re: Generator Question

Great news. I spent way too much on a fancy generator with a fancy controller so you don’t have to:


10 tons (3 units) of AC, a fridge/freezer, mini fridge, standup fridge, stand up freezer, all the lights, TVs running was an 11.5kW load in my house (this was an August afternoon, so all 3 units were blowing and going).


Then I turned on the washing machine, dryer, microwave, two wall ovens. I got it up to 23.2kW with that.


You should be fine on that. If you plan on powering your house for 2 weeks, you may run into some problems if you never shut it down. But for a couple days, probably no real problem. Make sure to keep an oil change or two on hand if you’re going this far into disaster planning, or your “short term” solution will be much shorter than it otherwise could be.


Also, you say window unit. If this isn’t permanently installed and something you don’t already have, make sure you realize there are standup portable units with window exhaust that are a lot easier to install/remove than a traditional window unit (usually on wheels and on a floor with a thin PVC panel with exhaust hose rather than trying to mount a full unit. No, it’s not that heavy or hard to do, and it’s not worth replacing something you’ve got. But if you’ve got a helpless wife and babies, it’s way easier to do alone)




I’m jealous of your tri-fuel. I wanted to go that route again and tie in the 3 breakers with my fridges and a 2.5T unit that runs just my bedroom, bathroom, and nursery. I lost the vote 1-1.

Thank you all for your help. I did realize one thing when I had a neighbor show me how we wired his up. The outside panel that entergy feeds to me comes to three breakers: Inside Panel, HVAC Condenser, and Range. My inside panel does not have a main either. So there is no main breaker at my house, therefore I have no way to run my AC with my generator. Unless someone with electrical experience might have some other thoughts

Panel for reference

yeah he doesn't have a main breaker to isolate the entire house from the meter, generlink is the easiest and cheapest solution here without installing a whole new outdoor panel and moving the existing circuits

Agreed with others. You need what’s called a manual transfer switch and may need a sub panel. Since those breakers are integrated into the meter pan you won’t be able to fully isolate it from the incoming utility.

Maybe the Generlink solves these issues but if you have a main-lug-only (MLO) panel downstream from that meter, it’s gonna be tricky to feed those 240V loads properly without running the risk of back feeding the grid.

And as to the soft start, I have 2 3-ton units with MicroAir soft starters that have been installed for almost 3 years. One of them is hooked up to an old 2003 R22 compressor and has about 20,000 starts on it. I’ve been amazed at how much quieter the units are after installing the MicroAir. It doesn’t even make sense since the starter pulls out of the circuit once the compressor is fully up to speed but for some reason the compressor is quieter running. Had the same experience when I assisted a coworker installing his - one of his units used to be load as hell and now just barely hums. I can’t recommend those soft starters enough.

Following as well as I have this exact generator and looking to tap into my 1/2” natural gas supply pipe. 2 Questions:

1. Is there a recommended natural gas shutoff valve brand and material (e.g. brass) to use outdoors? I don’t mind paying for something that will last.

2. I will want to install a shutoff with 2 different connection types -1 for generator (which requires a 1/2” flare connection) or a BBQ pit which requires 1/2” pipe not flared. Any recs?

There is a Facebook page on Generators to power the home. It was started by a guy that's a member of this board.

if you are in BR go to goodwood hardware tell them what you are trying to do and they’ll have everything you need

brass is fine outdoors

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My generator has a 30 amp plug. I installed the soft start and my in rush is about 29. What limitations will I have, and should I upgrade to a generator with a 50 Amp plug?

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If you want to run that AC you will need to upgrade.

Would it work if there’s no load on the generator and the first thing he does is start the AC? I realize there’s a little draw with the air handler but that’s pretty minimal.
After AC start up, amp draw would be much lower. You could then turn on more things. He might need to keep the AC running so it doesnt get satisfied and kick off and need to start up again. If so would have to repeat the original process.
Not saying this would work. Just curious if this might be a solution if he can’t return his generator.

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make sure you realize there are standup portable units with window exhaust that are a lot easier to install/remove than a traditional window unit

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The issue with these is the exhaust out of the window. If you're pumping air out, you have to be pumping air in somewhere to replace it which means you are drawing in hot, humid air. If you aren't running central a/c, a window unit is the way to go. A small 5,000 btu in a bedroom is very easily to install solo.