You are using “connected” in a different sense of the word.
You still have a switch, but you have an automatic switch so that you don’t need to do anything. But when the generator automatically switches on, the main feed from the utility company is disconnected.
So it is permanently connected in the sense that you don’t have to physically move any wires around. Everything is permanently wired in place.
But it’s not permanently connected in the sense that that the generator and utility power are simultaneously connected electrically to your house. When your generator comes on, your automatic switch disconnects the feed from the power company and switches over to the generator. This is what @Chronos meant by it does this automatically.
If you do not have a system that automatically tests itself, it’s a good idea to run your generator at least once every few months. Otherwise it might not reliably start up when you need it.
I don’t think it’s necessary to haul out a generator just to plug in your refrigerator after an outage of only an hour. My understanding is that a modern refrigerator can keep the food properly cold for close to a full day, if it’s kept shut.
it’s a small generator, I can carry it one handed so it’s not a huge effort. Also, it’s an inverter so it’s fairly quite.
Most outages here don’t last more than perhaps 15 minutes. But once it’s past that, I don’t know how long it will last. So I may as well get it going. Besides, I need to run it occasionally anyway.
There is beer in there. OF COURSE I am going to open it
The point is that with a portable generator, you have to go gas it up, start it, and throw the switches/plug stuff into it.
The automatic ones are permanently emplaced and wired into the house’s circuitry in such a way that if power is lost, they automatically start up, disconnect the mains power, and start supplying power to the house. Typically they run on natural gas or propane. That’s close enough to “permanently connected” for anyone’s definition, except maybe pedantic engineers.
I don’t know if there are specific procedures when power comes back, or if they automatically work in reverse as well.
I doubt you need an inverter generator; a regular old generator will do fine for a refrigerator I would think.
I’ve got a 4000 watt gasoline generator that I have added a natural gas dual-fuel kit to, and plan to use it in any outages longer than about an hour or two. I figure it’ll run a couple of fridges, and maybe a few other things (coffeemaker, box fan, etc…) if I time things right.
Forgive me for trying to correct factual information about how things work in FQ:
The ones that automatically start the generator and automatically switch to it usually switch back once the power feed from the utility company comes back and stabilizes.
You are right, but it’s what I have. I originally bought it for camping, so noise is a consideration. I’ve also used it for TVs and modem/router and the like, so the cleaner power is nice for that. Horses for courses, I suppose. At any rate, it is handy to have around.
I would say it would not be so much of a standby or automatic generator. A emergency generator sounds like one you can use in a emergency, including if the standby generator doesn’t fire up
I bought an Onan 6500 watt, 3-phase generator very cheaply, probably because it was 3-phase. It’s 208/120 3 phase. When I connect it 2 phases go on the main bus in the house, 120 volts on each bank. The third phase is available as a separate receptacle.
The Onan runs at only 1800 rpm and has a full exhaust system so it it rather quiet. They have enormous reserve (starting) capacity. A typical 6500 watt genny will have maybe 7500 watts for starting while the Onan can double its rated output for several seconds!
Since it only supplies 208 vac to the house instead of 240 vac I can’t use any 240 vac appliances but that is just the oven. The 4500 watts to the main buss will run the refrigerator and either the furnace or main A/C plus plenty of lights, TV, computer, etc. Plus Onans run damn near forever, they use them on those isolated oil rigs out in the countryside.
This is me. I bought a portable gasoline generator about a decade ago, after we experienced a summer in which, due to severe storms knocking down trees and taking out power lines, we had four outages in as many months, all of which were at least 48 hours long.
Since I bought that generator, we’ve not ever lost power for longer than 2 hours.
Did this about 8 years ago. I did most of the installation myself. I paid about $900 for the Troy-Bilt generator from Lowes. The rest was wire and connectors for the generator outdoor enclosure, concrete for the pad, materials for the enclosure, propane conversion kit and manual transfer switch.
I paid a gas man to connect my propane tank to the regulator. And I paid an electrician to make the final connections at the transfer switch and load center.
This is in North Georgia.
If I had to do it again today, the final cost would probably be closer to $3,500 or so. Depends on the generator.
Also if I had to do it again today, I would use a different and a little bit more expensive transfer switch.
I have a generator connected through an interlock. The interlock is a device mounted in the main electrical panel that locks out either than the 100 amp main breaker or a 50 amp breaker for the generator. Both cannot be on at the same time. Since the generator can’t run everything in the house at once I have to switch all the breakers to off, start up the generator (dual fuel propane and gasoline), flip the interlock switch to connect the generator, then switch necessary breakers on.
This was a more economic choice for me, the 10000/13000 watt dual fuel generator cost about $1,500 in 2021 and I did the whole installation myself. Estimates for a permanent automatically switching generator with a transfer switch ran up to 10 times that amount with up to a year wait at the time for an installation.
Given the enormous differences in price folks are quoting, I think it’s probably worthwhile to explain what the difference is between the cheap and expensive ones.
I was getting more at the “it’s not permanently connected, there’s an automatic switch” part, vs just saying it’s permanently connected and comes on when the power goes out.
For your average layman, it doesn’t really matter, in that how the cutover of the power is achieved is less important than the fact that it does happen automatically.
That’s versus the portable kind that you have to wheel out, start up, plug things into, etc…
But for a lot of them, even ones that are permanently installed and have all of the wiring in place, the cutover isn’t automatic, because apparently making that automatic makes it a lot more expensive. The end user still needs to go down into the basement to shut off the mains and switch in the generator.
(I suspect that the increase in cost isn’t because of any real difficulty in making an automatic switch, but just an “all the market will bear” thing, to filter out the folks who are willing to pay thousands extra for all the bells and whistles)
