I'd have to say hooking up a generator to your house circuit is a pretty dangerous thing. I'm not electrical expert, but I used to build mainframes and the power systems that went with them. While it is possible to do what you are doing, it can easily burn up your house and fry the electrical worker if you do anything incorrectly. As Duane said you need to make sure your wire is thick enough. Where he gets the crazy Idea to drive your house off of 10 gauge wire is beyond me. While it may be possible, it's (IMO) extremely bad to do. I wouldn't use anything less than 0 cable. Of course it also depends on the length of run from your generator to the circuit. Anything over 3 feet you'll want to use a heavier gauge than 10 or risk burning up your house (depending on what kind of current you draw of course. If you have a 100AMP service and are powering everything from the big screen TV to the dishwasher,hairdryer,vacumm, power saw, oven, microwave, washer, dryer, furnace, water heater, 3 bedrooms, two baths, etc. - then things might get pretty hot. Some generators are designed to do exactly what you are wanting to do. I'd keep usage to a minimum and unplug any device that is always on (TV, VCR, many digital electronics), and be discriminate in the use of power. You'll definitely want do as Duane suggests and check the Hz and voltage coming out. Anything in the range 50-60 Hz is fine and from 110-120V/220-240 (even 100/200 wouldn't be too bad). Be extremely careful and make sure your set up is well grounded and check, double-check and triple-check that the main is open. Bottom line is there are so many variables that if your aren't at least proficient with electricity you should never attempt it. It sounds as if you have some level of competency, but then that can be dangerous in it's own right.
Brian
-----Original Message----- From: Brad
This is what I thought as well, but if you read posts on the net about it, people get their heads chewed off by people who obviously know more than I do about electricity. I am hoping there is also no danger of fire or anything at my home. It is looking like I may need to do this given the looks of things.
Thanks,
Brad
On Tue, 2005-01-04 at 15:51 -0600, Ben Kelley wrote:
I'm in no way an expert, but I have heard about several people doing this w/o any consequences. Also From what I understand even if you forgot to throw
the main, it
shouldn't be a real problem unless a lineman happens to be working nearby, this is what is know as feeding the grid, pushing
power back
to the electrical grid. Lots of off grid solar equipped people are doing this, and in most cases get a check from their power
company for
supplying power back to the grid. Also I heard a story about the Sprint being asked to run their generators at the campus during the day to generate their own power, and at night connect to
the grid and
feed power back to the power company. But that is all hearsay.
So in my _nonexpert opinion_, as long as you disconnect
the main, you
shouldnt have any problems powering your home.
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On Tue, 4 Jan 2005, Brian Densmore wrote:
Idea to drive your house off of 10 gauge wire is beyond me. While it may be possible, it's (IMO) extremely bad to do. I wouldn't use anything less than 0 cable. Of course it also depends on the length of run from
Zero guage wiring (welding cable) might be good, but may be overkill for a temporary circuit. The cable servicing my house from the meter is only 6 guage. My voltage drop after 15 feet of 10 guage didn't let the voltage drop below 110 volts under a strong load of the house air conditioner.
I forgot to mention I had the UPS recreate the waveform, but everything still worked in manual bypass. Fortunately, my UPS checks the voltage and frequency for me and sounds the alarm horn when it strays beyond the set limits.
But you are right about the stong cautions about what can go wrong. We are pushing this simple wiring idea to the limits. It breaks for many people and that's why they keep pushing this on the news. If I see professional engineers make mistakes year after year, I'm sure the common homeowner such as myself can miss something obvious and burn down the house.
The first caveman who harnessed fire took a risk and we are too. Unfortunately for us, our houses aren't made of rock like the caves, so beware...
-=Duane http;//dattaway.org
On Tue, 2005-01-04 at 20:23 -0600, Duane Attaway wrote:
On Tue, 4 Jan 2005, Brian Densmore wrote:
Idea to drive your house off of 10 gauge wire is beyond me. While it may be possible, it's (IMO) extremely bad to do. I wouldn't use anything less than 0 cable. Of course it also depends on the length of run from
Zero guage wiring (welding cable) might be good, but may be overkill for a temporary circuit. The cable servicing my house from the meter is only 6 guage. My voltage drop after 15 feet of 10 guage didn't let the voltage drop below 110 volts under a strong load of the house air conditioner.
I forgot to mention I had the UPS recreate the waveform, but everything still worked in manual bypass. Fortunately, my UPS checks the voltage and frequency for me and sounds the alarm horn when it strays beyond the set limits.
But you are right about the stong cautions about what can go wrong. We are pushing this simple wiring idea to the limits. It breaks for many people and that's why they keep pushing this on the news. If I see professional engineers make mistakes year after year, I'm sure the common homeowner such as myself can miss something obvious and burn down the house.
The first caveman who harnessed fire took a risk and we are too. Unfortunately for us, our houses aren't made of rock like the caves, so beware...
-=Duane http;//dattaway.org
Just thought I'd throw out my $.02 on this thread. Last time around, I would have been much happier had I actually purchased a generator. At the time, it simply wasn't within the budget. In the event, however, that we are declared a disaster area there is a good chance FEMA will reimburse the expense of a generator.
/me ignites the fireplace and returns to his book.
Dustin
On Wed, 2005-01-05 at 11:20 -0600, Dustin Decker wrote:
Just thought I'd throw out my $.02 on this thread. Last time around, I would have been much happier had I actually purchased a generator. At the time, it simply wasn't within the budget. In the event, however, that we are declared a disaster area there is a good chance FEMA will reimburse the expense of a generator.
/me ignites the fireplace and returns to his book.
Dustin
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Brad -
Brian Densmore -
Duane Attaway -
Dustin Decker