Happy 05-05-05 Cinco de Mayo Everyone!

cd34 · 2005-05-05, 04:08 PM

it used about 1/2 a gallon per hour at light load (fans, etc), about a gallon per hour when we were watching DVDs and using lights. My home theater is a bit of a power hog. I think I calculated it costs about $1/hour at FPL rates to watch it.

I turned off the main breaker, ran two suicide plugs, one to each phase of the house. I built a cable for my neighbor which used the LS-20 twistlock and went into his dryer plug. Slightly safer when you plug in to the generator AFTER you have unplugged the dryer and plugged in your cord.

What I have partially installed is an outdoor recepticle, I intend to pour a concrete pad for the generator once I can come up with some method to make it difficult enough that any thief will take a neighbors generator rather than mine, and I have a subpanel for the inside.

http://store.yahoo.com/ekimco/t020n.html
http://www.gen-tran.com/Merchant2/me...roduct_Count=4

One day I will get around to installing this. I have the outdoor enclosure installed and the conduit to the garage attic, but this weekend I might do the preliminary work and put a few circuits over on it. Theres a lot of planning going into it because I want to put my office and the master bedroom on their own subpanel later on so that I could run those off battery. Running two fans off a battery is much quieter and the neighbors wouldn't really scream much.

If you really just wanted something easy, and didn't want to go the subpanel route, and didn't mind flipping breakers, I would probably run an outdoor box like this, get a 6' twistlock Male to Female cable, and run the box to the dryer outlet with a disconnect switch. Then, with whiteout or tape, mark the unnecessary breakers. During a power outage, turn off the main, turn off the marked breakers, flip the switch at the dryer, plug in the generator and power up.

The subpanel route if you hired an electrician would probably cost $1200-$1500 including parts.

I thought about a whole-house generator, but, I lack the cash for that right now. Although, if I had A/C, during Frances I'm sure I could have charged $30/head. I do intend to buy a window air conditioner prior to this season so that the bedroom can be cooled off. Perhaps a second one in case we have guests.

2005-05-05, 04:08 PM	#1
cd34 a.k.a. Sparky Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: West Palm Beach, FL, USA Posts: 2,396	it used about 1/2 a gallon per hour at light load (fans, etc), about a gallon per hour when we were watching DVDs and using lights. My home theater is a bit of a power hog. I think I calculated it costs about $1/hour at FPL rates to watch it. I turned off the main breaker, ran two suicide plugs, one to each phase of the house. I built a cable for my neighbor which used the LS-20 twistlock and went into his dryer plug. Slightly safer when you plug in to the generator AFTER you have unplugged the dryer and plugged in your cord. What I have partially installed is an outdoor recepticle, I intend to pour a concrete pad for the generator once I can come up with some method to make it difficult enough that any thief will take a neighbors generator rather than mine, and I have a subpanel for the inside. http://store.yahoo.com/ekimco/t020n.html http://www.gen-tran.com/Merchant2/me...roduct_Count=4 One day I will get around to installing this. I have the outdoor enclosure installed and the conduit to the garage attic, but this weekend I might do the preliminary work and put a few circuits over on it. Theres a lot of planning going into it because I want to put my office and the master bedroom on their own subpanel later on so that I could run those off battery. Running two fans off a battery is much quieter and the neighbors wouldn't really scream much. If you really just wanted something easy, and didn't want to go the subpanel route, and didn't mind flipping breakers, I would probably run an outdoor box like this, get a 6' twistlock Male to Female cable, and run the box to the dryer outlet with a disconnect switch. Then, with whiteout or tape, mark the unnecessary breakers. During a power outage, turn off the main, turn off the marked breakers, flip the switch at the dryer, plug in the generator and power up. The subpanel route if you hired an electrician would probably cost $1200-$1500 including parts. I thought about a whole-house generator, but, I lack the cash for that right now. Although, if I had A/C, during Frances I'm sure I could have charged $30/head. I do intend to buy a window air conditioner prior to this season so that the bedroom can be cooled off. Perhaps a second one in case we have guests. __________________ SnapReplay.com a different way to share photos - iPhone & Android