SmartHomeUSA.com Home Automation

[palatiger]

Does anyone have good links to suggest that would tutor me on how to select an appropriate electrical generator for my home, and how to correctly wire it into a subpanel so that certain circuits can be switched over to the generator when the power goes out? I would imagine that auto-switching onto it upon a power failure would be costly, so I might just want to know how to wire it such that a subpanel could be set up to be manually racked-out, and then the generator feed racked-in (also manually) once it has been isolated from the local utility.

(We are currently without power at home, so this is a timely topic for me!)

[buckyswider]

Hi, well I hope your power is back by now :lol: . Wish I had see this sooner.

I use a Siemens Standby Power load center as my sub-panel. It has an interlocking dual main breaker which allows only one feed (main panel or generator) to be on at a given time.

I wired a 100A breaker into my main panel, and connected this to the 100A breaker on the sub. I then wired crucial circuits in my house through this sub (it allows 12 single-breaker circuits). The generator then hooks to the 60A side of the main feed on the sub.

I have model G1224B10060GC. Don't let the list price on the brochure scare you- I believe I paid about $200 for mine. You can read all about it here: http://www.sea.siemens.com/speedfax05/05%20Speedfax/05Speedfax_01/01_12.pdf

Also, do your homework when wiring up the sub. You must isoloate the ground and neutrals- meaning all neutrals go do the same neutral/grounding strip on one side of the panel, and all the ground wires go to the other side. The bonding bar (which connects both grounding strips) also must be removed to isolate the grounds and neutrals.

As a disclaimer, I'm not an electrician. If you're not 100% sure of what I said or what you're doing, consult a qualified electrician.

Hope this helps.

[Ralph]

Thanks Buckyswider, thats some excellent information.