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Official... raise your post count thread!!
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fund razor
Founding Member
Mine is dual fuel so I use propane. Very handy. Stores (a little) better than gas.
Electric start. I keep a tender on the battery. 9500 watts. I use a marine shore power cable between my shed and the connector on the side of the house. I have most of my house on the transfer switch. No central air. No oven. Yes everything else. So fans and ceiling fans are a go. I think I could run the AC if I put one of those "Easy Starts" on it to reduce the locked rotating amps at start. Not gonna try the oven.
Today was a good real life test. With no drills I had it up and running in about 5 minutes half asleep. But I got soaked.
Electric start. I keep a tender on the battery. 9500 watts. I use a marine shore power cable between my shed and the connector on the side of the house. I have most of my house on the transfer switch. No central air. No oven. Yes everything else. So fans and ceiling fans are a go. I think I could run the AC if I put one of those "Easy Starts" on it to reduce the locked rotating amps at start. Not gonna try the oven.
Today was a good real life test. With no drills I had it up and running in about 5 minutes half asleep. But I got soaked.
fund razor
Founding Member
Nice. The big boys at our hospice centers are diesel. At some point, I think I will upgrade to a auto-switch on natural gas.
It helps that I can install it. I already ran a NG line within about 10 feet of where it would go for a garage heater.
fund razor
Founding Member
Do you have a transfer switch for the portable? I stuck one of these next to my main panel and the plug for the portable is outside. Works like a charm. Kill the house mains, hook up the genny and start it, and start flipping switches on the transfer switch depending on what you want to power up. Ten circuits of 120, or 6 of 120 and 2 of 240. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Connecticut-Electric-7500-Watt-Generator-Transfer-Switch-Kit/50446036
fund razor
Founding Member
That one I linked is set up so that the transfer switch can't backfeed. There is an off between "line" and "Gen" on each circuit. So technically you could leave some stuff on the line and some stuff on the gen. The problems begin when someone linked a circuit along the way. Just to be safe, my process is to disconnect the main to the line before I do anything and only reconnect after the Gen is disconnected. So my first step is to break the connection to the street, and my last step is to reconnect it.Mornin !
Power Company down here asked to make sure You have a cutoff, that stops the Current from going back up the line...and Injuring Lineman.
Ratickle
Founding Member / Super Moderator
Mine is a manual, but 13,500 peak and 10,500 continuous. It has enough to run everthing we absolutely must have: Gas funace, so only fan. Water well pump, lights etc that we need.
What I did was add a 100 amp subpanel and move the circuits I needed there. I turn off the 100 amp circuit in the main box, and turn on the 100 amp circuit to the subpanel. That way, when the power comes back on, all of the things we had on elsewhere, we know. But, Living room lights and outlets, master bath outlets and kights, well pump, furnace, Fridge, my office/den lights and outlets, and all kitchen lights and outlets are all switched into the subpanel. It will run the air I think, if I disconnect everything else, but I have not tried.
What I did was add a 100 amp subpanel and move the circuits I needed there. I turn off the 100 amp circuit in the main box, and turn on the 100 amp circuit to the subpanel. That way, when the power comes back on, all of the things we had on elsewhere, we know. But, Living room lights and outlets, master bath outlets and kights, well pump, furnace, Fridge, my office/den lights and outlets, and all kitchen lights and outlets are all switched into the subpanel. It will run the air I think, if I disconnect everything else, but I have not tried.
fund razor
Founding Member
I didn't mean to turn this into a generator thread. 
fund razor
Founding Member
Assuming a residential 2-6 ton AC with outside condenser, EasyStart makes a soft start module that goes in line. Your generator will RUN your AC no problem. The problem is the locked rotating amps (LRA) at the moment of start. That will choke a pretty big generator. These only cost like $400 and can be ordered online. They call these "soft start" modules. They first used them on RVs, I think. With one, the generator you describe will run your AC. Especially the way a properly sized AC will cycle fairly frequently. EasyStart is known for great customer support.
Mini-splits might need nothing at all to run on the generator. Mini-split AC is pretty darn efficient and low amp draw compared to the prior. What causes mini-splits to start sucking power is using them to heat. The cool better than they heat. I have one in my garage about 9,000btu. It cools wonderfully, and basically silent. But I have a natural gas furnace hanging from the ceiling for when it gets really cold.
By the way, 10,500 continuous will do a lot. Especially with modern TVs and LED lights. During a prior test of the switch, I let a 4,500 run for a while and I slowly added stuff (ceiling fans, lights, TVs, etc.) and watched the meter on the generator. I was running lights, fans, security system, fridge and freezer on like 75% of 4,500. The hidden "last straw" is the coffee maker. The coffee maker will wake that generator up. Or kill it.
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