Manual transfer switch question for portable generator

[Old Bear]

Has anyone tried one of these manual transfer switches? https://www.homedepot.com/p/EZ-Connect-Manual-Transfer-Switch-with-30-Amp-Inlet-for-Generator-Connection-EZC-R-30/306640618
My house is on an oldfarm with my meter out on the security light pole. From there I have one linegoing to my well, one line going to my garage and one line going to my mainpanel in the house. The main panel is a slit bus panel with four 50 ampbreakers on one side and several secondary breakers on the other. This wholemess makes it difficult to use a multi circuit transfer switch. One of thesesingle circuit switches would work perfect if they are durable and safe. Opinionsare welcome.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Are you sure it feeds your well directly from the pole? If so is there a fuse/breaker between the meter and the pump?

It looks to be designed to be installed next to the breaker box, inside. I'd contact the company to make sure it is outdoor rated.

You will also want to probably rig up a pilot light on the utility side of the switch. Somebody on the product page asked about a power light. (which it doesnt have) It would be handy to have a pilot light on it so you could tell when utility power is restored.

 

[Old Bear]

Yes, there is a breaker box between the meter and the well. This one is listed as an outdoor rated switch.

I like the idea of a light to show when line power is available.

 

[GIJEW]

It sounds like your main service is at the pole (up to 6 disconnects allowed, feeding tail panels--barn, house, etc). Unless you plan on having 2 generators, you'll need to get the well connected to house panel feeders. Look up "tap rule" in the Nat'l Electric Code for details, but the if the wires tapped off a "feeder"--say, the lines running to your house--are at least 1/3 the size of those you're tapping onto and within 15' IIRC, you can run them to a fused disconnect to feed a separate load. Unless you're installing a "whole house" generator, you'll have to turn off non-essential circuits of course but it's all manual anyway

 

[rvb]

I put double pole / double throw switches on individual circuits. 6 switches and box cost maybe 3% of that .....

-rvb

 

[spencer rifle]

I put double pole / double throw switches on individual circuits. 6 switches and box cost maybe 3% of that .....

-rvb

Could we get more details on how to do this?

 

[Old Bear]

Could we get more details on how to do this?

Yes...please share. I want be as frugal as possible, but still safe.

 

[Vigilant]

Don’t know about your posted switch, but my FiL has a transfer switch on his house, his genny is a portable wholeish house, it’s big. No idea what it encompasses, but he’s the Electrical Engineer, not me. All I know is, in a power outage, he drags over the genny, plugs it in, hits the transfer, and we resume normal operation?

 

[Old Bear]

My generator is rated at 8500w start up and 5500w continuous. I need to run my deep well, 2 furnaces (1 boiler and 1 forced air) a chest freezer, a refrigerator and a couple of 110 circuits for the computer and cell phone chargers. I wont be able to do all of this at once with 5500w but I don't need to. The way my split bus panel is wired, I need to be able to turn my circuits off/on in the house as needed. A single circuit, whole house (30 amp gen feed/200 amp line feed) transfer switch seems to check all the boxes for me.

 

[churchmouse]

My generator is rated at 8500w start up and 5500w continuous. I need to run my deep well, 2 furnaces (1 boiler and 1 forced air) a chest freezer, a refrigerator and a couple of 110 circuits for the computer and cell phone chargers. I wont be able to do all of this at once with 5500w but I don't need to. The way my split bus panel is wired, I need to be able to turn my circuits off/on in the house as needed. A single circuit, whole house (30 amp gen feed/200 amp line feed) transfer switch seems to check all the boxes for me.

Man you are seriously pushing that genny if all of those appliances try and start at the same time. Time sharing. Thats the key.

 

[Old Bear]

Man you are seriously pushing that genny if all of those appliances try and start at the same time. Time sharing. Thats the key.

Yes, but I can shut down the main circuits in my split bus panel to only run what I want as needed. Hopefully the generator will only run for short periods at a time.

In the dead of winter, I can run one furnace at a time (and nothing else) to warm the house up enough to prevent freezing pipes. Then shut down the furnaces. I have a couple of kerosene heaters and a wood burning fireplace to prevent freezing the humans. In the summer, my concerns will be with the freezer and refrigerator.

I can run the well (and nothing else) to take showers, do dishes, fill up the bath tube and some 5 gal buckets for the toilets. Then shut the well back off.

We have several heirloom oil lamps which provide more than enough light if needed. However these things are not made to be used in a modern, well insulated house, for long periods at a time. They will set off the carbon monoxide detectors after an hour or so. We also have dozens of small LED lights scattered throughout the house. most of which are solar rechargeable. Plus lanterns, flashlights and enough candles to burn down the rain forest.

I figure that I can get by pretty good for a couple of weeks (at most) without power. After that I'll be out of food anyway (we keep enough bottled water and food on hand for two people to get by for two weeks) so not having electricity will be of lower priority.

We are just starting this mindset of preparing for a "what if" scenario.Starting out, we are not too concerned with "end of the world zombie apocalypse" survival. I am concerned about immediate threats like, ice and wind taking out our power for days at a time (it has happened plenty of times before), tornadoes (have watched several really cool looking ones go by the house the last few years), home invasion (several hundred new "undocumented" residents have moved into the area lately and B&E is on the rise) and fire (a whole different type of prepping). Getting the generator wired up correctly is the first small step in out short game. Next step will be some kind of long term set up like wind and/or solar. But hey....got to start somewhere.

Thanks to everyone who has chimed in here. I have learned many great things on INGO

 

[rvb]

I put double pole / double throw switches on individual circuits. 6 switches and box cost maybe 3% of that .....

-rvb

first, I may have misspoke about the switch type. I always remember this wrong for some reason (because it selects between two circuits doesn't make it double-pole). These are single-pole, double-throw switches I am using.

reading the OP's post closer, this maybe wouldn't be applicable so easily to his situation of well pump coming off the pole, etc...

but here is how I connect my generator for those interested...

I put a 220 plug in the garage, and just connect my generator to that plug w/ a 220 'dead mans' cord (always hook up cable before turning on generator's breakers, plugging in to the house first and generator second, just in case).

I ran that 220 line down to my breaker box. Tied the neutral in. The 2 hot lines extend out to a box where I installed 6 single pole / double throw switches, 3 per phase (nothing magic about 6, just fit my needs). I then bring the hot lines of the 6 circuits I want on generator (heat, sump pump, fridge, modem/wifi/TV, living room, kitchen) from the breakers in the main box down to the other input of the switches. The single side of the switches goes back into the main breaker box and ties into the hot line of those 6 circuits. So I've basically cut the hot line that comes out of the main panel's breakers and inserted a switch that lets it get fed off of generator.

The single pole, double throw switches are "break before make" switches. So never is it possible for the generator to back-feed into the rest of the circuits or the main line into the house. So in my installation, switches in down position is from the main breaker / utility, middle is off, up is from the generator. I can have utility power and generator power going at the same time on different circuits and not hurt anything. If I'm worried about overloading the generator, I can shut individual circuits off (for instance, if I don't want to run fridge and freezer at the same time... only need to run freezer a couple hours per day, really).

My son was born premature in August of '08. He spent months after he came home on oxygen and heart/breathing monitors. We had some o2 tanks, and the monitors had a few hours of battery backup, but we thought the generator a wise investment. Of course, we lost power during most of the day during the ice storms at the end of '08, so we were able to keep his equipment going w/o having to take him to a hospital or some other shelter with power. Paid for itself that day, IMO. Used it several times since, but only for a couple hours at a time...

-rvb

 

[churchmouse]

Lots of solid ideas in this thread.

My plan for a more permanent/easy hook up is drawn up. I now have to implement it.

We recently installed a camera security system that is tied into my daughters system next door. The power requirements are very low so we have battery backups for both systems. Not sure how long the battery's will power them if the grid fails. I am looking into increasing the battery's for both.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

first, I may have misspoke about the switch type. I always remember this wrong for some reason (because it selects between two circuits doesn't make it double-pole). These are single-pole, double-throw switches I am using.

reading the OP's post closer, this maybe wouldn't be applicable so easily to his situation of well pump coming off the pole, etc...

but here is how I connect my generator for those interested...

I put a 220 plug in the garage, and just connect my generator to that plug w/ a 220 'dead mans' cord (always hook up cable before turning on generator's breakers, plugging in to the house first and generator second, just in case).

I ran that 220 line down to my breaker box. Tied the neutral in. The 2 hot lines extend out to a box where I installed 6 single pole / double throw switches, 3 per phase (nothing magic about 6, just fit my needs). I then bring the hot lines of the 6 circuits I want on generator (heat, sump pump, fridge, modem/wifi/TV, living room, kitchen) from the breakers in the main box down to the other input of the switches. The single side of the switches goes back into the main breaker box and ties into the hot line of those 6 circuits. So I've basically cut the hot line that comes out of the main panel's breakers and inserted a switch that lets it get fed off of generator.

The single pole, double throw switches are "break before make" switches. So never is it possible for the generator to back-feed into the rest of the circuits or the main line into the house. So in my installation, switches in down position is from the main breaker / utility, middle is off, up is from the generator. I can have utility power and generator power going at the same time on different circuits and not hurt anything. If I'm worried about overloading the generator, I can shut individual circuits off (for instance, if I don't want to run fridge and freezer at the same time... only need to run freezer a couple hours per day, really).

My son was born premature in August of '08. He spent months after he came home on oxygen and heart/breathing monitors. We had some o2 tanks, and the monitors had a few hours of battery backup, but we thought the generator a wise investment. Of course, we lost power during most of the day during the ice storms at the end of '08, so we were able to keep his equipment going w/o having to take him to a hospital or some other shelter with power. Paid for itself that day, IMO. Used it several times since, but only for a couple hours at a time...

-rvb

Good idea on using the SPDT 'switches' for the critical power items. We currently have a 6500/8000 genny and only use it for critical power items, lp furnace (blower), freezer, fridge, water heater, tv, router (on ups for filtering. Being 'careful' we can manage the loads. I'm not dropping $3-500 to accomplish what we can do with some spdt heavy duty switches.

The long term goal is a lp fired standby 20-30k with auto disconnect.

For bigger needs we still have the old 'big red' Winpower 25k PTO driven farm generator but that requires pulling out the tractor.

 

[churchmouse]

Good idea on using the SPDT 'switches' for the critical power items. We currently have a 6500/8000 genny and only use it for critical power items, lp furnace (blower), freezer, fridge, water heater, tv, router (on ups for filtering. Being 'careful' we can manage the loads. I'm not dropping $3-500 to accomplish what we can do with some spdt heavy duty switches.

The long term goal is a lp fired standby 20-30k with auto disconnect.

For bigger needs we still have the old 'big red' Winpower 25k PTO driven farm generator but that requires pulling out the tractor.

But you have a tractor so win win.

I have revised the drawings on what we are tying to accomplish. There is a new 200 amp panel setting at the ready to be installed next door at the daughters house. There will be a 30A 2 pole with a dryer plug at the base of the panel. Genny will tap in there. Main off, 30A engaged and the panel is hot but will not back feed. Critical circuits marked in red. s you said, we can manage the power.

Will have to be done a bit differently at my house. Panel is full. I have several dedicated circuits.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Before we had the 6500/8000 pull start, Big Red was it. I've pull it out of the barn in the middle of the night a few times. We can handle brief outages but with a finished basement and if its raining hard we have to have the sump pump on the ready. Also looking at battery backup sump pumps in case no one is home. Or spend the $$$ and go lp fired auto standby.

 

[churchmouse]

Before we had the 6500/8000 pull start, Big Red was it. I've pull it out of the barn in the middle of the night a few times. We can handle brief outages but with a finished basement and if its raining hard we have to have the sump pump on the ready. Also looking at battery backup sump pumps in case no one is home. Or spend the $$$ and go lp fired auto standby.

Living on a slab has a few advantages and many dis-advantages. Yeah we are on a slab. No sump issues.
We have battery back ups on the security cameras. Not sure how many hours they will maintain. Might have to run the scenario to be sure.
2 Refrigerators and a tub freezer. Furnace blower to circulate the heat from the wood stove. Summer we would just tough it out or run the small A/C in the back of the house in the addition.

All of this would have to be managed.