Generator use at home

[Dan S]

When at home, Has anyone figured out a good way to run the extension cord that's plugged into the honda 2000 through the house without leaving a sliding glass door or window cracked to feed the cord into the house?

Once inside, I plug in a couple lamps and the tv.

Any creative pass-through ideas for the cord?

Thanks

[Goal15]

The immediate question would be why? If you wanted to do it on a regular basis i wonder if you couldnt make some kind of outlet connector outside and in that is not on the houses power grid?

[Dan S]

Why? Because if/when I lose power i dont want the heat escaping through the door or window.

Some sort of outlet solution with one inside and one outside and tied together, but not to the house wiring is what I was thinking.

[Goal15]

I guess the lamps and TV threw me, i guess my thoughts would go toward keepinv the refrigerator running. I wonder of there would be any code issues if its not actually a "live" outlet?

[aftermath]

I have given some thought to the possibility of doing this in an emergency and I figured that I could just run it through the cat door we have in the basement. I could run the back up fridge down there and have been tossing around ideas about how to power the gas furnace.

During the big ice storm we had here in 1997 we were out of power for a week. I didn't have the Honda then but have been thinking about that week for a long time.

[moosetags]

We have done exactly what you are talking about on a number of occasions, sometimes for days at a time. In the aftermath of hurricanes and tropical storms, we use the Airstream to sleep in so that we can have air conditioning. We have a pair of Honda 2000's that we use to power up the Airstream. We also use the generators to power the refrigerator in the house so that the food won't spoil. We just run an extension cord out through the garage for this purpose. We have a flat extension cord that fits under the kitchen door to the garage. Of course when this happens to us, it is usually above 80 degrees outside.

Brian

[A W Warn]

When our power goes out, I set my Honda 2000 on the rear deck connect to a 4 way plug. From there I run one chord through a window. I lay a towel in the sill to seal around the chord. This still lets air in at the top of the window sash, but it's minimal. The first chord goes to a second splitter which powers the fridge, a lamp with a fluorescent bulb, microwave, coffee pot, and tv as needed. We manage to not overload the generator by unplugging kitchen items that are not being used at the moment. The fridge only needs to run a half hour every 2 or 3, or it can go several hours if the door is left closed. From the splitter on the deck I run a second chord to the crawl space to connect my tankless natural gas water heater. With the gas logs in the fireplace I can heat the whole house. We have been 5 days without power during one ice storm, comfortably with minimal inconvenience. The worse part was the nearest cell tower did not have power, so we could not communicate for a few days unless we drove a few miles.
I could use the trailer, but I would have to de-winterize.

[overlander64]

While it may be more elaborate than the level of use would suggest, my thought was why not a Marinco connector on the outside wall of the house? The connector could be mounted in a weatherproof box . . . and the connector could be routed to a small dedicated breaker box from which you could power dedicated outlets for your emergency must-have devices. This would allow you to use your Airstream's Marinco power cord to connect the house to your generator . . . and if using paired Hondas or other equivalent, you could have up to 30-AMPS of available power.

I haven't considered a generator for my Airstream as my solar panels serve the purpose for my camping style, but I have thought about a small emergency generator for the times when we have tornadoes or ice storms.

Kevin

[markdoane]

Most important thing is to make sure the generator is at least 5 ft from any opening into the house. This includes exhaust pan vents, cat doors, and windows. Direct the exhaust away from the house. Keep a roll of duct tape to seal around the window opening.

[Mifair]

I have a sub panel hooked up to the main panel. The sub panel is hooked up to an outside receptacle where I plug my Genny when I need it. The sub panel has six circuits tied to six circuits on the main panel. The sub panel switches has three positions line (grid power), off and generator. In my case I have, my fridge, sump pump, furnace/ac, hall lights and tv room. Any generator can plug in but you will have to be selective on what you turn on depending on the power capability of you generator.

[polarlyse]

I'm not an electrician so I'm not about to offer advise on how to attach the generator to household wiring. It's not difficult but I think there is a big issue with disconnecting the house from the "GRID" during the time the generator is attached. I'm not referring to the simple extension cord to a refrigerator or such but hooking into the house panel. The problem occurs when the "GRID" comes back on line and if the generator is still operating and connected to the house. During hurricane Sandy I had my generator running in the garage with an exhaust hose to the outside. When the "GRID" came back on line I was able to confirm power to the now disconnected panel before taking the generator off line and going back to grid power. I did this through the main breaker in the panel. I did it just for a one time temporary usage but my son has it through hard wiring and a main shut off for more frequent usage. It's pretty easy to do but get an electrician to help you out with something like this.

[Dan S]

Time out.


I'm not connecting this to my house wiring. I simply want to pass it the extension cord through the exterior wall of the house when I am powering a lamp and small dorm refridge and or tv when we lose power.

I'm not looking to install a sub panel etc, I'm just looking for a little door or plug as this would probably be used just once or twice a year.

[Mifair]

Sub Panel separates gen from grid and prevents Genny from powering the grid and vice versa. (3 position switch on each circuit as described earlier) Once installed very easy and clean and safe to go to gen backup. . I had an electrician install the sub panel. I am happy with my investment.

[SeeMore]

A set of these mounted on both sides of an exterior wall work great. Stuff it with insulation between uses.

Round Electric Cable Hatch - Polar White - Intersource D10-217 - Electrical Hatches & Outlets - Camping World

[DMT]

The easiest solution thus far. No tear up, minimal work but requires a licensed electrician. Not that expensive either.

http://www.generatorsolutions.ca/generlink/

[noreen&sal]

Originally Posted by Dan S

When at home, Has anyone figured out a good way to run the extension cord that's plugged into the honda 2000 through the house without leaving a sliding glass door or window cracked to feed the cord into the house?

Once inside, I plug in a couple lamps and the tv.

Any creative pass-through ideas for the cord?

Thanks

What I do several times a year and like last year for Sandy is real simple. A piece of pipe insulation in the slider jamb I canrun several heavy extensions through the bottom of the doorway. Might need a little duct tape to hold it in place. Sal

[jdalrymple]

It is completely within the NEC to have a completely separate wiring system within a structure.

Someone I know purchased a very old home and renovated it. During the work, an ice storm had power off in his location for several days. He had a 7500 watt generator. The cost of a complete transfer switch was more than he wanted to spend.

His electrician suggested a single circuit, with a single outlet in each of the most used rooms. The electrician installed generator inlet outside the house. It was fairly cheap, and my friend has used it once since.

If one has access from the outside the house to the main breaker box, there are some creative retrofits for meeting the interlock code. See the pic.

We have done this, and while one has to be mindful to manage total load, it is handy to have access to power throughout the house.

Regards,

JD

[SeeMore]

Originally Posted by DMT

The easiest solution thus far. No tear up, minimal work but requires a licensed electrician. Not that expensive either.

Cable hatches run ~$5-8 each depending on features. The Generlink is ~$500-800 (30 or 40 amp capacity with 7,000 watt limit) plus install by a licensed electrician. Many power providers offer a 24 month minimum lease option in the neighborhood of $17-40+ for their customers. The customer provides the generator. "Not that expensive" might apply if home power outages are a regular occurrence!

[switz]

A short piece of 2" rigid conduit (looks like galvanized steel pipe) through a wall will allow an extension cord plug to come into the house and keep doors and windows closed. One can put standard plumbing caps on each end when the pipe is not in use. You would need the insulator bushings on each end of the pipe when in use to keep from chafing the extension cord. Some paper towels wadded up around the extension cord will prevent air flow when in use.

[Silver Hawk]

Getting back to the gentleman's original question: My garage doors have a flexible rubber seal running across the bottom - I run my generators outside the door and simplely run the cords under the closed door - this provides a weather tight seal around the cords. Works every winter when we loose juice to winter storms and the two or three weeks they shut of the electricity when the summer fires threaten. A lot less expensive than the solutions above - what with the cost of equipment and the labor for certified electrician to do the install - last time I heard it was about $1,500 to $2,000 to install around here.