I sourced the interlock, breaker, conduit, wire and power inlet box. I got the conduit in place, power inlet mounted and pulled the wire. I paid $200 to "commission", he had to move breakers, and put in the new one, terminated the wires, and put on/installed the interlock. I thought this was fair.

I had Mark Luchak with Luchak Electric install mine in 2018. He provided all the parts and did everything needed for $425. Now that was 3 years ago, but I can't imagine the cost has doubled since then. I'd give him a call if you haven't already. He was extremely responsive and we were able to work out the details via a few phone calls and text messages.

Also, all he had to do in my panel was slide all the breakers down two slots on one side to fit in the interlock breaker. So like others said, if you have to move a bunch of things around in your panel, it make increase the cost.

The parts, the lockout, breaker, inlet box and cord, will run me $467 for a Square D panel.

Just quoted $350 for 50 amp install. He didn't t recommend an interlock (said it would be more difficult due to my panel and wasn't needed). His plan is to shut off main breaker which prevents backfeed and then switch on the "generator" breaker and all needed switches. He has his personal house set up this way for a generator.

He has main breaker and all unneeded breakers labeled red. In an emergency the family knows the plan- shut all red breakers and then fire up generator and add all unmarked breakers. I'll prob use a red and green label system.

I'm at this very moment having a new panel and breakers installed. Reason is my square d panel was so old you could not add the interlock as required by code. Yes it's not cheap but has to be done. Any future home inspection or further electrical work by a licensed electrician will be a problem for you I fear.

And the family knows the plan right now. But 3 years from now when it's actually needed? You are someone's hazy memory or faulty ability to accurately read directions away from potentially killing someone

Larry S Ross said:

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I'm at this very moment having a new panel and breakers installed. Reason is my square d panel was so old you could not add the interlock as required by code. Yes it's not cheap but has to be done. Any future home inspection or further electrical work by a licensed electrician will be a problem for you I fear.

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I'm in a similar situation. My panel doesn't have a main disconnect so there is currently no way to isolate it from the grid. Upon further investigation apparently the brand panel I have has had fire issues in the past. I'm going to have to replace the panel and add a 50 amp hookup. Not gonna be cheap I imagine.

For those of you replacing your panels, check with your insurance agent to see if you get a discount on your rate. We did when we had ours replaced several years ago. Not only are you dealing with a safer panel, but you can save a little money too.

RCR06 said:

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Larry S Ross said:

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I'm at this very moment having a new panel and breakers installed. Reason is my square d panel was so old you could not add the interlock as required by code. Yes it's not cheap but has to be done. Any future home inspection or further electrical work by a licensed electrician will be a problem for you I fear.

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I'm in a similar situation. My panel doesn't have a main disconnect so there is currently no way to isolate it from the grid. Upon further investigation apparently the brand panel I have has had fire issues in the past. I'm going to have to replace the panel and add a 50 amp hookup. Not gonna be cheap I imagine.

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Federal Pacific? If so, it should have been flagged on your inspection when you purchased the house. I also thought that insurance companies wouldn't write a policy on a home with a Federal Pacific panel until it was replaced. Either way, if that's the case, replace it yesterday before your house burns down.

Thanks for the replies. This is a fairly large and licensed company that sent their estimator. I'll have to explore our options. Shouldn't be an issue with an interlock- we built this house 8!yrs ago and the panel isn't that old.

I had a Zinsco when I bought my house, it got flagged in the inspection. To replace, and to flip it from the inside wall of a closet to outside was ~$2,200.

YellAg2004 said:

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RCR06 said:

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Larry S Ross said:

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I'm at this very moment having a new panel and breakers installed. Reason is my square d panel was so old you could not add the interlock as required by code. Yes it's not cheap but has to be done. Any future home inspection or further electrical work by a licensed electrician will be a problem for you I fear.

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I'm in a similar situation. My panel doesn't have a main disconnect so there is currently no way to isolate it from the grid. Upon further investigation apparently the brand panel I have has had fire issues in the past. I'm going to have to replace the panel and add a 50 amp hookup. Not gonna be cheap I imagine.

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Federal Pacific? If so, it should have been flagged on your inspection when you purchased the house. I also thought that insurance companies wouldn't write a policy on a home with a Federal Pacific panel until it was replaced. Either way, if that's the case, replace it yesterday before your house burns down.

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Yep, that's the one, Federal Pacific. It wasn't flagged when I bought my house and neither was my parents that also have fed Pacific panel. You can get still get insurance with that panel just not from every carrier. My parents found out about there's a year ago from a random question from their insurance company after 10 years of coverage. They were dropped, but found other coverage. I just realized I have the same brand and the isues with it while investigating my panel for generator hook up last week.

Based on the oil options for my generator, and being in Texas, would you go with the synthetic 5W-30 as opposed to the standard 10W-30 that is mentioned in the oil change procedure?

I'm using synthetic 5w 30, but I don't think it really matters in Texas. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I only use synthetic in my air cooled engines. They take alot more abuse that car engines. Synthetics hold their viscosity better over a larger temperature range and just perform better. What, it's costs a whopping dollar more?

Electrician at the house, showed him the interlock kit and ordered everything. He'll have to make another trip out for the install. Which he says is easy after opening the panel.
He won't install the easy start on the AC, so need to get another guy out.
Then buy the generator.

Getting closer to full prep for hurricane season.

My WGen12000DF is being delivered 5/22, NatGas regulator being delivered Thursday. Should be ready for break in shortly thereafter.

Alaskan, the hard start kit is VERY easy to order and install yourself. This is not a knock on you, just coming from doing a few myself, its like 3 screws/wires.

Has anyone looked deeper into hard start kits vs. soft start kits for HVAC units? In what I've read, it appears that a soft start kit would be a better, albeit more expensive, option to be able to run your central AC off a generator.

I was helping a family member look at doing this and saw this soft start online. I thought it looked interesting, but haven't researched enough to tell if it's a good one or not. Seems they may have started with RV/Marine AC systems and expanded into residential.


MicroAir

I plan to install the microair soft start. It's just a big capacitor to drop the start load requirement, which will allow a portable generator (properly sized) to handle it.

Be aware that you likely void your AC warranty with any hard or soft start kit. If you have trouble be sure to remove it first!

I did not use the same brand but same type, big capacitor to help with start amps.

Wondering how the natural gas generators can handle max load compared to running on gasoline. Not sure if anyone has compared with different fuels. I get that propane has more btu's than natural gas but can the city gas pressure/rate keep up to deliver the advertised watts?

The running watts for each of the 3 fuels will be different. The WGEN12000DF for example is 12,000 running watts for gasoline, 10,800 for propane (both as advertised) and if you convert to Natural Gas you will need to de-rate the advertised propane numbers by about 15%, so approx. 9,180 watts.

Now if your question is just a Natural Gas supply vs. consumption question that will depend on the size of service you have as well as the size of your branch line

A coworker has a 17.5k generac portable unit. He talked to the people at centerpoint and they said he could run his generator or appliances in his house, but not everything at the same time. He had an upgraded meter installed at his house. Not sure how that translates to the wgen12000df, but it should be something you should check into.

I hopped on it and getting it 5/22

That's probably correct but dramatically over simplified by Centerpoint. You can look at the btu draw for appliances and calculate when you get to meter capacity. Assuming you have gas furnaces and we're code compliant before, you can almost certainly use the gen+WH+stove at the same time.

When you replace that fpe box, hold onto the stab-lock breakers and sell them on ebay. They brought good money last time i replaced one