In article mw1Lb.184434$ss5.124112@clgrps13,
"Ryan" wrote:

maybe I read it wrong, but it looked like you had to wire up the items you
want to power up individually. I thought you could just power the entire
breaker panel, then shut the breakers off on the circuits you are not
wanting to use. Ryan

What my Dad has at his house in Maine, which is blessed there, is a
setup with the generator fed into the breaker panel (by a breaker of the
generator's rated size) next to the main breaker, and there is a metal
part (interlock) between the generator breaker and the main breaker
which does not allow both to be on at the same time (I'm reasonably sure
it does allow both to be off, however).

Check with the electrician who you will pay for inspecting whether this
is legal in your area. It should be cheap - the interlock part is just a
metal stamping which turns one breaker off if you turn the other breaker
on, whcih pivots in the middle.

As opposed to a manual transfer switch, this has to be a lot cheaper,
just as safe, and it does allow choosing which loads to power from all
loads connected to the panel by flipping their breakers. I don't know
how widely this simple interlock system is accepted (no reason it should
not be other than lobbying of the authorities by people selling
overpriced transfer switches). People who want to sell overpriced
transfer switches should stick to selling the automatic sort, IMHO.

--
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