No Heat For 13 Hours

[Mike Van]

Last December in our ice storm it was very common here for meters to be pulled either to prevent backfeed or hook-up generators. The power company did not bat an eye, they understood this was a CRISIS.

Scooter, meters get pulled for emergency's, yes - But the puller & resetter has to know a few things or risk wrecking their own meterbox or possibly burning the house down after power is restored. 99% of homeowners will not know what they're getting into. My opinion, a few hour power outage [like we started with here] is not a catastrophic emergency. Spend the money, buy the right switch, protect your family & everybody else's too.

 

[Dalmatian90]

think about this also, if you did backfeed the neighborhood, how long do you think your puny little 10k gen set would hold up?

A second is long enough.

Could be Harry Homeowner moving a "dead" wire. Was dead until you pulled the starter on your generator that back fed the service line that went through the transformer stepping up it's voltage and grounded out through Harry at 7200 volts.

It's that momentary forgetfulness transfer switches / interlockits are meant to prevent.

After all, we're all perfect and none of us have ever had a car accident or nipped ourselves doing something stupid with a chainsaw, either.

 

[AIM]

I've pulled my meter a couple different times. Not due to power loss but rather to install new lines to garage and to change out the panel. My rural power company doesn't really say much. Oh they'll tell ya that your not supposed to, but then they'll clip on a new tag and leave.

I back feed the house and garage through a welder plug in the garage. Genny sits outside attached through a short #8 double ended cord, and my breakers are mapped out on a clipboard that hangs next to the panel as to which ones get shut off and which few stay on. Both garage and house panels are fed directly from meter so I have to leave the mains on. Yep I plan on pullin the meter.
Funny thing is I haven't needed it since I set it up.

PS. I've heard that some power companies get REALLY anal about cuttin the wire and pullin the meter so you may wanna ask around a bit before doing so.

 

[headleyj]

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Generac-Guardian-5502/p1820.html

doesn't seem horribly priced.

 

[builder1101]

Last December in our ice storm it was very common here for meters to be pulled either to prevent backfeed or hook-up generators. The power company did not bat an eye, they understood this was a CRISIS.

i guess i could pull my meter and on the live side plug in my special extension cord.....when i'm done unplug it....

"why's the meter pulled?"
"oh uh...the power was out, so i hooked up my generator and wasn't for sure when power will be back on..."

 

[RacerX]

i guess i could pull my meter and on the live side plug in my special extension cord.....when i'm done unplug it....

"why's the meter pulled?"
"oh uh...the power was out, so i hooked up my generator and wasn't for sure when power will be back on..."

Many utility companies have locks on the meters so unless you're will to grind them off pulling the meter isn't even an option.

 

[builder1101]

If you are really worried about backfeeding the power grid cut the little tab on your service meter box and pull the meter. You are going to have some explaining to do but in a time of crisis.....do it!

Many utility companies have locks on the meters so unless you're will to grind them off pulling the meter isn't even an option.

Last December in our ice storm it was very common here for meters to be pulled either to prevent backfeed or hook-up generators. The power company did not bat an eye, they understood this was a CRISIS.

wasn't my idea. but i guess it's allowed in some areas.

 

[mowoodchopper]

A wood stove it will solve all your problems and for alot less money! And no I dont mean outside !

 

[Dalmatian90]

A wood stove it will solve all your problems and for a lot less money!

Depends on the house and what you want/need.

My cheap woodstove & decent metal chimney on a single story ranch is about $1,000. I could buy a cheap generator and Interlockit for that much.

If you needed a larger stove and longer chimney for a bigger house, it's not hard to spend $3,500 new. You can buy a nice Honda 5kW generator and interlock for that price.

And the house is still dark, the freezer is off, and the sump pumps not running.

I'm fortunate to live along a critical power route, I've never been off more then four hours and only lose power more then momentarily once every couple of years. That includes times I've heard neighbors fed from another street running generators for a day or two!

 

[RacerX]

I'm fortunate to live along a critical power route, I've never been off more then four hours and only lose power more then momentarily once every couple of years. That includes times I've heard neighbors fed from another street running generators for a day or two!

Here too, power hardly ever goes out. Even when it does it only lasts a few hours. One of the reasons that I've never bothered to install a generator.

 

[deerlakejens]

In 2006, power was out for 2 days because of snow. It went out for 8 days in 2007, snow again. Bought a 5k generator shortly after power came back on and it's never gone out since! We just had the warmest January in over a hundred years, all my bulbs are up, as is the rhubarb.

 

[Jkebxjunke]

My meter cannot be pulled out.. it is bolted in the socket... well it has to be it is a 600 amp meter... then to a 600 amp fused disconnect... then underground on (4) 4-0 service cables ( 4-0/4-0/2-0) then to a 600 amp ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) then out to (10) 200 amp panel feeds. on the generator side is a Perkins inline 6 turbo charged/ inter cooled gen set.. now here is where the confusion lies... the one plate on the control box states 125Kw on the generator head it says 180kw... and 275 gal of diesel.

 

[mowoodchopper]

Depends on the house and what you want/need.

My cheap woodstove & decent metal chimney on a single story ranch is about $1,000. I could buy a cheap generator and Interlockit for that much.

If you needed a larger stove and longer chimney for a bigger house, it's not hard to spend $3,500 new. You can buy a nice Honda 5kW generator and interlock for that price.

And the house is still dark, the freezer is off, and the sump pumps not running.

I'm fortunate to live along a critical power route, I've never been off more then four hours and only lose power more then momentarily once every couple of years. That includes times I've heard neighbors fed from another street running generators for a day or two!

Thats funny! My excellent wood stove and chimney only cost me 400 bucks.

It more than heats a large home four bedroom 2 car garage , In fact its 15 out side and 80 here in my easy chair. You have to do a little looking around and find a deal! I have another stove and some more pipe in the garage now , do I need it no but I got it for close 200 bucks so Ill keep it untill I do!

 

[Dalmatian90]

You have to do a little looking around and find a deal!

And the exact thing holds true for generators and transfer switches.

If you want to spend a few months looking for a bargain on craigslist, you'll be able to find the same deal on the generator.

 

[Sparky8370]

The bigger generator you have the more fuel you are going to use per hour even if it is not putting out all its rated power. We have off grid property in Michigan's UP. We were using a 20hp diesel engine spinning a 12,000 watt generator head. Since we did not need its full rated power we belted it down so the engine runs about 1000 rpm instead of the 2200 rpm of its supposed to run at. We were at the point we were burning 4-6 gallons a diesel in 24 hrs. Last spring we got a 5000 watt power inverter and a used forklift battery. Now we can run off of the battery for 2-3 days the fire up the generator for 4-5 hrs and charge the battery back up. The inverter was $465 and the used battery was $750 but we use it a lot so it is worth it to us. Plus we do not have to listen to the generator running.

Billy

On a generator, engine RPM and load are not related. Sure, you can bog it down with a load and you can have small fluctuations when it tries to correct itself.
It's not a very smart idea to ever mess with the RPM on a generator.

Do not do it unless you enjoy spending money replacing stuff. It's not worth being a tight wad to save a few bucks on fuel.

A generator is set at a certain RPM based on the frequency it's supposed to be driving.
F=N*P/120
What's that mean?
F means frequency
N means RPM
P means # of poles on the generator head.
We are 60Hz here.
60=3600*2/120
if it's a 4 pole generator, the RPM gets cut in half.
60=1800*4/120

 

[Sparky8370]

Oh, if by belted down the poster means that they changed pulleys and belts to maintain proper generator head RPMs, that's a different story. But it does not sound like that and I just want to make sure nobody here takes that advice and burns up any equipment.

 

[mowoodchopper]

Generators are great we should all have one!

 

[Sparky8370]

From his description I thought it sounded like he was keeping final generator rpm in mind.

You are right though...generator rpm determines cycles per second or hertz....and it is very important to many devices that use electricity.

It wasn't very clear and the big words were to get the attention of anybody who may have interpreted his post as meaning it's ok to arbitrarily lower the RPM on a generator to reduce fuel consumption.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Heating my house in a power outtage is important living in an area that sees 30 below zero.Pipes and home stays a comfy 75 even without power.
As to generators....I can live by lamp light. Who needs a TV?
I have many deep cell 12 volt batteries charged for bright light and a 12 volt radio.

The main thing here....above all else....the home has to be warm.Frozen pipes and the water damage that ensues can be very costly! No wonder the guys with boilers need power....can't heat with gravity.
Food can stay cold outside...my grill can cook food...and the fish still bite.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

http://www.generlink.com/about_generlink.cfm

easy way to hook up generator just turn off extra stuff . easy and safe