might be worth the investment.

George

'04 Inspire 51061