Steps for installing a transfer switch

When that is the case, I agree. Shut the main off, pull the meter.

Square D makes generator back feed interlock kits for several of their panels. I installed on in the new QO panel I recently installed.

Pete, your link did not work for me, sorry. If Homeline is a brand of Square D, I will just call them on the phone.

Whats in that box with the wheels? Looks interesting

generator. :)

You are correct, that link does appear to be hosed. This one works:

Pete C.

I would install the Transfer Switch as close to the Main Panel as possible. Typically, adjacent with a 1 1/2" Dia. nipple in between, as you can run the new wires from the MeterBase into the Main Panel, and thru the nipple to the Transfer Switch, and then from the Transfer Switch back to the Main Breaker. This keeps the runs short, and makes for centrally located Home Power Managment, as you may want to drop some of the loads offline in the Main Panel when running OffGrid on the Genset.

You can use any UL 600V Insulated wire, of the appropriate size for the current, that suits you. It is the Insulation Rating that the Inspector will be looking at. Typically Welding Cable isn't rated at 600V, so you may have to find a suitable wire that has the UL Insulation Rating approprite to the service.

Bruce in alaska who likes Welding Cable for Battery Jumpers and Inverter Dc Feedlines.......

OK, I like this idea a lot. I will do it exactly as you say, all my doubts have been resolved.

OK, I will definitely look for suitable 600v rated wire -- the flexible wire is so much easier to work with, it is worth the extra $$ -- not that much for just a dozen feet or so.

It would be best there, but you might want a safety switch before that... You're going to make me go get my copy of NEC aren't you? The new one has a whole section on transfer switches and generator connections - and I didn't memorize the darned thing.

But with your luck, your local codes are locally written and totally different. They really aren't standardized that well.

Make it easy on yourself - Call your local city/county building inspector, make an appointment for a pow-wow and talk it over, ask him/her what he wants to see. You can over-engineer it and make it "perfect" - but why? KISS.

You could stick it to one side of the meter socket, and put a big nipple or fitting between the boxes - but it's not the preferred method. You would have to send the 'Utility In' and 'Switch Out' power going through the same conduit and through the same meter socket can, and it would be too easy to get an accidental backfeed out onto the utility lines. ESPECIALLY if someone else gets in there and isn't clear on the concept.

I'd put the transfer switch off to one side of the main, and abandon the wires going out the back of the meter socket can directly to the house breaker panel. Make a new house feed out the back of the transfer switch going inside to the house breaker panel. And at the bottom of the transfer switch you put a landing-lug box where the leads from the portable generator tie down.

Try to lay it out so the wires inside the transfer switch can do not physically cross inside the can - so if the wires get all hot and melty (technical term, I know...) they can't make an unintentional cross connection.

I've always seen them in commercial situations with the Utility Main Breaker placed ahead of the transfer switch, so they can open that breaker as a drop-dead "No Way In HELL it can backfeed" safety. The extra safety step makes the utility linemen working on the snapped lines much happier when they hear a generator running way off in the distance.

That way you still have the separate Fire Alarm disconnect in parallel with the Main Breaker as a place to monitor whether the Utility Power has come back up. (For a business they might turn off and lock the Main and kill the lights for non-payment, but they have to leave the Fire Alarm feed on or the insurance coverage goes away. And it's also a Life Safety issue.)

In a residential situation, if you want to change over the entire house on the transfer switch you'd need a separate fused switch or enclosed breaker to power the monitor light. And get the concept cleared by the local inspector. Otherwise, how do you know for sure when they've got the utility power back on?

If it's a safe place to make a hole, you can get a pilot drill and a knockout punch and blast a hole through the side of the can in about two minutes. They can't put knockouts everywhere anyone could possibly need them, or the can would fall apart...

"Perfect" is an unreachable goal unless you are Bill Gates and have a ton o' money to spend on "Perfect" - Lets see here... A 40KW or

The lights go out partially, you hear a very muted engine cranking and starting outside, and 15 seconds later all the lights pop back on like nothing happened, and will stay that way for days. And the genset is big enough that no power budgeting is needed, you can be working in the shop on the lathe with the AC up full blast while the Mrs. is baking in the electric oven, no worries.

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My meter has been without a seal for several years now . Called the power company when I first broke the seal to work on my breaker box , they never came out to replace it . My panel was replaced recently too - after I looked inside and saw the AC breaker arcing on the tab . Got a buncha poles not being used - yet . Also got the capacity to wire my shed/shop properly now , with it's own box . Which is where I'll feed the main panel from next time I need to use the generator . Betcha if my power usage goes down significantly they'll be out with a seal . And a warrant . Only ones that get to steal from the utility company here are the people in charge ...

Is this 200 amps at 120, or 200 amps at 240? You have 240 service, but are the amps 200 from hot to hot, or the sum of each leg to neutral? 200 amps at 240 is 48kw. I question because 48kw is vastly in excess of typical residential power requirements. Consider the possibility that the next size down the 100 amp unit, is the fit. The 200 amp unit is a HUGE box! It's designed to switch a 48kw hot load.

We have a master disconnect. The transfer switch is located between the master disconnect and the main panel. We use a second transfer switch to disconnect optional loads, and shunt them directly to a 2nd generator.

I have a 240V panel, and the breaker says "200" on its handle. It is a breaker that would open if current through one of its legs exceeded

While I rarely use 43 kW of power, I do at times use a lot of power. Example. I am TIG welding in my garage, my wife is cooking a lot of food on the range, my A/C is running, etc. That could easily add up to 140 amps or more (and would be a very rare occurrence).

Well, I would surely be happy to use a smaller and cheaper box, if it was possible, but it is my understanding that the rating of transfer switch should match the rating of the house's electrical service.

sounds interesting.

Well you could put in a sub panel and put the transfer switch in the feed to the sub panel

I have been following this tread because I am thinking of going the sub panel rout. The down side is you have to decide which circuits will be on the sub panel. I my case its only the well. the outlets in the kitchen and the lights in the kitchen.

Bill K7NOM

In my case, I have a lot of circuits, most of which supply some important loads but draw very little current, like compact fluorescent lighting. So choosing only very few of them would inconvenience me greatly.

I have a feeling I'm going to regret this, but here goes...

I too was concerned with the limited number of circuits available with typical, sub panel type transfer switches. I have a 16kw generator, and a 16 circuit sub panel type ATS. I have circuits that literally draw less than an amp or two in most situations, never more than 5 amps. I just wired them together in the main panel. Kind of rigged my

It's an automatic transfer switch, which I know you do not want, but I did the same thing last year when a hurricane hit and I had a 6 circuit manual switch. I had 6 circuits wired, but was using a fraction of the generator's power. At the time, I had a 7500 watt generator, and averaged about 2000 watts. So I added rooms as needed, with no ill effects.

FWIW it's a Generac 5244 generator and matched transfer switch. I thought about the service disconnect, whole house transfer switch, but I know my family cannot control their energy consumption. When breaking in my generator, my wife turned on the Advantium oven (microwave on steroids). It kept up, but only because the 5 ton AC was not running. And I cautioned about turning on lights when breaking in..........

Brad

You have identified the correct switch. A two hundred ampere main breaker results in the need for a two hundred ampere transfer assembly. Be advised that a main breaker interlock kit will achieve the same result at far lower cost. What brand and model is your main breaker enclosure; such as your main distribution panel?

ITE Gould. It accepts Homeline breakers for branch circuits.

What is the proper detailing for this nipple, to make it raintight?

Thanks, Wayne

I'm afraid you are out of luck on a transfer interlock kit as ITE/Gould is no longer manufactured.

If you install a Square D feed through lug panel ahead of your existing panel and add a generator interlock kit to it you will still come out cheaper than the full sized transfer switch for the materials the labor will be similar.