Mark wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
Mark wrote:
Kind of hard to describe what I'm looking for here. I think on RVs
and 5th wheels, and I know on the 'beer wagon' get from the
distributor for our church festival, there is a 'reverse' receptacle
where you connect an extension cord to power the lights and such.
This device looks similar to a single receptacle with a flip-up
cover, but under the cover is actually a plug (male) rather than a
receptacle (female) connector. You plug the female 'outlet' end of
an extension cord into this, and the other end into a power source.
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
What I want to do, if I can find such a thing that would fit on a
standard exterior electric box, is mount one on the back of my house
with the wiring running to a standard outlet mounted in my
basement. I'd then be able to plug a cord from my generator into
this, and then supply my freezer, refrig, lights, etc. from the
outlet in the basement. This would keep me from having to run the
extension cord from the generator thru an open window in cold
weather. Also when it wasn't in use it wouldn't be too obtrusive
such as a plain old wire running thru the side of the house.
Any thoughts on this? Or other ideas for something along these
lines?

Once you find the outlet, wire it to a new breaker in the box. This
breaker will normally be left in the OFF position.

When the power fails:
1. Flip the main switch to OFF
2. Flip this new breaker to ON
3. Start the generator

You now have power to half your house (or all your house if your
generator puts out 220 and you used a dual breaker).

You can modulate the load on your generator by keeping things in your
house (lights, microwave, etc.) powered off so as to not exceed the
capacity of your generator.

When the power returns:
1. Power down the generator
2. Unplug the cable
3. Turn OFF the new circuit breaker(s)
4. Turn the mains back ON

Thanks folks for all these suggestions. I may apply some of them once
I get the wiring for connecting the generator installed
(procrastinated as usual, but want to do it before the weather turns
cold!)
I had even looked into something like you're suggesting H-B. In fact
I'm really lucky that when I had a new panel put in a few years ago
the electrician actually put the circuits in in such a way that my
furnace, Refrig, and a lighting circuit in the family room / kitchen,
Master Bedroom, and bath all fall on the same side of the panel! (Purely
blind luck I'm sure since he didn't bother to label any of
these and I had to go thru the house figuring them all out!)

Check the web site of your breaker box manufacturer. Some have a gizmo that
functions as an emergency disconnect. Here's how it works.

The circuit breaker(s) that connect to your generator plug is mounted in the
top-right slot of your box. The gizmo is a flat piece of metal that touches
both the mains switch and this circuit breaker and the gizmo slides back and
forth. The geometry is such that both the mains switch and the circuit
breaker cannot both be on at the same time.

The mains switch cannot be turned ON unless the circuit breaker is OFF.
Likewise the circuit breaker cannot be turned ON unless the mains switch is
OFF. The purpose is to prevent the service line from being energized by your
generator.