Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

[crazy charlie]

Will be picking up a generator for emergencies.Hope to never use it.What should I expect it to cost me to get a hookup to my fuse panel .Adapter to plug into gen ,not an automatic setup.Simple works for me.Thanks Charlie

 

[rbh]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Not sure the rates you pay electricians in your town.

I have an old onan 4.0 CCK 3 phase that I will hook up for the shop/well house, I know I need to have a switch installed that isolates the grid power from the generators power so I don't fry the line guys by back feeding power down the line.

How many watts does your genset put out? enough to run all the appliances in your home? You may want another switch installed to isolate certain runs, electric water heater, base boards, ETC

And you should probably have a pad/mounting area away from your home because of the exhaust and sound

 

[Grandad]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Hi Charlie. I'm an electrician, but I think that this set up would be the bees knees. Simple, safe, flexible and easy to understand. No electrician required. Check with your utility to see if they have such a program. - Grandad
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...dXFVbLCRfeoxlXyww&sig2=hkREaf4Jpeq2-YSprqTD1A

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Wow,that looks easy !! With my luck PSEG wont get involved with something like that.Thanks Charlie

 

[roscoe]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

That does look good !

I have a 6k portable, But have only needed to use it a few times in 14 years.
Up till now, I simply ran a gfi extension cord into the house.
Good for the furnace, fridge, a lamp, and the incubator when I have eggs in it.


Gonna check out the generlink for sure. Would be great, in the event the power was out for more than a few hours.

Cost seems to range from $500 to $950, depending on the local utility.

Hmmm, how will I know when the power comes back on?


Thanks for the tip.

 

[Grandad]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

You might also consider a natural gas powered generator, if you have NG available. You could manage without utility power indefinitely.
- Grandad

 

[sam60]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Hi Charlie. I'm an electrician, but I think that this set up would be the bees knees. Simple, safe, flexible and easy to understand. No electrician required. Check with your utility to see if they have such a program. - Grandad
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...dXFVbLCRfeoxlXyww&sig2=hkREaf4Jpeq2-YSprqTD1A

That is very nice, I've been looking at a setup that is a lot more expensive....this makes more sense ($) than what I was thinking of doing.

GE 13,000-Watt Standby Generator System with Symphony II Whole House 200-Amp Automatic Transfer Switch-40324HD at The Home Depot

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Since I use a portable genny and do not have an automatic switch gear, here is what I do

I have a 50 amp outlet for my welder. I use the same outlet to connect my generator to. I kill the main breaker, kill the water heater breaker, kill the pool breaker and use a 6600 watt (8k starting) genset for when power is out. if I had a 10k gen, I could leave the hot water heater breaker.

I am currently looking for a used 10k genny at the local pawn shops. My hopes is it sat with fuel in the carb and I can get one dirt cheap because it wont start.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Since I use a portable genny and do not have an automatic switch gear, here is what I do

I have a 50 amp outlet for my welder. I use the same outlet to connect my generator to. I kill the main breaker, kill the water heater breaker, kill the pool breaker and use a 6600 watt (8k starting) genset for when power is out. if I had a 10k gen, I could leave the hot water heater breaker.

I am currently looking for a used 10k genny at the local pawn shops. My hopes is it sat with fuel in the carb and I can get one dirt cheap because it wont start.

Yeah that is what I do too....BUT that is not the smartest way to do it. It is not fail safe, trip the main and you could fry a lineman. When I was younger I was not worried about it but now I am afraid that I might slip up and accidentally throw the main. This forum has got me thinking....I will be ordering a double pole/double throw switch and do it the safe way.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

You might also consider a natural gas powered generator, if you have NG available. You could manage without utility power indefinitely.
- Grandad

This is what my parents have. They travel a lot and don't have to worry about anything back at the house.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Grandad still has parents!?

By the way, important subject, thanks for the info!

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Since I use a portable genny and do not have an automatic switch gear, here is what I do

I have a 50 amp outlet for my welder. I use the same outlet to connect my generator to. I kill the main breaker, kill the water heater breaker, kill the pool breaker and use a 6600 watt (8k starting) genset for when power is out. if I had a 10k gen, I could leave the hot water heater breaker.
I am currently looking for a used 10k genny at the local pawn shops. My hopes is it sat with fuel in the carb and I can get one dirt cheap because it wont start.

Here you go. Lots of generators:
White Owl - Generators

 

[pnwboat]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

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Default Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Since I use a portable genny and do not have an automatic switch gear, here is what I do

I have a 50 amp outlet for my welder. I use the same outlet to connect my generator to. I kill the main breaker, kill the water heater breaker, kill the pool breaker and use a 6600 watt (8k starting) genset for when power is out. if I had a 10k gen, I could leave the hot water heater breaker.

I am currently looking for a used 10k genny at the local pawn shops. My hopes is it sat with fuel in the carb and I can get one dirt cheap because it wont start.

My parents had a similar set up but it ran off of propane gas.

 

[wrench 3]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

I figured that we only need emergency power so I ran two lines into the house and put one outlet by the well pump and one by the fridge. If the power goes out I change the plugs from there regular receptacle to the ones hooked to the generator. Our back up heat is wood, so we can get by without the heaters, and any thing else (electric kettle, microwave, etc.) can be plugged into the spare half of one of the duplex receptacles from the generator.

 

[joed]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Since I use a portable genny and do not have an automatic switch gear, here is what I do

I have a 50 amp outlet for my welder. I use the same outlet to connect my generator to. I kill the main breaker, kill the water heater breaker, kill the pool breaker and use a 6600 watt (8k starting) genset for when power is out. if I had a 10k gen, I could leave the hot water heater breaker.

I am currently looking for a used 10k genny at the local pawn shops. My hopes is it sat with fuel in the carb and I can get one dirt cheap because it wont start.

That is totally not to code. Along with the fact that most welders don't have a neutral. You must have a system that is fail safe. It has to be impossible for the generator and the main breaker to be on at the same time. There are interlock kits available for breaker panels that make it impossible for the generator breaker to be on unless the main breaker is off.

Also the fact that you need a suicide cord (cord with two male ends)to connect the generator is dangerous. If you unplug either end with the power on you have live prongs sticking out.
Here is a picture of one model.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Im not sure if I will get blasted for this or not but I have my 2200w generator. I made an extension cord that is male on both ends. I plug it in to the outlet on the side of my house. Before I do this I turn off all of the breakers under my meter. My Fridge, stove, water heater and heat pump will not work just one side of the subpannel in my house which is enough for the bathroom, living room and bedroom.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

You should expect to pay 100 to 120/hr for a good electrician. Everything after that is parts. And nobody is going to know whats needed until they sketch out the installation.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Im not sure if I will get blasted for this or not but I have my 2200w generator. I made an extension cord that is male on both ends. I plug it in to the outlet on the side of my house. Before I do this I turn off all of the breakers under my meter. My Fridge, stove, water heater and heat pump will not work just one side of the subpannel in my house which is enough for the bathroom, living room and bedroom.

I think there are a bunch of us that are guilty of this. Now that I am retired and bored half the time I may put a DPDT transfer disconnect on mine. They are fairly inexpensive.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

I think there are a bunch of us that are guilty of this. Now that I am retired and bored half the time I may put a DPDT transfer disconnect on mine. They are fairly inexpensive.

I live in a "historic" part of town with old trees and above ground power. We will loose power once a year for at least 24 hours and several times a year for 3+ hours. Its nice having electricity.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: Buying a generator for house.What should I expect to pay an electrican?

Im not sure if I will get blasted for this or not but I have my 2200w generator. I made an extension cord that is male on both ends. I plug it in to the outlet on the side of my house. Before I do this I turn off all of the breakers under my meter. My Fridge, stove, water heater and heat pump will not work just one side of the subpannel in my house which is enough for the bathroom, living room and bedroom.

You could have a serious problem if your back feeding 20amps (2200w) thru a 15 amp breaker/14 gauge wire in the house. Yea the breaker should protect the wire, but the breaker is not designed to protect when it's being feed from the wrong side. It's to protect the wire down line (beyond the breaker, not up the line, power coming in. The 20-25 amp breaker on the gen is for that, and your house wire/receptacle may not be sized right. :mad2: :flame:

Just so we all know. Back feeding is very dangerous and illegal. If it does get out of you house, older transformers do work both ways. 220 in the low end will come out the top at the higher voltage and will go right on down the line to the poor lineman. :facepalm:

rant over
huts