Jim Elbrecht wrote:
RickMerrill wrote:

HeyBub wrote:

-snip-
The "Generator Interlock" mentioned above is a sliding bar that
prevents the MAIN disconnect switch from being on at the same time
as the pair of breakers leading to the generator. This
interlock-thingy protects drunk or fatigued linemen from getting
tickled by your generator while they are working on what they
believe to be a dead distribution line.

That's the way to go!


Here's a set of examples for Square D breaker boxes:
http://www.interlockkit.com/squareDmain01.htm

If you study the instructions for each, you'll discover that you'll
be paying $150.00 for a single piece of metal and four piddly bolts.

Once this is in place, a power-outage involves the following steps:

1. Hook up the generator and start it.
2. Turn OFF the MAIN electrical service switch.
3. Turn OFF the circuit breakers that lead to huge electrical loads
(Range, Water heater, A/C, etc.) that might overload your generator
(if any).
4. Slide the "Generator Interlock" business out of the way,
5. Exclaim "Let There Be Light!"
6. Turn ON the paired circuit breakers that lead to the generator.

This is very interesting - it might work for me - I'd have to replace
the feed to my generator hookup and change the order above...

I like this better- for $160 shipped;
http://www.apelectric.com/ProductDet...uctCode=20216V
Gen-Tran 20 Amp 6 circuit 5000 watt prewired manual transfer switch

The planning on what needs to be on gets done before the lights go
out. You've got meters to monitor loads.

I guess the downside is that it might be tough to decide you want a
7th circuit during an outage.


Right. You can make the decisions ad-hoc with a properly-labeled
circuit-breaker box. You may decide you've GOT to have the hair-dryer run
for ten minutes and the fridge can just wait.