A new how-to video to install an EZ Generator Switch - The most affordable and efficient generator connecting manual transfer switch on the market. See more on www.EZGenerator...
Ordered 2 and installed them today. First one took about 15 minutes and second one was done in about 7 . I must say amazing product and this makes the usage of my generator such a breeze. Thank you for such easy to DYI solution !
I appreciate the video. Basically i am looking to power up my furnace and a few lights as well. My generator is only 3750 watts so naturally i am limited. This looks to be exactly what i have been looking for.
Randall, 3750 will handle quite a bit. A simple trick to get more from your generator is to rotate loads. Such as start the furnace bring the room temp up then lower the T stat. You can do this with the refrigerator also bring down the temp get things cold and rotate to another load. Your 3750 will handle furnace, lights and refrigerator without alternating the loads. Another item is change all lighting to Led one sixth the load with the same lumens.
What do you mean ROTATE to an other load? There is only (1) Load circuit connected, in your video example -- to energize a different circuit, you would have to rewire your switch to another load. Please clarify: ROTATE?
Very nice , (as a retired electrician) I would recommend providing a cover for the generator plug when not in use. That would give me a little piece of mind. It's just weird to see the exposed prongs like that.
This is nice for one circuit to get a normal extension chord from your generator to this device. However, for most people, a simple and inexpensive "interlock" installed on your main panel allows you to safely toggle between "line" incoming power and "generator" incoming power....and once you install this....allows you choose any number and combination of branch circuits to be powered from your generator....of course limited to the power available from the generator. For a lot of people, there is more than 1 critical circuit to be powered during a power outage. For most it's the refrigerator....but like here may also be a furnace or well pump, etc. An interlock is MUCH less expensive than a transfer switch system, and it allows you to choose any branch circuit in your box during an outage ( or series of circuits that don't overload your generator)...such that you don't hav to pre-choose the one (or more) circuits ahed of time. Transfer switches are $300 or more and interlocks can be had for as little as $40 ( plus the cost of a double-pole 30A breaker...about $10). Yes....you will also need an "inlet box" ($50) and a heavy duty 240V chord to connect up to your generator ( $90).
Interlocks are not $40 dollars, sq D, siemans and alike start at $60. What you failed to explain is you now need a 30/40/50 or even a 60 amp line installed to the outside of your home. This alone will cost you $400 from any licensed /insured electrician. You also need the 2 pole breaker. Most important is your generator needs to handle the load based on wire size. 30 amps needs a 7200 watt green set, 40 amp requires 9600 watts and up from there... Nothing user friendly. We don't compete with that set up. Many of our customers use 2000watt fuel efficient gen sets and operate heat, refrig, lights. They do the install themselves because of the ease of our product. Worse case 3 units with discounts we provide is just over 200. We are on different ends of the spectrum.
@@EZgeneratorswitch I paid $46 for my Square D interlock kit back in 2012. Another $60 for the inlet. 50a breaker was another $25. 6 gauge cable, $200. The EZ generator switch is a great solution for a gas furnace or sump pump. I almost bought one for my furnace, but chose a different route.
I installed a dual circuit transfer switch in my home.... all lightbulbs in my house are LEDs. I can run ALL my lights, my furnace and my home theater system off a 2000 watt generator. Tested the load with a kill-a-watt meter, and still have about four to five hundred watts to spare. LED light bulbs TREMENDOUSLY help reduce the size of the generator needed. You can use about 8 LED bulbs in place of the load of ONE 100 watt incandescent bulb.
The last home I looked at where they wanted to heat their home off of a generator during power outage, the gas furnance had a male cord end plugged into a standard recepticle. I told them to just use an extension cord direct from the generator. Since most home owners panels are recessed in a sheetrock wall, I find it easier to install a recepticle next to the furnace and put a male cord on the unit.
I like the concept, and get why you don't need to worry about back-feeding, because the generator switch is isolating the load for that circuit. In normal mode, the load is fed directly from the panel; when you switch to generator mode, the circuit is isolated from the panel, and then fed from the generator inlet. No way to backfeed, and it seems to be an easier solution for the average homeowner than an interlock, or transfer switch for a small application. Looks like it would work great for something like a gas or oil furnace/hot water heater that only requires 120v.
@@ginpok6640 human error is the most common reason for things going wrong. That should be something automatic to where you don't have to trust somebody's memory.
This is a great device, single cir. For people who are on a tight budget . If all you want is heat ,this is the way to go as long as it is 110 Volt propane or oil fired . Very safe and inexpensive !!
Many customers want heat, lights and refrig. They purchase 2 and sometimes 3 units. WE don't compete with 10 circuit units and never intended. Just trying to help customers who don't want to spend a fortune waiting for the lights to go out. 😁
i installed an 4 EZ generator switch . very easy. in stalled 4 of them for a customer that had 4 apartments. to keep there heat on in a power outage. thanks i will be going to other customer with apartments thank you very much petrusewicz Electrical.
Good stuff! Looks like a nice product. Thought i would mention to check with local codes. Its against code in my area to use the combination panel as a junction point. I would need to relocate the furnace romex cable to square junction box and make connections behind the EZ Gen switch. This leaves only the line side wires and ground to terminate inside the panel with no connections.
Not discussed; using a 4 inch x 4 inch x 1-1/2 inch 21 cu inch square extension ring to make all of the wire nuts disappear from becoming a future booby trap having to remove the panel just to check unrelated connections in circuit filled main panel. Or, a deeper box option. (You'd think wire splices in the main panel would be against code)
Why didn't you mention bonding or floating bond in this video ? Also you could have had a sketch or diagram of what you did hooking up the switch. Overall, your stuff is very understandable compared to some of the other videos. Thanks.
Any essential item can be energized, heat , lights , refrig, solar systems, even traffic lights! May customers purchase 2 or 3 units and take care of heat , lights and refrig.
EZ Generator Switch my ex wife had a 240v sextoy and when she kicked it up into nympho mode not sure what happened but i saw smoke coming out of her bedroom and also heard her making animal noises i ran to see what was going on and she was having her way with that poor electrical device and it was literly causing severe back feeding of electric onto the power lines, my question is how did this happen do i need a portable nuclear plant in my back yard and after this incident i did not hear any linemen injured thankfully any electrical advise would be appreciated btw i have a 12k gen set severely wore out used only once for sale let it go cheep.
Worth noting that here in Canada, depending on province, the connections in the panel with wire nuts is not allowed. They would have to be made in the 4 inch jb. Great video. Are these csa approved
Had to watch vid 2-3 times. My fault! Neighborhood power went out 2 days ago! I've got a gen. but I hate running cords. I will be ordering at least 2 of these! Completely rewired my entire house. Happily, I wired each room on its own breaker. So I can use 1 or 2 on any room I want!
Its a two way switch ,you disconect the line, and switch to generator,so switch in position one, you connect the line to the load, and disconect the generator, in pos two you connect the genny to the load, and disconnect the line at the same time.
Does the switch have a 'center off' rocker switch position to turn the furnace off and disconnect it from the line? This would not be done during a power outage. I thought I heard a click at center off. I understand that no cord to the plug from the generator would not be a powered line and do the same thing, break the black hot line.
All transfer switches with a UL have a center off. The requirements are break before make and that is done with center off. There is no power on the cord unless you are running your generator.
Two questions: So you product only supplies power to the furnish...correct? How do you tell when the power grid comes back on?...when the rest of the lights in the house come on? Sorry that wasn't made clear in your video. Thanks
Switch transfers load for what ever breaker you connect it to... When the lights come back on pull your extension cord out shut down your generator and place switch back in the normal position.
I am concerned about the "button breaker" in this device. I'm sure it's UL 489 certified but I don't know if I'd trust it with one of my branch circuits. Do you have another model with a full size breaker?
Funny because I was sure that the neutral coming from the utilty and the copper ground wires were 2 different grounds and not on the same buss-bar...you connect grounds and whites together ??
Great question! ONLY on the main panel bus bar in the first panel. No other panel, such as a sub panel or any junction box. The main panel or disconnect is the only place a neutral becomes a ground.
Definitely enjoyed the video. Thumbs up. Question, doesn't the main breaker need to be cut off before you hook up the generator so your not feeding power back up the line to the workers at the top of the poles fixing them? Thanks either way.
I understand it but why would you do this for a single hardwired circuit? A interlock kit would give you pick of everything on your panel and even a transfer switch would give you 6 or 8 breakers. So you have your HVAC system set up.....no lights....no fridge, etc, etc?
Quick question. You installed the switch to a furnace. If I wanted to install a generator to the fridge, sump pump, or lights, do I need a separate switch fo each breaker?
I have a 125v, 20amp circuit I want to power up with a 3750 watt generator during power failures. Does the EZ Generator Switch come in a 20amp version?
I have a 8k generator out in a shed that is sound proofed. How can I run a line back to the house to run the whole house. And Its low voltage stuff we need running. Some lights. 24volts for the boiler. Fridge and phone chargers. Maybe the internet and satellite if available. If natural gas is running I would like to pipe it out to the gen to run that and make our black out last for as long as it takes.
@@thelakeman5207 it's not a point of frying those little wires because it's the same gauge as a well line 20 amps. The difference is 240 volts not 120v
seems like it would be easier to connect generator to main breaker box bus with 20 or 30 amp breaker. If outage, switch all breakers off along with main switch, connect generator thru new breaker, start generator, turn on all breakers that you want to feed from generator. No other switches needed.
@@EZgeneratorswitch ok whatever. Just seems to me if the generator is energizing tht furnace breaker, with the main breaker on, then it would also be feeding electricity throughout that box and into the main breaker, which is feeding it outside to the utility company. I don't understand how your transfer switch prevents that
@@sunhawk61 I have a few of these. They don't backfeed. When switched into the "Generator" position, the Line In from the utility company is completely isolated from the circuit. It's not even in the picture. This switch introduces a physical break of its own, functionally equivalent to what the main breaker does.
This is a single circuit transfer switch... It is dedicated to a essential circuit during a power outage. If you want to energize your whole panel the switch would need to be rated for the whole panel.. Such as 200 amps is a typical main panel. Whole house systems such as these start around 9000.00
So, do you mean that you can only hook up one item per switch? I'm buying a Honda 7000 and want to have my furnace, deep freezer, refrigerator, some lights, and computer hooked up. I have a propane stove so I can use the cook top and light manually but the oven is electronic so it would need hooked in too, although it just gets plugged into a regular outlet.
Look at a 10 circuit transfer switch.. with installation it should run around $800 ...depending on how far the electrician will need to run the feed for that panel. We are at the opposite end of the spectrum for $80 bucks
Rydrdg you should check out the website. Lots of info 4u., plus other you tube videos. We manufacture a single circuit dedicated transfer switch for essential loads you need during an outage.
Will this run all your appliances of course one at a time . Do you have to install a separate box to run each appliance, for instance if you connect this box to your heater breaker will that energize your whole buss so you can manually turn one thing at a time.
+TheQdoggerShow . We manufacture a SINGLE circuit transfers switch. It is dedicated to a specific circuit for essential items needed during an outage. Some customers want their heat, some want their refrig, lights, sump pump and so on. A "whole House" transfer switch is most likely rated at 200 amps and the switch itself with no installation cost around $400
Is there a box that would allow you to hook up multiple items to the generator? I'd like to do what you did in the video but for lights and the fridge.
What is the installation process for the majority of homes where the panel is recessed in drywall? Give it a shot on a "mock up panel" in your shop. Then, post it on your channel. It is MUCH more difficult.
+Brian Hammerson Brian it is more difficult , we have done many and unless you do it everyday it takes time. There are some tricks that speed it along but again unless you do it everyday plan on spending an extra 1/2 hr. I will talk to them about doing one in a recessed panel...Good idea!
So you have 1 110 line and only a furnace powered ? The house breaker box has 2 110 bars the breakers mount on that are separate fed so you can power 220 volt things like an electric dryer. Can it be hooked up for 220 or to one of the power bars or jumped to both without using 220 volt and the 220 breaker off OR would that require another breaker box and a switch that kept grid and generator power from operating at once ? Like if you wish to power a fridge, lights , computer, TV and a few outlets depending on your generator output of course. Would 2 generators be able to power each 110 bar in the homes breaker box with 2 switches and have a similar breaker box with the same number and amp rating of breakers in your home with proper output generators ?
Brian good questions. Let's start here. We manufacture a single circuit transfer switch dedicated to essential circuits needed during an outage. If you wanted to energize multiple circuits you would need a 240 volt transfer switch RATED for the entire panel or load you wanted to transfer. In other words if your panel is 200 amps the switch needs to be 200 amp. There are NO Shortcuts. No cheap way, no bearing the system. Our price is I expensive because of it size and capability....Single circuit. We are the least expensive way to connect a essential circuit. That is what it was designed and patented for. In addition once you want to energize multiple circuits your generator increases in size matching your load. Our load would be small therefore your generator can be small also. Appreciate your questions
How many loads can you put on that one switch ? It was what 15 amp only number 14 wire I presume so I dont see how it can carry any more than one load at a time kinda not so good what are the options for a bigger load idk why someone would go thru all that for just the furnace and then what run extension cords from the generator for lighting or refrigerator perhaps it just doesn't seem to make sense to me maybe pls enlighten me cuz I can't wrap my mind around it for one thing you would do that for several or more things I would think if your going thru all that work not that its hard bur again there must be another better way surely you have another product available for just what I'm talking about ?
_How many loads can you put on that one switch ? It was what 15 amp only number 14 wire I presume_ That is correct. Nothing over 15 amp (including in-rush start up load)
Dan Johnson transfer switches that are approved never let the generator and grid come together ever. It is fine with a double pole double throw switch. No magic, nothing suspicious
Thaaaat is so amazingly simple! It's a great idea and I'm glad it got full funding. But why not give it the capability to power some lights AND the furnace? Oh, and, what is keeping the male prongs from becoming energized when the switch is on generator mode and there's nothing plugged in?
The male prongs you are looking at ONLY accept the generator feed so they will never be live except when you "plug in" and then they are covered. Yes simple & EZ !
+EZ Generator Switch To clarify, I think AaronLow1 meant what if you had the switch in "generator mode" while there is no generator attached. Would the exposed male prongs therefor be energized? I believe they would unless you have a relay in your switch that only activates with incoming generator power.
@@KirillElrond People, the transfer switch connects either the breaker or the generator prongs to the load. When in breaker mode the prongs are connected to nothing. In generator mode the prongs are connected to the load, no power there. It will get power when you fire up the generator and plug in the extension cord. No way for the prongs to be energized by the breaker.
Nothing, you would then remove the cord from the generator, shut it down and pull the cord from the ez generator switch. Proceed to place it back into the normal position.
Hello, I just ordered one of your Universal Transfer Switches. I was watching this video, is the Switch that I ordered already set up as a Floating Neutral Switch? I noticed the Narrator hooked the neutral line from the switch to the Bus Bar. This is Floating Neutral correct? I know your switches come with detailed instructions on Floating, or bonded neutral. My Generator has a Floating neutral.
NO BACK FEEDING WITH OUR SWITCH. I need to write this again because we get endless questions about back feeding. ALL TESTED UL AND OR CSA SWITCHES DO NOT BACK FEED. This notion started with a Johnnie home made transfer switch. The street side and generator side can never be connected physically.
You can use a 55,000 watt generator if you want. But don't forget you are only powering 1 120 volt device. A 5500 watt generator can power any 120 volt 15 amp max device. With the switch in this video it cannot back feed. No need to touch the main breaker.
There is one big no-no in this video that I haven't heard anyone addresss. NEC prohibits the splicing of wires inside of a breaker panel. Also is this switch UL Listed?
+Artur Zatorski First let me give you some information. There are 16 testing labs in the US, UL is just one of them. So many companies choose other testing labs besides UL. We have used Intertek their label is ETL. All 16 companies are over seen by OSHA. So YES we are approved by ETL (containing a UL #) and we are ALSO approved by CSA which is Canada approval to sell. Your next question was Splicing in a panel . It is perfectly legal to splice inside a electrical panel. 312.8 Switch and Overcurrent Device Enclosures with Splices, Taps, and Feed- Through Conductors. The wiring space of enclosures for switches or overcurrent devices shall be permitted for conductors feeding through, spliced, or tapping off to other enclosures, switches, or overcurrent devices where all of the following conditions are met. >>>The conditions talk about cross sectional area and how much space they take up which is not a issue in our case nor in most cases. Thanks for your questions!
I was an apprentice for 2 yrs and I stopped lol but correct me if I'm wrong but NEC is also based on what state you live in. I'm pretty sure NEC books differ from state to state.
+ElCheDeNy 94 Let me help you a bit. It is the National Electrical Code . Not state code. There would be no uniformity if it wasn't. What if you could cross the border by 10' and all the rules would change ? could you imagine the chaos... NEC is the bare minimum so some States like Massachusetts have a section that they have adopted which is in addition to the NEC. But No specific changes like eliminating sections or chapters. So when you buy a new book every 3 years(updates) they are the same in every state. New Hampshire has a requirement that every master/journeyman take a 15 hr. code update every 3 years to maintain your license. Other states you do nothing ever.
I'm wondering if this will work for my application.. I'm doing this a little bit in reverse I live in an off-grid cabin currently running DC and then just running a pure sine wave inverter and extension cords whenever I need AC power. However recently I started running outlets and light boxes and I'm going to run them back into a simple single phase eight breaker box with the intention of eventually grid tying but in the meantime I want to be able to run my pure sine wave inverter into it or my propane generator... so for at least the time being that would be my dedicated power I wouldn't have the grid tie I don't have a furnace in my house it's a tiny house with a fireplace and an on-demand propane heater.. could I install that box and run those lines into one of the empty circuit breaker slots and provide power from my inverter or generator through it?
You can use it to transfer power from any two sources. Yes it will work keep in mind the unit has 20 amp rated components but in the generator position it will be limited to 15 amps
As great as this product sounds, it appears to only power one single circuit? (in this case furnace) I think something that powers several circuits would be a bit more beneficial, like lights, fridge or freezer, etc. A single just seems to be a bit of a waste of time/money.
Hi, I am writing from Puerto Rico, I have a Honda generator with 120V output. I have it connected without a transfer switch. connected panel braked. jump the two phase to have 120v power throughout my house. my question is ... can I use this switch transfers to feed me both phase for 120v?
It comes down to what do consider essential? Heat, lights and refrig can use a 3K generator. I have seen people do it with a 2200. They rotate what they need.
I have a Generac 8kW generator hooked up to my propane. It will start up for no reason. You can't stop it with the on off switch. I have to remove the small fuse that is on the top of box where the on/off switch is. I had one repair man out who could not figure it out. Of course he changed the oil, vacuumed the box out and charged me $250. Do you have any ideas what I should swap out like the motherboard etc?
I have several questions: Is the example here "to code" in San Diego, CA? Is there a limit to the number of your switches I can install (for example, I have two generators and would like to ensure my furnace and my refrigerator are both powered even though they are presently on separate breakers)?
The switch meets all codes USA and Canada. It has a "label" from intertek ( like UL but bigger) if you use more than 4 switches there are other alternatives. Ours is the quickest and easiest to install. In addition it will work with bonded or floating neutral generators
I had a question when there's not a power disruption... What would happen if a person accidently hit the EZ Generator Switch to the generator position and say a youngster touched one of the exposed leads coming out of the EZ switch box?
Good question... The prongs are never live only when your generator plugs into the switch. This is the feed into the switch from your generator. If anyone changes the position of the switch at ANY time there are no hazards. Any approved UL product will not backfeed or create any issues of any kind. Selling a product such as ours requires UL & CSA (canada) as well as insurance acceptance to be on the public market properly. There are transfers switches on EBay & Amazon that have no approvals, UL parts are not an approved product! The unit as a whole must be tested.
Nope, They use a DPDT switch. The load is connected to the two screw commons on the switch and gen goes to two of the other screw pairs and line goes to the opposite end screw pairs on the switch. This type of switch isolates the line and gen sides completely when switching between the two. There is no way to get a back feed with this switch type.
The inlet (prongs) will only have power on them when there is an extension cord inserted. When you receive a UL or CSA standard (like we have) every possible senerio has been considered. You can't wire our switch wrong to make that happen. The generator side is wired by us in the factory.
You will need to convert the switch. Very simple, directions will show you and there is also a you tube Video to watch. If you have any questions just contact us!
Nice switch, but shouldn't you open the main to prevent any voltage/current from getting back out on the main supply and potentially shocking anybody (lineman, etc.) who is working on the power (i.e. - trying to restore the power)?
I have a Honda floating neutral generator, just got two switches. I’m going to install it on a Sub panel. Can I connect ground and neutral separately? Because both hot and neutral of generator are hot (60v to ground), is that okay energize to the panel without bonding neutral?
Convert the switches first. Second in the sub panel there is two different bars for ground and neutral. Port the ground in the ground bar detail and the neutral on there neutral bar.
@@EZgeneratorswitch Such a quick reply. I have completed switch conversion according to the demo video．I want to make sure that don’t have to consider 60 volts of generator neutral-ground voltage. Will it run normally when hook up? Thank you for your support.
@@EZgeneratorswitch I got Honda eu2200i, NEUTRAL FLOATING is marked by the plug receptacle. I measured neutral to ground is 60V and same voltage hot to ground(It’s certainly 120V hot to neutral). I know it’s normal to many floating neutral generator, just concern whether it can be connected to panel neutral bar.
Looks great but for one small detail, as per the National Electrical Code you CANNOT use the breaker panel as a junction box! All wire connections using wirenuts MUST be in a separate junction box of the appropriate size for the amount of wires joined and THEN brought into the electrical distribution panel. To make the installation of your switch legal per code, you'd have to make the connections inside your 4" box, THEN bring one continuous wire into the service panel. I was an electrician for over 5 years and had a house fail inspection because my helper did just that when he cut wires too short and lengthened them inside the panel.
macktrucker921 srry if I'm late ...but u cud splice I a the panel as long as the brach circuit ur splicing is not leaving thht panel .....in other words u cannot come in side a panel splice and leave the panel but u CAN spice n stay in the panel
The 2 sets of connecting instructions supplied with my switch differ for SWITCHED & UNSWITCHED neutrals. This video appears to be for SWITCHED neutrals. True or False?
Yes. I’d like to connect a Wen 3500 model 56352 to a panel. Should I use the switched neutral method or the unswitched method? I.e. Does that model have a floating neutral or not?
