How do you hook up a gas generator? I am thinking of buying a portable gas generator to provide electricity?

Question

when the electricticy goes out. I live in an area that recently experiences an ice storm and we were without power for about a week. I want to get a generator that will deliver enough power to keep my furnace, major appliances and a few lights, etc. working. My question is, how is this generator hooked up to the furnace and other items? Run into fuse box. junction box? Does it come with extension cord/s? How is it hooked up...installed? Thank You

Answer 1

you will require a generator with a 220 outlet. have a 10/4 cord (also known as cab tire) made up with the proper male end for the 220, a junction box, and a male dryer cord/plug. all available at home depot for 50 bucks. assemble into one cord. most important!!!SHUT YOUR MAIN BREAKER OFF. then shut all individual breakers off. plug the male dryer end into your female dryer outlet. plug into your 220 on the generator and fire it up. turn on only the individual breakers that you want to power...not the main. you are now back feeding your panel and you will not suffer through a blackout. just be sure that the main breaker is off when you are running this way.

Answer 2

my pa-in -law had a good rig.... a double male dryer plug, one in the generator, the other in your 220 dryer-plug, ( an accessible 220 cook-top would be better 50 amp - dryer 30 amp ) this will run what you need & a little window unit / small electric heater. if you have gas get a space heater! turn off all breakers, including & especially the main breaker as not to back feed juice down line!!!!!! you kill the power co. worker. just the frig & a few light, you can't buy & handle one big enough to run an electric furnace & the whole house!

Answer 3

If your dealing with an apartment complex, you dealing with some pretty heavy electricity/ cable. Not knowing how many amps & wire size comming into your complex is the problem. I hope you aren't thinking of tackling this on your own. But, here's a general discription on what to expect or done. After the "Main" (wiring) comes into the apartment complex it is separated (run) to each apartment meter, after the meter it goes to each circuit breaker box. In each circuit box it's devided into separate circuits (such as range, receptacles,washer / dryer, etc. with a circuit breaker protecting each item or area. What has to be done is to install a "selector switch" between the meter and the circuit breaker box. This selector switch has to be capable of sensing which set of wires the electricity is comming from, so it automatically switches to those wires. Not knowing what the wire size is that services each apartment, I can't tell you what size Selector switch to use. Once the power comes back on, the selector switch automatically switches to that source. You're going to need an electrician to hook this all up, because you're dealing with some pretty high stuff. When the wiring is split after it comes from the meter, the meter has to "pulled" before you can cut into that main lead (to each apartment). In my area, there's a thin wire that is connected to the meter & the meter base. If I pull the meter, the wire has to be cut. If the utilities come to check my meter & see that wire cut,they'll know I was messing with the meter. I don't want to know what they'll do, but I'll bet it won't be nice. What you want to do is feesible (sp) , but it may cost a bunch depending on how many units you want to do this to.

Answer 4

The Generator should come with instructions of HOW TO. However, before you buy it, you should check with your local electric company as to (if, what and how) you could do it in a safe way that would satisfy your area's electrical codes and you should use an experienced licensed master electrician. This is something that you should not try to do it yourself. . .

Answer 5

If you don't know these things DON'T ATTEMPT IT. You don't have the skills, and you could KILL an electric company employee. This does happen all the time, it's called back feed. There is a special switch required to connect the generator to your electric panel. Contact your local electric company to find out what they require, THEN CALL AN ELECTRICIAN.

Answer 6

yes u need a lic elect. and he would size the unit to the amount of amps u need to run the items u wish......u need to look into a "on demand" unit....LP gas or natural gas, has its own panel and the elect. would connect it to the main box in ur house and u dont have to do anything the unit will come on when the power goes out and will cut its self off when the power comes back on.....about $ 5,000.00 for a good unit.......

lic. gen. contractor

Answer 7

You hire a licensed electrician to do it for you. Too much can go wrong if the job is not done properly. Linemen can get killed by amateur electrical work.

Answer 8

It's possible to do it, but if you have to ask this question you should not even think about it unless you want to die.......