power generator to run house?

a transfer switch is the only way to go. reliance has a kit with 4 circuits for about $ 300.00 at home depot. it has everything you need to connect your generator to your panel box and even has the outdoor receptacle and the generator power cord. it looks like a mini panel box. it also comes with a dvd and a toll free number. you will have to buy the wire that connects the transfer switch to the outdoor receptacle. it's not very expensive unless you have to go some distance to reach an exterior wall. if you are comfortable inside your panel box you can do this yourself. watch the dvd and decide. even if you choose to hire an electrician it won't cost that much. it's pretty easy and the wires in the transfer switch are well marked. when installed it's a foolproof totally safe way to run your home or at least some of it using your generator. the first thing you need to do is take some time and find out everything that is run by each breaker in your panel box. then you will know what circuits you want your generator to run and if it can handle it. make yourself a diagram for each room on each floor. it's worth doing. takes a couple of hours with 2 people with cell phones or walkie talkies. good luck

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Not safe, there is no breaker protecting your home from your power source because the dryer breaker is behind the dryer power outlet, not between it and your home wiring, also your probably sending 110 single phase into a 220 double phase circuit. This could be a fire hazard. On my home, I installed a master switch that isolates my system from the grid, Then I installed a 220 plug and tapped it into the two phase contact points on my meter pole. I pug a 10,000 watt engine welder into that. When the power goes out it is enough to carry the lights in my home, but not enough to run my electric furnace or A/C. I know its expensive, but hire an electrician. If you start a fire and it is determine that the cause was your generator set up your insurance carrier may not pay a claim.

Generac markets a 15.000 watt 240 volt generator that will start automatically if you have a power failure and shut the generator down when the power comes back on....Its not hard to hook up but I would suggest an electrician if you don't know about these things..

Doing what you want to do with a 10.000 watt 240 volt generator isn't complicated if yiou have a main breaker in your breaker panel....You could use 1 pc. of #8-4 conductor s/o cord and a "Generator" plug from Lowes

absolutely, there are a few options all of which require an electrician. with either option they will put a generator hook-up on the outside of your house and it just looks like a giant plug. on the inside is where the options come into play. depending on your panel they can put in an "interlock" which is a simple bar that goes in so when you flip on the breaker for the generator the main breaker is not able to be turned on. the other option is a transfer switch, which does the same function, but it is for panels where the interlock will not work. either route you go, you need an electrician to come wire it in. the other thing to keep in mind is... when using a portable generator, you will not be able to power every circuit you have. you will have to decide what is most important to you. ie. fridge, general lighting, and a few other circuits. depending on how big of a blower your furnace has you might be able to power that as well.

Menards Generac Generators

The generator must be installed professionally with a transfer switch. This disconnects the power company lines while connecting the generator power. Failing to do this can kill the lineman working outside your home. That most likely will result in your going to prison. I use a 24000 watt generator for my home. I installed two electrical panels, one which is powered by the transfer switch, contains only the circuits I wish to power with the generator.

Well now for the short, easy to understand answer. Call an electrician, they can install a junction box that will let you do exactly what you want to and to do it safely. Anything else like running through some 220v outlet is risking electrocution because the current can back feed through the fuse box onto the power lines outside your home. The guys trying to repair the electrical outage have no way to know that you are setting them up to be electrocuted.

first of all , I know your not stupid but remember that your portable generator gives of Carbon monoxide so don't run it in the garage or basement . secondly , it is important to remember that AC house current flows at 60cycles per second . this is the electric wave you would see on an oscilliscope. then your generator is also AC ( alternating current ) at 60 cycles per second and where the problem comes in is if you run a 220 plug from your generator into where your dryer plugs in via a specially made cord ,, it will back feed into your fuse block in the house thus feeding all of the circuits in the house allthough I don't recommend overloading your generator . you would have to have the main power buss supplying the house turned off before you would plug your generator in and during operation . the reason is criticle . if your power go's out and you hook your generator up and run it ,, if you don't turn the main buss bar off and the electricity go's back on it is likely the the 60 cycles from the house current and the 60 cycles from the generator will not faze at the exact time thus causing problems you do not want ( very bad ).... in generators that are designed to kick on when the power go's out like a GENERAC . these units have a faze syncronizer to syncronize the 60 cycles per second fazing between the two electrical currents . also . make sure that the cord is ample enough to carry the load and as for air conditioners . a small window unit may work better as a central air may draw more amps than what your generator is designed to handle . check the Amp rating on your generator

just make sure th Electric is shut off at your meter, just in case the power does get back on,, cant run generator and power from the plant at the same time ,, -meltdown baby !!