6000 watt generator

[John Grossi]

Hi guys, Wifes been strongly suggesting getting a decent generator to hook our sump pump, fridge, a radio and a few lights to during a power outage. The unit I got is a 5000 continuous, 42 amps at 120v. It has 2, 120v outlets (ac120v20a), 1 120v twist lock outlet (ac120v21a), and another twist outlet (ac240v21a). It also has 1 12v dc at 8.3. At this point, I want to bypass my electrical box. I would like to run extention cords from the unit to inside the house.
I will not run any 240 lines to it. Any ideas on how I can best use the outlets on this generator? My kitchen is less then 50 ft. from where the generator will be sitting. A run of 100 to 150 ft would be needed to get to our sump pump and a freezer. thanks

[Joe Pelonio]

I do that with my 6000 watt Generac, though the longest run is about 75'. I run the heaviest gauge extension cord I can find, made for commercial use on power tools. When I get into the house I have a heavy gauge "Y" splitter that
allows me to run the fridge or freezer, which I change over every couple of hours, as well as some lights and chargers on a power strip.

On another 120 I run a shorter, smaller gauge to the furnace to run the fan (gas). Check a few times to make sure the cords are not getting hot, but the generator should have good overload protection. The only thing I ever had trouble with was the 1200 watt microwave, so I don't run it and the fridge at the same time.

[Charlie Reals]

+1 to Joe's take on it, I do the same for years with a 5000 generac. This is the last year for that noise polluter lol. I am getting a propane fired 20k whole house and going with a transfer switch. About $5000 installed. Piece of mind when the lights go out for days.
jm2c

[Jim Becker]

I am getting a propane fired 20k whole house and going with a transfer switch. About $5000 installed. Piece of mind when the lights go out for days.

It is my intention to go whole-house, too, as soon as I can fund it, although mine will be natural gas powered.

[Joe Pelonio]

I'm knocking on wood while typing one-handed, but have not had to use mine the last two years, despite a few nasty windstorms and needing it 2-3 times a year before that.

[Eddie Watkins]

I have generator that is 7800kwh. I had an electrician wire a plug directly into the electric panel. He also made a 35 ft extension so I can get the generator away from the house while it is running. The wiring and cord all cost around $400. I do have to turn off the master switch before turning it on. The only cord I have to run is a a 220 from the generator to a plug on the outside of my house by the panel. It will keep everything going except the air conditioning and I do have to be careful to keep lights and restricting us to only one TV while I am using it. So far, I ran it 4 days without any negative results last May when a tornado came though and 1 day after Chrstmas in 2009 after a big snow knocked out all our electricity. I was running two refrigerators, a freezer, a 11/2hp well pump and two heater fans. I could also dry clothes if I shut everything else off. I was having to put 5 gallons of gas in it about every 12 hours. I am thinking seriously about going to a natural gas system with its on panel that would be permanently connected.

[Mike Cutler]

John

The way you're going about is maybe not the easiest way, cheaper possibly but not easier.
The more appropiate way to do it would be to to have a manual, or automatic disconnect between the main panel and the service connection. The generator is wired to backfeed the entire panel, but can only backfeed when power is disconnected from the street.
Another way is to sub-panel out the intended loads and backfeed that panel with a manual disconnect.
During power outages many folks with portable generators forget to completely disconnect from the street. When power is restored, the small portables get "Thumped".

No matter which way you decide to go. Put in the disconnect. Make sure you are disconnected from the street.

[Paul Ryan]

I just wired in a power transfer switch for a 6kw generator last summer. The generator I have will run the old part of my house with out a problem. I added a large addition to the house 4 years ago and put in a 200amp panel in the basment of the new addition so the panel in the old part of the house is now a 100amp sub panel. It was really simple to wiring in the transfer switch between the 2 panels. When the power goes out I just plug the generator into the outlet on the house flip the PT breaker and I can run the fridge, freezer, well pump, 2 tv's and sat boxes, and all the lights and fans needed. I suggest buying a power transfer switch and installing that it is just like a sub panel to your main panel. Then you wont need to run all of the extension cords into the house and it is safer too. It is not hard wiring in the PT swithc.

[David G Baker]

I have a very quiet Honda 65K generator that is semi-portable (very heavy). Something dawned on me the other day, I am using gas to power it and I am paying gas tax on the fuel that I am using. If I have to set up another generator I may go with the fixed natural gas unit. I have heard that natural gas units consume large quantities of fuel and if they are used for any length of time it costs a bundle for the fuel. I do not have this information from a trusted source so before I would go that route I will do a lot of research. At least with natural gas I won't be paying road tax for the fuel. I am very happy with my Honda unit, it is an inverter system so it puts out clean power so I feel safe powering my electronic equipment. I don't use it as a whole house unit but it powers everything I need. I have to switch it over to my system manually.

[Myk Rian]

Want to or not, going whole house with the 240 is really the way you want to go.

Otherwise, you could make 2 heavy duty extension cords with male plugs on both ends.
Find 2, 20 amp outlets, on opposite sides of the 240 breaker box lines, and plug into those.

Some may try to nail me on this, but it works.

As far as electronic equipment being used with a generator, get a 1000va battery backup unit to plug the stuff into.

[Bill Leonard]

When we built our new home three years ago, I had a 12kw whole house plumbed with an automatic relay. LP gas fired. Within two days of moving in we had it running for about three hours due to a power failure. So far in about three years we have a little over 40 hours on it. It cost a little over a grand to purchase and install, and well worth it. The only way we now know a power failure has occured is a light flicker and the Micro Wave clock is off. Otherwise power glitches are totally transparent.

[Jason Roehl]

Want to or not, going whole house with the 240 is really the way you want to go.

Otherwise, you could make 2 heavy duty extension cords with male plugs on both ends.
Find 2, 20 amp outlets, on opposite sides of the 240 breaker box lines, and plug into those.

Some may try to nail me on this, but it works.

People should nail you on this, because it's extremely dangerous. There's a reason that all extension cords and receptacles are female on the business end. Don't do it.

[Scott T Smith]

John, I have several generators here on the farm, including a standby unit for the house and barns, and I would recommend that you consider Paul and Mike Cutler's advice. Something to think about is what happens if the power goes out and you're not available to pull out the fridge, hook up all of those extension cords, etc? Trust me, you're wife won't be happy (I speak from experience.....) You also need to worry about voltage losses through those long extension cords, and if it's raining outside when the power goes out you'll be out working in nasty weather trying to get the generator up and running.

If you can either put in a manual transfer switch, or better yet move your critical circuits over to a sub-panel that is fed by an automatic transfer switch, you'd have the most efficient system. You can often find good deals on used equipment on e-bay too.

What I'd recommend is that you put in a transfer switch (either manual or automatic), and store the generator as close as possible to where you will plug it in (if you can't hard-wire it in advance). Set up a trickle charger on the generator, and type up a set of instructions for wife, kids, neighbors, etc to follow if you're not around when the power goes out.

In my instance, I have a propane operated older Onan 5500 watt generator installed in it's own shelter (on the outside of one of our garage), hardwired to an automatic transfer switch (ATS) located inside the garage. The critical circuits on the hosue circuit (electric fences, well, fridge, freezer, microwave, TV, furnace blower, bathroom lights/fans, etc) are all moved over to a sub-panel that is fed by the transfer switch. When the power goes out, the generator starts and everything transfers over automatically. I can get 3.5 days of run time from a 100 gallon propane tank, and the fuel never goes bad. The ATS also has a built-in battery charger, so the generator's battery is always ready, and the ATS also has an exercise mode to start and exercise the generator for 15 minutes once a week.

Just something to consider.