Generator Integration to House Power

[Decacraft]

Have been toying with the idea of a roof mounted PV and battery bank setup, its just the initial cost currently that I can't afford to get it done.

Something to mitigate the bills, even if it doesn't cover 100% of my usage, but would also mean I can still have the lights and some of the essentials powered if there was to be an outage.

 

[RichardJackson]

Have been toying with the idea of a roof mounted PV and battery bank setup, its just the initial cost currently that I can't afford to get it done.

Something to mitigate the bills, even if it doesn't cover 100% of my usage, but would also mean I can still have the lights and some of the essentials powered if there was to be an outage.

Not all battery systems allow power during a powercut. My understanding is that very few will isolate you from the grid and power up some of your fuseboard (Victron Multiplus?). More will allow you an emergency socket or two.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

 

[RichardJackson]

Most likely - I think for the push from government it may make it a more attractive decision as Gas boilers get phased out ( if that actually happens )

Www.heatgeek.com is a great resource on heating. Look for customer focused content first.

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[MrEd]

I live in a small village and we have probably 3 or 4 power cuts a month, had one yesterday.
I just put the genny on the patio and run an extension lead to the freezer, wifi and telly and use a gas stove for hot water and cooking

 

[Disabled Preppers]

OK folks sorry i have just found this thread and have a few question that may well have been answered before on threads but as most will know but now our name sort of tells you about us , we refuse to give in to illness love our garden and when the health allows we love days out .
We are prepared people is the name that i think sounds better than preppers sorry just hate the term as so many think of people digging under their houses building bunkers and so on we are normal well as normal as can be in this funny world .

I would like to ask a few questions because i am not good with electrics no laughing but i am honest i did try and change the lights in the back porch to ld from the old fluro and well it went bad to the point i got a bolt and got thrown off the ladder lucky the sparks guy said i never got clamped on so back to using others for electrics .

1 What size gennie would people say for 2 people who do not use lots of eletrical kit other than the freezers and fridge .it is a 2 bed 1930 semi
2 What sort of price should i be looking at a sparks charging to fit what i need to hook the gennie up to the house .IE like someone said the Y spiltter sounds a good one but again i know little to nothing on electrics .
3 Would i have to inform anyone >IE council or home insurance .

Ok well any help or pointers would be great as i say our name tells you alot about us and to be honest we have a number of smaller power banks and a fw large ones to power such things as a stairlift and well just run basics if the power goes down , i have installed battery powered led strip lights in the house to power in the event but also to save on electric usage .

Ok well as said i am always happy to listen and learn

 

[Decacraft]

OK folks sorry i have just found this thread and have a few question that may well have been answered before on threads but as most will know but now our name sort of tells you about us , we refuse to give in to illness love our garden and when the health allows we love days out .
We are prepared people is the name that i think sounds better than preppers sorry just hate the term as so many think of people digging under their houses building bunkers and so on we are normal well as normal as can be in this funny world .

I would like to ask a few questions because i am not good with electrics no laughing but i am honest i did try and change the lights in the back porch to ld from the old fluro and well it went bad to the point i got a bolt and got thrown off the ladder lucky the sparks guy said i never got clamped on so back to using others for electrics .

1 What size gennie would people say for 2 people who do not use lots of eletrical kit other than the freezers and fridge .it is a 2 bed 1930 semi
2 What sort of price should i be looking at a sparks charging to fit what i need to hook the gennie up to the house .IE like someone said the Y spiltter sounds a good one but again i know little to nothing on electrics .
3 Would i have to inform anyone >IE council or home insurance .

Ok well any help or pointers would be great as i say our name tells you alot about us and to be honest we have a number of smaller power banks and a fw large ones to power such things as a stairlift and well just run basics if the power goes down , i have installed battery powered led strip lights in the house to power in the event but also to save on electric usage .

Ok well as said i am always happy to listen and learn

Ideally you would need to know your usage per day, and go from there- I know you say the fridge freezer and some other bits, but if you know your consumption its a lot easier to work out.

I'm not sure what route would be the easiest for you, it depends on the state of your current electric circuits in the house and what consumer unit you have.

If it were me I would potentially look at running some new plugs from the generator, and in the instance of a power outage unplug and replug into the genset when needed.

Failing that a half decent solar setup with some lipo4 batteries wouldn't be too expensive, and it could offset your electric bill costs- even if you only have enough power for the essentials and not the washing machine.

Your heating will also require a power source if you have a boiler.


If it were me I would be looking to start with
* lighting circuit (bathroom, living room, kitchen and bedroom with LEDs)
*power to keep boiler running
* possibly power for small cooking appliances
*power for small electronic devices such as Internet, TV and charging mobile devices for communication.

You can get solar panels on the roof, in the garden or on an outbuilding and run a powerstation such as an ecoflow but it all depends on budget and expected useage

 

[demographic]

IIRC the highest demand on the grid was several years ago (I have 2014 in my head but not sure) and as people have implememted power saving measures its dropped since, even with a higher population and more electric cars.
Some electric cars have a vehicle to grid setup so can be used as short term grid storage
There's a fair bit that can be done with battery storage that lessens the need for gennys that are pretty dirty contraptions.

 

[Disabled Preppers]

@Decacraft thank you for the advise

I do understand your points , we do use a lot of led battery lighting now with sensors ie staircase is just one place they are great .
I do have a gennie honda eu20i and a eu10i again as we are prepared people we like ot have bases covered , also cooking wise we have a number of ways to cook like the paraffin stoves and ovens and also calor gas and the butane small gas stoves again as prepared people we cover those bases but i like hte idea of the power from a gennie to run the house in a grid down idea it would be mainly the fridge and freezers and the wifes stairlift that has battery back up and a power bank for that to , 600w style ecoflo units we have 3 again prepared people .

I would have gone solar panels but when we got a price the guy gave it as £12k for the moderate model and well we just said hmmm is it worth it we spent huge amounts on insulation on the house and windows and doors but to putthe solar in we saw no point but he gennie idea well takes my fancy because i cane put the gennie in the garge attached to the house with the exhaust out the back door of the garage and then run it in there in a quiet way if you get me .

I watched the tv movie that time about a grid down situation happening in the UK and what people might do and again that is from a prepare people view .

I must say i love bushcrafting and being able to well have fun in the while but i always say if your roughing it your doing it wrong

Thanks again

 

[Decacraft]

@Decacraft thank you for the advise

I do understand your points , we do use a lot of led battery lighting now with sensors ie staircase is just one place they are great .
I do have a gennie honda eu20i and a eu10i again as we are prepared people we like ot have bases covered , also cooking wise we have a number of ways to cook like the paraffin stoves and ovens and also calor gas and the butane small gas stoves again as prepared people we cover those bases but i like hte idea of the power from a gennie to run the house in a grid down idea it would be mainly the fridge and freezers and the wifes stairlift that has battery back up and a power bank for that to , 600w style ecoflo units we have 3 again prepared people .

I would have gone solar panels but when we got a price the guy gave it as £12k for the moderate model and well we just said hmmm is it worth it we spent huge amounts on insulation on the house and windows and doors but to putthe solar in we saw no point but he gennie idea well takes my fancy because i cane put the gennie in the garge attached to the house with the exhaust out the back door of the garage and then run it in there in a quiet way if you get me .

I watched the tv movie that time about a grid down situation happening in the UK and what people might do and again that is from a prepare people view .

I must say i love bushcrafting and being able to well have fun in the while but i always say if your roughing it your doing it wrong

Thanks again

As long as the wattage of the genies will power the appliances you can run an extension lead to the utilities (look at the caravan hookup ones)

I may be wrong but a switchover box (the one that flips from grid to the genset) may require a different genset or one with smart capabilities to detect a power outage to kick in if the mains goes off.

Luckily I have been picking up a solar panel every few months and now have an array of 10, I'm waiting on a roofer to install the rails on the roof and they can then go on.

Or I'll find a nice homestead and take them with me.

Your Honda's are 2kw and 1kw- the 1 should almost certainly run the fridge freezer and some other bits such as the central heating and lighting, I have an 3600w petrol one dedicated for a just in case the power goes off and keeping the food fresh and frozen and the house warm, and some small oil filled 500w radiators.

 

[Disabled Preppers]

@Decacraft cheers mate yes the gennies are smaller quieter ones again for onthe move in the prepared world if you understand that .

I would buy a biiger one for the home i have been looking online at the switch overs and as mentioned on here you can have a manual switch over , i think it needs more looking at but as i said we do have a number of the power station type banks and the smaller ones to put round hte house in the event , the boiler is already sorted as when out new one was fitted the plumber fitted it instead of the hard wired in it is plugged in to a socket and we asked for that because the power station we have would sit in the cupboard and power just the boiler and pump .

It is funny catching about stuff non bushcrafty but what a site most people have ideas or have done it before which means a great advice bank .

We keeps huge amounts or wind up lights and so on large lanterns and solar stuff i have become hooked on solar right now , i love the fold up panels we pop them out in the garden with the power stations and get free power to charge other stuff in the house , i am working o nthe idea of in the polytunnel i am making a slide in roof table that can slide in the roof bars and have the panel in there in the winter and just pop the power stations and or other torches and lighting and stuff batteries aa and aaa that need hcarging and it is all indoor in the tunnel so dry and can be left in there .

 

[Decacraft]

@Decacraft cheers mate yes the gennies are smaller quieter ones again for onthe move in the prepared world if you understand that .

I would buy a biiger one for the home i have been looking online at the switch overs and as mentioned on here you can have a manual switch over , i think it needs more looking at but as i said we do have a number of the power station type banks and the smaller ones to put round hte house in the event , the boiler is already sorted as when out new one was fitted the plumber fitted it instead of the hard wired in it is plugged in to a socket and we asked for that because the power station we have would sit in the cupboard and power just the boiler and pump .

It is funny catching about stuff non bushcrafty but what a site most people have ideas or have done it before which means a great advice bank .

We keeps huge amounts or wind up lights and so on large lanterns and solar stuff i have become hooked on solar right now , i love the fold up panels we pop them out in the garden with the power stations and get free power to charge other stuff in the house , i am working o nthe idea of in the polytunnel i am making a slide in roof table that can slide in the roof bars and have the panel in there in the winter and just pop the power stations and or other torches and lighting and stuff batteries aa and aaa that need hcarging and it is all indoor in the tunnel so dry and can be left in there .

Take a look at the renogy panels- thats what I have in the garden for the ecoflow and the jackery. There fully weatherproof and a lot cheaper than the portable ones. I have 3x100w wired up that I don't need to worry about on the shed roof, and the cable goes into the shed to charge the powerstations. Saves me dragging them out and worrying about the rain, and have been there for over 2 years now and still work like they did on day 1.

I understand they are heavier and bigger and not portable like the others, and I would like a portable version for camping weekends.

I have some rechargeable led bulbs that I can hang up if I need lighting, and I also have a few of the feurhand storm lanterns and a supply of parrafin and spares.

I have a few gas stoves, portable and basecamp style and a stockpile of the gas cannisters and calor gas bottles for emergencies.


I have seen some people using large weatherproof boxes to put the powerstations in outside while connected to a solar panel to keep them protected in the rain (mine will still charge during the day if raining).

 

[British Red]

Your Eu2.0 will run most things in your house if you run it through a transfer switch. It wouldn't run the washing machine but definitely it would be fine for boiler & fridge freezer. You might have to be careful not to run too much at once, but you can turn off unnecessary circuits at your distribution panel. A good sparks can fit a manual transfer switch for a couple of hundred quid & you can always change generators later as the transfer switch plugs into the generator. Bear in mind for most people, fuel is the limiting factor with generators in a prolonged outage although you can convert your Hondas to run on propane

 

[Broch]

I also have one of those small generators (badged as a different name, but I'm convinced now that they are all made by the same company) and it works fine for most things off-grid. I use mine mainly to run corded power tools down in the wood.

It is worth noting however that they won't run everything. They use an inverter to create the mains from the generated DC output. At their price range the inverter is a 'modified sine' inverter, and that won't power bigger mains motors. So, for example, although mine theoretically produces enough power to run our borehole pump, the pump stalls because of the modified sine waveform. At one time, some electronic devices didn't like being powered from modified sine inverters but I've had no problem with kit that goes through external power supplies.

We were getting quite frequent and prolonged power cuts and, without mains, we have no water (my planned mitigation of alternative water sources is documented elsewhere) so I bought a diesel generator with direct mains generation that I can also run on the heating oil (discussed briefly somewhere above).

 

[Disabled Preppers]

Your Eu2.0 will run most things in your house if you run it through a transfer switch. It wouldn't run the washing machine but definitely it would be fine for boiler & fridge freezer. You might have to be careful not to run too much at once, but you can turn off unnecessary circuits at your distribution panel. A good sparks can fit a manual transfer switch for a couple of hundred quid & you can always change generators later as the transfer switch plugs into the generator. Bear in mind for most people, fuel is the limiting factor with generators in a prolonged outage although you can convert your Hondas to run on propane

Cheers for the info that is what i am ging to do i have been looking for a good sparks as well hard work getting trades people here not sure why we pay cash for everything .

I think the manual switch over is the way to go because it would only be in the event of a major power out that it would be used and i think if i went auto switch the gennie would have to be a auto start machine surely but again not knowing , i will stick to the manual switch and that way i just pop the gennie in the garge and then the house has power , it is going to be mainly just for the fridge freezer to keep the food safe , oh and hte light , the boil is new so should be a fairly good on power , as i said i can always use a smaller power station to runth boiler in the event .
Thanks for such a great knowledge base