[Elecraft] OT: Whole House Generator

[Jim Brown]

On 9/7/2017 1:15 PM, Doug Hensley wrote:
> I am going through the process of choosing a whole house home generator

It's worth thinking about your needs first. Key questions are"

1) What loads do I need to run from it? Get hard numbers, including 
starting current for motors (refrigerators, well pumps, etc.) The 120V 
loads can easily be measured with a Kill-A-Watt meter. You'll need a 
clamp-on current probe for your VOM or scope to measure permanently 
wired loads and 240V loads.

2) How often are power outages?  How long do they last?

3) Do I really need to run A/C from a generator?  Obviously depends on 
climate, but also demands a bigger generator and a lot more fuel.

I have two generators. One is a Honda 2000i, which I can easily carry, 
and use for portable hamming. The second is a 6.5kVA Honda (EU6500?) 
that can be set for either 120VAC or 120/240 with a neutral. I use it in 
the 120/240V mode. It's big enough to run my well motors.

I've rewired the breaker panel in my home to put all my "critical" loads 
on one side of 120V -- lights, computers, TV, refrigerator -- and have 
found that the little 2000i can run it all in econ-mode. That gives us 
the option of using the smaller generator until we need to re-build the 
water pressure during a long outage.

73, Jim K9YC