Re: Whole house generators (slightly OT)

["SC" <nevetsn@xxxxxxx>]

By using a manual transfer panel you do not have to power all your loads at
once.  We have a small (5000w) generator which can run some lights and
refrigerator OR some lights and our well pump.  During an outage, when we
want to use water, we just turn off the fridge breaker and turn on the pump
breaker for a little while.  It's not great but we get by with a much
smaller generator.  By the way, the National Electrical Code allows you to
do this as long as it is a manual transfer.  An automatic one becomes
"emergency" standby power so the generator has to be capable of powering all
of the loads simultaneously.

Boy! 35000w would be nice!
SC


"BruceR" <razrbruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:RR6Zg.13181$gU6.10463@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Enduring Sunday's 6.5 earthquake was no big deal... I only lost one
> picture window.  The real hassle was being without power for 16 muggy
> hours.  If that happened very rarely I'd be happy with my little 6000 watt
> Costco special that runs the reefers and a few lights.  However, Hawaiian
> Electric Company's newest generator is 30 years old and they just haven't
> kept pace with growth on the island. That results in ever more frequent
> outages lasting up to 30 hours (recently).
>
> So, I think it's time for big honkin' generator to serve the whole house.
> I've been looking at the Generac line and I'm considering a 35,000 watt
> unit to serve my 200amp home.  I'd appreciate any info or suggestions that
> any of you have to offer.  I'd like to run it off Natural gas with LP gas
> as a backup.
>