[Cialug] Mailling List Admin

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 8:18 AM, L. V. Lammert <lvl at omnitec.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Apr 2010, Dave Weis wrote:
>
>> A transfer switch is required by the National Electrical Code. Hooking
>> up a generator with a cheater cord and flipping the main breaker is dumb
>> and dangerous. You can see more on it at
>> http://www.gen-tran.com/content/faqs/faq_ats.asp
>>
> Neither is shooting yourself in the foot a pleasant experience, .. but a
> lot of people can affort a backup generator for, say, $500, while two or
> three grand to install a transfer switch is not practical for a lot of
> budgets, .. in addition, some municipalities put such onerous
> restrictions on backup generators as to make installation impractical due
> to the expense of complying with additional regulations.

But if you bought a $0.5k generator you probably wouldn't run your
whole house on it. Just plug in your freezer and a couple critical
items directly, right? Then you wouldn't need a transfer switch. I
don't think I've ever even seen a generator that cheap. It'd certainly
only be engineered for short-term, light duty use.

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
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