Having a generator in your house eases all your power adversities. In fact, it makes your life so easy that you don’t need to worry about the power going off.
Specifically, if you live in a location with power issues, a generator can be of great help. Be it for your work purposes, or you need it for more convenience.
Now, as a writer who has experience in electrical, I advise you to buy a generator that does not need shenanigans like “not having a transfer switch” as a matter of fact, transfer switches play a vital role for safety as well as for the endurance threshold. Yet, in this article, I have a cheaper and effective way of connecting your generator without a transfer switch.
Either way, by the end of this article, you will know how to hook up your house generator without a transfer switch.
For hooking up any generator to your house, you need a basic set of electrical tools. We do not under any circumstance advise you to go ahead with this if you don’t have basic experience in using simple tools.
And following that let’s begin with:
Materials and Tools Needed
What Are the Materials You Need
- Interlock-Breaker Set
Owning a generator, you must know what an interlock kit is; if you don’t, we are here for it. Interlock Kit a device that ensures a safe power flow in your house, and a Breaker also called circuit breaker helps to ensure even distribution of the power flow in your house.
If you have an 8000 watt 240 V generator, so 8000/240= 33.3A, so get a 30-ampere breaker. It is mandatory to get a breaker that is a little less in indications than the actual calculations.
- Conduit Sets (Body as well as glue)
- Extension cords (get your according to the breaker Amperage.)
What Are the Tools You Need
- Wire cutters/stripers
- Flux and a Solder.
- Tube cutters
- Torch (in case it’s dark in your area)
- Drill and Drill motor
These are all the tools and materials you will need before moving on to practically installing the part. If you have bought a new generator, unbox it and go through the installation guide that comes with it.
For instance, if you bought it second hand, go ahead and find an installation guide from the brand website. Different generators have different guides according to their best fit and their best purposes. Going through it once will give you a clear idea about how to proceed.
Here your hectic job is half done; all you need now is to choose your installation place and follow the instructions to hook up your generator without a transfer switch.
Now, steps to connecting a generator to your house are very simple, but the brief up needs to be accurate. For all the materials mentioned above and tools, there is a purpose in the steps. So, ensure that you have in front of you are all the materials and tools and then go for this job.
If you don’t have the basic knowledge of wires, please go ahead and call an electrician. Because safety comes first.
Here is the Step by step guide to starting installing
1. Install the Plug and the Wire Spaces
Here, for the plug, you need to take a look at the amperage and codes of your wire and accordingly go ahead and get the plugin place.
2. Select the Place to Start Your Work
This is where you need to drill a hole and pass your wire through it. Use the conduit body here and make sure there are no water sources nearby. In case you feel the wires aren’t secure enough, go ahead and secure everything with conduit glue. I remind you that your generator has to be disconnected all along. Or else you already welcomed a mishap!
3. Get Your Breaker and Interlock Set
So, this is where all the magic is! Once you are done with passing all the wires, and above steps, proceed to set up your breaker box, then set up your interlock set. It does not take much time once the drilling and wiring X/Y and green is done right. Cross-check the amperage once and process further for pertaining everything to make sure the setup is free enough for you to not trip over the extension cords. (which by the way is very dangerous) but secure enough for you to have your power running smoothly.
A little heads up for you, there are many ways to connect a generator to your house without a transfer switch! But using a breaker-interlock set ensures your safety to the extent that other ways won’t. And it is cheaper as well.
In addition to this, the only way certified by the electric department is the breaker-interlock one. An interlock set without a transfer switch should easily be helpful for most household chores like dishwasher, laundry, vacuum cleansing, TV set, internet, and more miscellaneous stuff like adapters and bathroom heaters.
To be adding a disclaimer for you, every state does not endorse you to go ahead without a transfer switch. The interlocking set does ensure the cheap alternative, but in case your state does not allow it, don’t go for it. Save a bit and get a great portable generator.
Here is a basic electric department policy you can refer to. It has all the information you might need if you are extremely new. It helps with the basic understanding of electrical engineering as well as basic information about how to proceed in case you have an electrical emergency.
Here are a few links of the appliances you might need to connect a generator to your house without a transfer switch. You can either browse on the web and order online or take the price reference and buy it from your closest electrical store.
- 5A Single Pole Circuit Breaker
- Voltage: 120V, Bulk
- 1 Space Per Pole
- Plug On Neutral Combination Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters CAFI
- ...⇩⇩⇩
- ...⇩⇩⇩
- 14 pcs common size screwdrivers
- 12 pcs precision screwdrivers
- 1 Storage Case Tacklife after-sales service card
- ...⇩⇩⇩
Safety Warnings
Concluding this informational read, that’s everything you might need from outside; please wear proper safety gear before approaching electrical work.
Ensure you have all the good conductors and bad conductors where they are needed. Always go for a propane torch if your place is dark. Ensure the ground wire is green, and X/Y wire is black.
Ensure that you are not tugging your wires in areas where water clogging is an issue; full disclosure might lead to a blast if water clog is not maintained.
Don’t go ahead if you have doubts about whether or not you can handle the generator. Let the expert electrician take care of it.
Again, this is one of the ways which is the safest and most effective one. There are many, but they don’t give you as good turnout as an interlocking set gives. You can go ahead with your research and have a good understanding of all the information and then get to the job.
If you feel any doubts in between, just disconnect the power supply and call an electrician. If you don’t feel it is safe to skip the interlock and get a transfer switch.
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