Is that where home owners buy a male replacement plug and make “suicide cords” to plug the generator in a wall socket?
Potential winter storm this week.
- Thread starter jake wells
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In all seriousness, for those who do not have an inter lock, how do you plan to use a portable generator to power your house if you lose power?
This is awesome. My son moved into a new home this summer in East area of Spartanburg. Now that he has NG I wish he gave this consideration. We on the coast have the problem (as far as I am concerned) of no NG. Just a 120 gallon propane tank for hot water, fireplace and cooktop.
We considered the exact setup you have, neighbor has it. At times Costco has a nice sale on (forgot the exact wattage) a multi fuel, for $799 -$200 off. But as you know, you can find them on sale many times of year anyplace.
It would be a simple set up at our house. Tap for the propane, breaker panel on the same inside wall as the outside propane pipe and tank. Just roll it out the garage door and connect it. However that propane tank would be useless for any extended time, way to small for the purpose and worse if the storm does not hit when its exactly full. I know in an extended period I could use gasoline.
Coming from the Chapin SC area right off i26 were we previously lived for 16 year we never lost power for more than 4 hours, we did have NG there. Anyway I guess I am rolling the dice again here on the coast simply because we do not have NG here. The did have an extended blackout where we live 7 years ago in 2018. However it looks like they may get a fair amount of ice this time, though you and my son will most likely far exceed that.
Anyway, nothing happening here on the coast for this storm, extreme southeastern NC, nothing but a rainstorm, maybe some sleet etc.
Moving forward, We have thought of getting a smaller inverter and a window AC unit for that rare hurricane, still 220 though and plug it in the same way. Enough to run the refrigerator, hot water heater, some lighting, TV and homes in this county each have a sewer pump. Inverter I read will be more efficient and chances are propane will last longer... (for now procrastination has set in here)
Anyway good luck up there!!! You're going to need it, but it will be cool that you will be able to maybe use your set up. I think at least right now, it's looking to be a disaster up there. My son is not prepared... (wait, I wonder if his BMW EV could give some power!?!?) Most likely a safety of some kind to prevent energizing the grid. Though I am sure there might be a way ??
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Our “whole house” is RIP - we never really needed it - and was tired of the weekly “exercise” - cost went way up - just got a large dual fuel - so at ideal load we have four 120V (20 amp) cords. Also have 2 portable AC units (on wheels) and gas heat that needs no power. The generator is push button start on propane … fires right up …
Thats easy but illegal. The interlock is simply a piece of metal preventing you from powering your home without first cutting off the mail breaker. It's a safety to prevent harming line workers because if you forget to shut off the main you could electrocute a line worker.
No, buying a home generator you can use the same way as @4wd does which is simple and just as effective. Actually what he did is most likely what we would do for that once or twice every decade instance. Last time was 7 years ago I was told by people in my community. By no means is a "suicide cord" the means to do something by the majority of people.Is that where home owners buy a male replacement plug and make “suicide cords” to plug the generator in a wall socket?
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Back feeding is a horrible idea - but at least a “sparky” can hear ICE gen’s - just imagine a bad rig up of 120v batteries …
Just remembering my son has a BMW i4 (electric) (actually he is now on his second one) that he just picked up this week, turned in the M50 i4
However I just found this, I wonder can you run a house off a Tesla?
Currently, the BMW i4 does not have the capability to power a house when plugged in, unlike some other electric vehicles. However, there are discussions about potential future software updates that could enable this feature.
However I just found this, I wonder can you run a house off a Tesla?
Currently, the BMW i4 does not have the capability to power a house when plugged in, unlike some other electric vehicles. However, there are discussions about potential future software updates that could enable this feature.
We've got a gas generator we inherited from my FIL. It's got 2 110 outlets. It's 5500W if I can remember correctly. We also have a Bluetti AC70 with 2 110 outlets. We're above the ice line in this storm so we should be OK. So far about 3 inches of powder snow. If ours goes out we'll just hunker down in a small bedroom and run space heaters and a table lamp. Switch to electric blankets when sleeping. We have a gas water heater with a pilot light thank goodness and a gas wall heater in the bathroom. I'll have to fight my wife vigilantly to keep her from firing up the gas stove and cooktop. I just checked and we should have enough wattage to crank up our gas furnace occasionally.
Extension cord?
I would never try to back feed a house the proper way with a tiny generator either. You would have to flip 90% of your breakers or risk someone else flipping a switch and shutting the generator off anyway. You run the few things you need, and leave everything else off.
Ice storm is forecast to start this evening through monday. I have 20 gallons of gas for the HF 4375 genset. Chainsaws sharpened and filled up. 2 gallons of 2cycle fuel mixed.
Any on the ground reports from TX, AR, LA?
That is actually a LOT of ice!
For certain. If anything close to that happens it will paralyze the state.That is actually a LOT of ice!
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
I’m near the gulf coast - good amount of rain - sideways rain at first - now winds slowed - barely makes freezing tonight before it gets worse …
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
It’s enough to hit the brakes and increase speedThat is actually a LOT of ice!
I put a meter on my gas fired furnace and it pulls like 16.5A @120V surge to start and only like 6A to keep it running once started.
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I knew I should have fixed my generator. It's an old Honda with a metal tank that's painted on the inside. To many years of leaving fuel in it made the inside coating peel off. Ten years later and it's still sitting in the same spot. The wife is going to be really mad if the electric goes off.
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I helped a guy hook one up like that once. 220 from a cut extension cord hooked to a thirty amp two pole and told him a million times to make sure the main breaker was off. Of course he fired it up and backfed every transformer on his street and got a visit from the power company working on the lines. I won't help anyone do that again.
