Image: Grok
Do you know how to connect a generator to a house?
Craig Lawrence has shared his experience with providing a whole-house solution for outages using a portable generator. Here is a link to the first X post in his thread. Craig explains his plan and his commenters add their own stories.
Naming the exact pieces of equipment is not an endorsement by me or by Craig Lawrence. I present them as a real-world option with pricing available.
For project developers I will jump to the finances and put in a little extra for budgeting.
First cost
Generator $1100
50A cord $100
Electrical work $1200
LP tank $100
Total $2500
Operating cost
About one dollar per hour for propane fuel
Maintenance for the generator, probably similar to that for a gasoline lawnmower
Hardware
Here is the key to disconnecting your house from the utility power, and connecting to the generator. It is a manual lockout in the circuit breaker box and a generator inlet box. The idea is that you need to add a cord to your house so you can plug it into the generator’s outlets. The electrical power goes from the generator to the inlet box, and then into the circuit breaker box by backfeeding through its circuit breaker on the right side of the photo. Normally the utility power comes into the circuit breaker box through the main breaker shown at the top of the photo.
Never allow both sources, utility and generator, to be connected to your house at the same time.
Installing this equipment must be done by a licensed electrician. This is not a DIY project.
Then you need to have a cord that connects to the house and plugs in to the generator.
This is the one Craig is currently using. You can see the prongs on the end to the left in the picture. That end plugs in to the generator. The other end attaches to the generator inlet box.
Then you need a generator. Craig chose this one for use with LP gas.
Here is a close up of the outlet to use.
Here is more detail on the control panel. The outlet to use is the one labeled “120/240V AC 50A 14-50R.”
Here is a close up of the fuel tank connection. For this generator model the propane hose is included, but the tank is not.
The fuel tanks Craig mentions are commonly available in Texas for use with propane grills. Here is an example.
Read and follow the safety procedures for all pieces of equipment. Expect to use Personal Protective Equipment. Going beyond the manufacturer’s recommendation is prudent.