Ready To Wire The House

[Hullguy]

thanks, brother just asking to give people a reference

IBEW 34years. Local 300 vermont

Anytime Brother! I’m up to 38 years now. Retired for 18 months!

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[Briansk12]

Nationwide Generators shows they have the Generac 6852 in stock. This is what I put in and it works great.

 

[cool rod]

Thanks Brian! I'll call them today. ?

 

[Sentinel1201]

Thanks, that's a great answer. I thought that the doors had to be locked after the generator mode was selected, but that was a misinterpretation of the Ford How-To video that says the doors "can be locked". That's a reasonable idea if a person is going to leave the truck unattended and ready to steal.



So the process is simple: install a transfer switch that's designed to work with a bonded neutral to prevent GFI faults

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Generac-HomeLink-Upgradeable-30-Amp-Manual-Transfer-Switch/999908117

http://www.reliancecontrols.com/x-series-panel-link.aspx

plug in a suitable 30 amp cord

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0881CP1GT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2IHZFOHOQ0WG8&psc=1

Press the start button and go to the icon for Pro Power and select Generator mode. It doesn't matter whether the engine runs or not

Leave it all like that. Later if the utility power fails throw the switch on the transfer switch and your house should be back up. It could be a good idea to turn off all the circuit breakers before you change over to the generator power and then add them back in one by one.

The other way of doing it is to just run extension cords from the 120 outlets to individual appliances and lights/TV/Internet but that could be a chore.

Cheers

Can you please clarify if I need both the Generac 6852 as well as the Reliance XRC0303C or is it one of the two?

One other question. I have the Powerboost as well as a Honda EU7000. I am not sure if the Honda generator is neutral bonded? Ideally, I would like a setup where I can install the transfer switch and have it work with the truck or any other generator. Is that doable or is this setup that we are talking about in thread very specific to Powerboost only?

I just got a quote in Dallas area and the guy wanted me to buy the equipment and charge me $2000 labor. Yeah, going to get a different quote or two.

 

[Hullguy]

The Generac and Reliance are the same thing.

 

[cool rod]

The Generac and Reliance are the same thing.

Well they do the same thing but they're not the same thing. Two competing companies, but their transfer switches will work with bonded neutral generators and that's what is onboard the truck. You just choose one or the other.

The Generac spec sheet says "Compatible with any portable generator with GFCI protected outlets". People who have used it and posted here said that it worked perfectly without any additional equipment needed.

The Reliance sheet says "The X Series is perfect for use with generators having GFCI protected outlets, bonded neutral generators and installations requiring a separately-derived system. On GFI protected generators, the X Series will prevent a ground fault which will, in turn, prevent the circuit breakers on the generator from nuisance tripping."

As to your Honda generator I don't know. From what I've read, OSHA requires generators intended for jobsite work to have a bonded neutral so maybe. Look into the owners manual, it probably says there. I haven't gotten an installation quote yet, I hope it's not too high. I have time to get more quotes if it's more than $800 since I'm providing the equipment.

I'm not an electrician, just a guy who wants to prepare for a power failure like what's going on in Louisiana right now.

Cheers

 

[gpbst3]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Relianc...p-Manual-Transfer-Switch-Kit-310CRK/205793178

I installed the 6 circuit model but wish I would have done the 10.

Fairly easy to install. Not many tools needed. Majority of it is as simple as twisting a wire nut.

 

[hotrod_renegade]

I have an electrician coming out tomorrow to give me an estimate on a transfer switch for the house to work with my powerboost. Hoping I'll be able to have it set up so it will power all circuits in the house, then I can prioritize what I want running or have power everywhere in the house if I need it. Breaker box is in the garage so won't have to run wiring for a plug far at all. I'll report back with cost for parts and labor and if I decide to do it I'll probably make a video with it all set up.

 

[Sub-Moa]

I have an electrician coming out tomorrow to give me an estimate on a transfer switch for the house to work with my powerboost. Hoping I'll be able to have it set up so it will power all circuits in the house, then I can prioritize what I want running or have power everywhere in the house if I need it. Breaker box is in the garage so won't have to run wiring for a plug far at all. I'll report back with cost for parts and labor and if I decide to do it I'll probably make a video with it all set up.

Very interested to see what the price comes back at. This will be similar to what I will want to do when I get my truck.

 

[hotrod_renegade]

Very interested to see what the price comes back at. This will be similar to what I will want to do when I get my truck.

Well this first quote I got was around was around $2300 all said and done to have it hooked up to power the entire house. Going to get another quote from a different company and see what they come up with, that's a little more than I was expecting but I'm not an electrician either so ?‍.

 

[cool rod]

I got an estimate of $800-$900 depending on how much time it took. I already bought the Generac switch and that was about $383, the inlet box was $53 and a 30 Amp 50 ft extension cord was $112, so $548 for parts. I could have saved some money with a shorter cord. The electrician will be here in a few days and I'll know then exactly how much he'll charge and let you know.

 

[cool rod]

My electrician installed the Generac transfer switch yesterday. The final cost for the installation was $950 which included two duplex circuit breakers and a 50 amp double pole breaker, all of which he provided, plus the $550 or so for parts that I mentioned before. The job took about 4 hours all together, and his helper had to leave after a couple of hours so that slowed things down. So the total was about $1500 installed.

So now I can talk about it. First of all, our truck is amazing! The Generac comes with 8 circuits which can be expanded to ten which we will do with the duplex breakers this afternoon. But using just the standard eight we connected almost everything in my 2400 sq ft house and had hundreds of watts to spare. We have a gas dryer, stove, and water heater so they don't use as much electricity as electric appliances and that left a lot of watts available. Bear in mind that even though you connect to a lot of circuits they aren't all working at full capacity at the same time, most of what is connected is just sitting there. We didn't try to run my central air system, that's probably not going to work, but we did connect a Mitsubishi Mini-Split in the sunroom and that only drew 900 watts and will keep that large room cool. If we need to sleep there we can and during the day it will be a place we can hang out. We experimented with different circuit combinations and always had plenty of watts.

He mounted the panel on the wall, but in hindsight I think we could have done a flush mount and it would have looked better. There is a sub-panel next to the main circuit breaker panel and that meant he couldn't use the best space so he mounted the Generac panel below the main panel and came up through the bottom. The Generac is pre-wired and the wires are color coded and also numbered so even though there are a lot of them you can keep them straight. I would say they put a lot of thought into how to simplify the installation but even though YouTube videos suggest it could be a DIY job I wouldn't do it. Hire an electrician.

One bit of confusion after the install was complete was that the green light that indicates utility power didn't light up. We couldn't find anything wrong and re-read the instructions. That light only comes on when you're using generator power and then utility power is restored. So it's really just a visual alert that utility power is available and you can switch from the generator, it's not a light that stays on all the time. It's simple to make the change, just flip the control switch the other way.

I bought a 50 ft extension cord and then thought I'd bought one that was more than I needed. It turned out though that it was exactly long enough to reach my truck from the inlet box, if it was a little longer it would have been better. It's the right length but I wanted a little extra so I could park my truck in different spots depending on the situation. I could buy a short one and add it on but I don't think I'll bother. If you're shopping around for one measure first.

So all in all I'm very pleased. This adds an emergency feature to the truck that I might never need, but we've been through two hurricanes where the power was out for more than a week. With this and the 700 mile range of the truck we have a choice, ride it out or evacuate.

I got my transfer switch from Nationwide Generators, which was from a tip I got here (Thanks Briansk12 ). They were fast shippers and everything went smoothly.

Good luck.

 

[lacartus]

I like this Generac setup Cool Rod and others have installed. I had a cheaper interlock at my old house, which worked, but it meant I had to go down to the panel and shut-off breakers before flipping the interlock/generator (like shutting off one of the two HVAC units). The Generac is fail-safe if you just don't put more on the subpanel than PB can supply.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Q41H4H/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MK928VYXV6V6CG60JWPC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Atlee]

I like this Generac setup Cool Rod and others have installed. I had a cheaper interlock at my old house, which worked, but it meant I had to go down to the panel and shut-off breakers before flipping the interlock/generator (like shutting off one of the two HVAC units). The Generac is fail-safe if you just don't put more on the subpanel than PB can supply.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Q41H4H/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MK928VYXV6V6CG60JWPC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

With a subpanel, do you just connect certain key circuits from the full panel , making sure they do not total more than 7.2Kw?

 

[cool rod]

I like this Generac setup Cool Rod and others have installed. I had a cheaper interlock at my old house, which worked, but it meant I had to go down to the panel and shut-off breakers before flipping the interlock/generator (like shutting off one of the two HVAC units). The Generac is fail-safe if you just don't put more on the subpanel than PB can supply.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Q41H4H/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MK928VYXV6V6CG60JWPC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

With a subpanel, do you just connect certain key circuits from the full panel , making sure they do not total more than 7.2Kw?

Yes, that's right. My subpanel only powers an air conditioner in my garage so we didn't run any wires to it because it would use a circuit we could use inside the house.

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