@@LichaelMewis I have a small 4000 watt Champion portable unit that I use for backup & the manual is very specific about oil changes. Before it was ever run I installed a magnetic dipstick & after 5 hours run time I was amazed at the large amount of metal bits. Even at 10 hours there were lots of bits, I guess that is what to expect when the label says: Made in China.
@@19989jegs Hopefully never but in Andover/Lawrence MA the natural gas system over-pressured & caused many homes & businesses to blow up & the system was down for weeks. An act of terror could shut down natural gas fairly easily & our borders are wide effing open.
How convenient the plumbing was so perfectly sized and located and painted, the anchors were already installed, and the electric completed and cut to perfect length. Man, I wish my installs were this convenient.
This makes it look much easier than it is to hook one of these up. We have a Koehler whole house generator. It took a three man team about 10 hours to set our generator and transfer switch up. Total cost $15,000.00. That was about nine years ago. My advice: Hire a company that specializes is generator installation and servicing. Buy a service contract for yearly service (oil changes etc) and priority repairs in the event of a widespread power outage. Our service contract costs about $400.00 each year plus parts. Our generator burns about $3.00 in fuel every hour it runs. After nine years it has approx 600 hours on it here in rural Vermont. Buy a generator big enough to power everything you own (heating, cooling, cooking and your well if you have one) I’m sure glad we have our Koehler. They are not cheap.
@@castro1223 Depends on what they got. If he got one where he could run *Everything* you're talking about $15,000-$26,000+. If he has one that only needs to control HVAC, fridge, pumps, etc (essentials) they're about $3,000 - $10,000. I bought a Kohler 80kW whole home backup generator that will power the entire house if the power goes out. It's so fast that the lights barely blink when it switches to the generator, maybe a 5 or so second delay. It runs on natural gas and that one cost around $32,000 and about $15,000 to install. To actually install the thing I had to pay like $500 for a permit to be able to pour concrete for it to sit on and yearly my costs to maintain it is around like $1,000. I live in an extremely densely wooded area in the middle of nowhere where we get lots of storms and hurricanes during the season. And the investment for me is completely worth it. Before I got it we had a tropical storm give us around 8 inches of water maybe more and it flooded my finished basement because the pumps didn't have any electricity, the storm also filled all my French drains, it was bad. But if anyone has ever had the same kind of issue I would highly recommend a whole home backup.
I have had a backup generator for 10 years. A lot of peace of mind. I have had outages lasting several days. But all essential circuits were covered but the generator. Heat, fridge, sump pump and a lot of the circuits were covered. Where I live the local utility is not reliable. I am very happy to have this. My electrician installed it when I built my house but could not get it to work properly. I looked at the installation and found that it had not been properly grounded. Since then I have had 10 years of trouble free power back up
My installer seems to want to put the automatic transfer switch outside. Wouldn't it be better to put it inside? We are putting in a whole house Generac automatic generator,
@@TheBorrego25 Generac 16kw unit with a Honda engine operating on natural gas, so instead of 16 kw I only get 15 kw. I service it twice a year - oil and filters, spark plugs every 2 years. It is programmed for an automatic test each week.
Exactly my hope (a "how to" tutorial). This video works more on the level of a promotional bit of advertising and less a "how to". oh well. I'll keep searching for something slightly more instructive.
We have used the ru-vid.comUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for probably 30 hours with our camper and it’s been great! The noise level is really only noticeable when running the AC and other appliances like the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot. It’s not huge like other ones and it has wheels so even at 90lbs, I can move it!
We have a Cummins whole house generator that handles all our buildings on our property. A 6200 sq ft garage with a full size 1600 sq ft apt…it has 5 mini split/heat pumps. Our 4200 sq ft house with 2 central ac units. We have lost power and the only way we knew was our neighborhood was dark. It is a great piece of mind in summer and winter. With 2 transfer switches, power lines between buildings, concrete work, etc. it cost about 30K all in.. ours is 38Kw and is very quiet. It was money well spent.
Producer: "Forget about checking for a gas leak, etc. Let's get it done for the camera, get the production gear back on the truck and get the hell out of here! There's a game on, tonight."
@M Detlef I'm not sure what electrical experience you claim to have, but it shows 0 integrity from your end. Any person with any handicap or health issue should not have to worry about lugging a generator outside and powering it up, or running an extension cord to power from their car. Shame on you dude. You don't get to dictate what they need.
We have a Kohler 20KW whole-house generator and it works very well. And is has to since we are in the Sierra Nevada in California and PG&E shuts off the power all the time. The only warning is that dealers and maintenance seems hard to find. The original dealer lost his relationship, and refused to service it, after he recommended it. You can't do the maintenance yourself, or keep up with the upgrades. Probably the most important thing is the service network. Actually the most important thing. It's $6K down the drain if you cannot get service. So forget the name. Look at who does the service. Kohler is great but my only service comes from Sacramento, CA, Reno NV, or Martinez, CA, all hours away. Check the service first.
More like a bunch of guys who have actually done this and realize just how time consuming the process is, video makes it look a hell of a lot easier than it is.
@I’m no expert, but this is how I do it DIYers come in a wide range. My dad was a DIYer - he built his entire house from an empty lot starting with digging a full basement with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, right up to the last shingle. I built my garage from scratch the same way, did all the wiring, roofing, etc. The only thing irritating about this install would be getting the power company out to pull the meter to do the transfer switch install.
@@cantcomeupwithausern I'd wondered about that. When I was a kid my dad would just call up the power company and tell them he was pulling the meter. They would usually take months to get around to coming back out and resealing it. I assumed they put up with it because it was in a rural area and he was a farmer and well what are you gonna do?
His contract was not renewed, but I stand by and say he remains the best regular electrician. Has a great personality that is lacking in a lot of the others.
They left out many of the finer points, but this is not a full episode. Copper or aluminum can be used as long as it's stranded, not solid. (code for vibration issues) Code also calls for a sediment leg (drip leg) in the gas pipe, which they did not install. The internet connection for fault messaging will be re-established when the unit powers up the house, but the real reason for the cat-5 wire is communication with the transfer switch, which can also be wired with copper, but has fewer options. (gives you the option of doing a retrofit without pulling new wires) The internal contactor of the transfer switch has multiple contacts so the power feed (gen or utility) is one or the other. It can never be both at the same time, which is the safety function of this device. New code in recent years also calls for signage at the meter stating that there's an automatic generator connected to the home so any electrician or fire department needing to kill the power will know to disable the gen set. This is national code in the USA so I'm amazed they didn't mention it.
Disabling the gen set is tricky, because you want emergency services to be able to do it easily, but you don't want thieves to be able to do this for nefarious reasons. I suppose with a natural gas system you could simply turn the shutoff valve off. Is there a kill switch for other systems?
@@spelunkerd ... the kill switches are there for UL and NFPA listings. Also, all sets must have a fuel shut-off near by. (forgetting... within 3 or 5 ft) The only fuels available would be propane or NG... and both need a valve. That said, what would a thief need with that kill switch? If they are going to steal it they would have to disconnect the gas first. BTW, I taught fire department classes for years and my "go to" on generator safety was to find the gen set and close the fuel valve. IOW, back in the old days they taught "pulling the electric meter" to de-energize the building, but with so many gen sets that only serves to start the automatic function for a power failure. Shutting off the fuel ensures the gen will not start and keeps the power off.
@@spelunkerd ... these days there's battery back up and low battery warning, so not as common as 20-30 years ago when they were depending on AC power. My god, in those days we'd run trouble calls out the wazoo every time the power blipped out. You could set your watch for 10 minutes after a storm rolled into town.... here we go again!
Love to see the critics about Scott Caron but I don’t see any of the critics being a master electrician owning his or her own electric/plumbing/Hvac company named after them and being on t.v . Would be honored to work next to a skilled craftsmen like him.
That's why he should of used Heavy-Duty Tapcon®+ They have a washer built in. Granted its a flat washer not vibration dampening washer but with the housing on the generator being plastic a flat washer should be sufficient. See, www.tapcon.com/products/heavy-duty-tapcon-plus
Amazing how many think aluminum wiring is bad. Aluminum feeders are perfectly fine. The issue was with branch circuits (for non electricians these are the ones that go to your switches and receptacles). Those connections were not rated for the differences between the metals and that resulted in bad connections that would burn up. Dryer and range plugs were rated for both CU & AL. Service equipment is rated for CU/AL. To this day we still almost exclusively install AL feeders, torque appropriately after DE-OX and it is wonderful. For homes with AL branch circuits we pigtail the houses with copper ends and UL listed connectors. I have yet to go to a house and completely rewire and remove all the AL wire in a house. There is no need to do so.
I enjoy watching videos from caron electric. Dave does a great job doing work perfectly, to national electric codes (nec nfpa 70) and displaying this to the viewers.
Karol K Only feeder runs of Service Entrance Cable are ever ran in the US. Example. The feeder cable from the lugs of an outside service panel with meter to an inside sub panel.
research suggests aluminum is unstable, will expand & contract with temp changes causing fault in wiring and connections ( posing a fire hazard ), and could possibly corrode.
Lol they make setting up a generator seam so easy. Forgot to show the digging . Pulling wire, mounting and setting up the ATS or transfer switch . Connect to meter etc. but I still Love this vid
A lot of inspectors don't like a flex hose sticking out of a generator instead the want to see a hard pipe nipple sticking out and then you connect flex house to it. Additionally the don't like the flex house to be a union connection therefore you need to install a separate uniton connection too.
So its a kohler commercial. Had a ford tractor with a kohler motor Hydrostat Drive. That plow was fun as a kid back in the 80s. Imagine just plowing sidewalks for free in your neighborhood and noone complained no matter what hr of the day after a snowstorm, Great little 42 inch plow with angle cylinders.. 19035 Great area. Great neighborhood with a firehouse of volunteers right there as well..
You stated nothing had to be done inside at the original load center. I've been told that the grounds and neutrals need to be separated due to the transfer switch is now the first disconnect. Is this true?
That's what the transfer switch is for, it changes over the house power from the lines to the generator. This way the generator can't feed the lines and harm linemen.
Depends on the area. Where I live we have outages of at least a couple of hours about twice a year, and every 3 or 4 years one lasting more than a day. And this is not the worst area I've lived in for outages.
You might have a little trouble getting your plumber to do it, but if they run the gas line before your meter, you can save a lot of money on gas! You might even want to run your standby generator all the time...
Or just flip the generator breaker off in the transfer switch. You can still turn off individual breakers to say replace an outlet. Generator only turns on if the power from the poll is cut
Just shut the main breaker off in the electrical panel if your panel still has the original main.The generator will not run .Consider that breaker a sub- panel safety switch
@@jeffw8057 $5300 for the basic 20 kw generator and transfer switch and up to $3,000-4000 more to install it. I just had an estimate for a Generac 22kW, total estimate $8, 800, not including running the propane line from the tank.
Actually that is a good question. Devices like these will usually send messages every few minutes and if a message is not received, they will know something is up. Once the connection comes back up, it re-establishes communications, and tells them weather it was a power outage, or just a network link failure.
@@rickkay9548 Yeah well here's more to think about. With these backup generators, the power does go out for a moment before it kicks in. So, depending on the network setup, most cable modems and optical network terminals in the house will have to reboot and both items take a few minutes to get back online. So yeah it will definitely lose internet connection UNLESS the homeowner is savvy and not only has a battery backed up ONT but also a router (or modem if MoCA) on a UPS.
MisterTwister55 for sure! And once the gen link comes back up, it should be able to send data about what happened while offline. I would hope that the dump would include grid status, network link status (LAN/WAN status), fuel line pressure and consumption. If it could accurately predict stock prices too, that would be a winner combination! haha
I just had a generic generator installed and I have sore panels with another company installed them if the generator comes on because of a power outage will the solar panels back feed power into the generator and damage it either way
Is there a safety check switch to make sure power doesn't go back up to the pole while the generator is running? Otherwise a utility worker could be harmed when they are doing maintenance near you.
The automatic transfer switch has two contactors inside. In the one position electricity flows from the utility through the ATS and into the house and the main panel. When an outage is sensed (or with Kohler if "bad" electricity or an outage is sensed), the generator starts, and after ten seconds the ATS transfers the second contactor which allow the electricity to flow from the generator though the ATS and into the house and to the main panel. The contactors are mechanical devices that keep a separation so that if power from the utility is available-it CANNOT mix with electricity from the generator. This protects linemen AND the Kohler generator. Good question by the way Andrew.
They should have done a better job of explaining that. They just said it is "automatic" without giving any further details or showing how the utility is actually disconnected. By not entering the main panel, it invokes suspicion.
I wish Generac would come out with a home WiFi interface so you could monitor your generator VIA the Computer or your smart phone. They do have a system which connects to cellular service. That may be good in a remote service area, but face it, that's just another expenditure we can live without. We all have wireless routers and WiFi that would extend to our back yards. I have e-mailed Generac and told their customer service about that but all they tell me is their "Mobile Link". I wish everyone would get in touch with Generac and push this feature and tell them to develop a WiFi connected system.
I also heard a rumor that WiFi will be standard starting next year. It's just a rumor, but I've heard it from enough sources that I tend to think it may be happening. I'm sure there will be some way to retrofit it to existing systems
Goshen with a high price of electricity right now it's actually cheaper to run our natural gas with a unit like that I would think. Think about just making the switch over to that and just use that full time I wonder if I could do that
My company does copper conductors for feeders and transfer wiring. With Generac theres no need for any Cat5/6 because with Mobil Link its all wireless.
All wireless to where? In my house I can barely make it half way before the signal demands a 6dbi antenna and at the farthest point through my house a 9dbi Antenna.
So maybe you should explain that this additional box is an auto-changeover scheme. So when the grid comes back on, this box sense this and delays the change as to not have both live connecting when out of sync.
you folks missed an important detail about the transfer switch. A key concept is to not distribute any power into the power grid in the event of a power failure. This is a safety feature for any lineman working on the power lines outside your home.
Roster is what you want. Stainless steel is good for applications where you dry it soon, like kitchen knives etc. Sure it doesn't rust like steel in eyes...
I installed a 21KW Natural Gas auto transfer generator a few years back. The biggest cost was upgrading the gas supply and meter as those things use a massive amount of gas.
2 things they did not say : 1st how long it took to install( gas pipe installation ect ) on my house it took them 4-5 hrs 2ND) total price for that type of unit (similar to the one shown here ) just over $5,000 it it also included a permit from the village i live in
It will depend on the distance between meter and the generator and how gas you use for other purposes, such as, water heater, heat, cooking, etc. Normally your existing meter is sufficient.
My installer seems to want to put the automatic transfer switch outside. Wouldn't it be better to put it inside? We are putting in a whole house Generac automatic generator,
As long as the enclosure is NEMA 4 rated - it doesn't matter if the transfer switch is outside. NEMA 4 is rated for outdoor use, including wind driven rain. As part of the work I've done, we've installed a wide variety of electronic equipment outdoors in Alaska, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, California, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, and Florida and no equipment failures have occurred from exposure to environmental conditions. I wouldn't worry about a transfer switch being outdoors.
Lost power never natural gas. The price is the problem. They jacked up the price. When I worked for the government we were told several years ago that all standby generators were to be diesels and the natural gas ones would be replaced.
I don't like aluminum wiring either. He did use an antioxidant paste when making the connection. Most of the feeder wires from the utility power to your power meter are aluminum. Try getting an electrician or power company to run copper. It will be like trying to pull teeth from a bobcat. The high tension transmission power lines are also aluminum not copper.
@xlthumper No anymore. I live in NB and just bought a house a few years ago with some aluminium wiring and the insurance company said they couldn't care less. Spoke to a few electrician and they said that copper should be phased out within 10 years for new construction also.
really, we just bought another house just oustide toronto and that was another of the questions that ins. asked. even our other house built 1957 they wanted to raise our ins premium and lower our coverage due to old pipe and wire, we told them we just renovated the whole house and they wanted us to pay to have another inspection done to prove there was no more copper pipes and aluminum wiring. wonder what the difference is between provinces,
Manufacturers do not recommend using backup gen for full time power. ICE engine efficiency is low, life span is relatively low, and fuel costs will deplete a fortune.
A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is usually installed on the Internet router/modem and related equipment. The UPS provides power from a battery from the time of the power outage to when the generator starts.
I am wondering about the natural gas requirements. I thought I read somewhere that these devices cause you to need an upgrade on your gas service as they draw more gas than a normal home would use. This requires a larger gas line pulled to the house which adds to the cost. Can anyone verify if they needed a new gas line installed?
The Thing IS That the OWNER chosed the aluminum from copper, it will maybe a bad thing in few years, but its still okey with it it, there was a lot of aluminum, thick and hard wired, they will hold, but copper would handle the job much much better and faster, but thats lil bit expensiver , aluminum costs less then copper, almost 1/6 of a price
Im obviously very lucky where Im at now my power hardly ever goes out, maybe once a year for 15 minutes at most. When I lived down in Florida though this thing would have been awesome the power was going out constantly down there and it was freaking HOT man. Course this is obviously like a tens of thousands of dollars unit so no way I could have afforded something like that anyway lol
Amen to that. I've seen some killer carts over the years. If you want, I can send you the names or links (or both). I don't sell them or anything, I've just run into some really good versions.
Does poweroutage really happend that often in the US that a 30.000USD generator is worth it? If so, im glad i live in Denmark, in 37 years i have only experienced a poweroutage maybe 5 times, lasting from a few minutes to 3 hours if i remember correct
In most parts of the US power rarely goes out. These generators are popular in regions which are ravaged by storms, and utilities might be lost for a week or two. This episode is more than likely filmed on the East coast, so it's not uncommon for hurricanes to make landfall. The same can be said for most of the US coast line, Caribbean, and Pacific islands.
@@AStanton1966 As far as i see they are not in the desert and the generator is not for waterpumps. If the power goes out windturbines are useless, the outage never happen because of no fuel to the big national generators so for safety reason circuit is switch off, rendering windturbines useless since they run on the very same wire and transformers. If the US government claims that we have windturbines in Denmark for backup power, they are lying big time. There are no backup power in Denmark, if transformers or wires gets damaged and needs to be shut down, windturbines are useless for the reasons i said before.
Modern European energy efficient houses usually have solar power and batteries. Your only concern is water coming (not a concern for people with a well).
For the price of the solar panels, wind turbines and batteries, you would be better off paying the electric bill every month. By the time you pay off the solar and turbines, they’d need to be replaced anyway.
Why wasn't the generator installed on the side of the house where the main electrical panel/meter was located? Would have saved time and money not having to purchase additional wiring and conduit and the breaker disconnect for the generator could be located next to the transfer switch.
My gas line and breaker panel are on opposites sides of the house and was told by all dealers I had come out to offer quotes that it's less expensive to set the generator closer to the fuel source. Gas lines are more to run than electrical.
Generac specifically states "do not connect flex line directly to the regulator" yet that's what I see in your install. Can you comment? And best I can tell the title of this video should be "Final easy steps in installing a standby generator". All the hard stuff was done before this video starts.
TOH, Hello, so tell me what is the operating speed of this KHOLER ? I have a bent con rod given to me, it was from A GENERAC,which operates at3600 rpm just like the small gasoline models, EVEN THOUGH IT HAD A LOW OIL DISCONNECT, ITNWAS ONLY9 MONTHS OLD 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
You know what Adam, you can please some of the people some of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time ... just saying :-)
The transfer switch sends power to the house, not thru the meter. Only utility power goes thru the meter. That's what a TRANSFER SWITCH is for. Utility to house OR generator to house. Only one or the other. Never both on at same time. ( Big sparks).
"We didn't have to do anything, because we're doing the entire house," says the technician ... and yet a "how to" tutorial covering how to wire a generator to the whole house transfer box and in turn wire the transfer box to the home's breaker panel would have proven helpful (which is why I checked out this "how to" video ....
I thought it might have a UPS so that the power is uninterrupted while the engine starts and the generator runs until the required voltage is reached and sent into the home.
