Standby generator when fire hits your house

[RalphVa]

Anyone done anything to disable your standby generator in case of a house fire?

The home inspector came by with our solar panel contractor, to do the final inspection.

She cited them for not putting the building's input (from the solar panel) at the bottom of the panel in the house. She said fire code requires inputs be at top or bottom of a panel so firemen can turn them off in case of fire. That got me to thinking. If they did that, my generator would come on. What are the requirements for disabling ones generator in case of fire. (Also crossed my mind: why the **** would firemen come into a burning building to flip breakers when they can quickly just pull the meter outside? You don't want to trouble inspectors too much with such questions.) (My generator inputs to one 200 amp panel while the solar panels input to another 200 amp panel.)

I'm thinking of putting a quick disconnect end onto one of the battery cables on the generator. Looks as though thumb knob or knife edge ones are available.

What have others of you done?

Ralph

 

[4570Man]

Why would it matter? Unless they pull the meter the feed from the power company is still live.

 

[joeyd]

30 years as a fireman and I never pulled a meter. Kill the main was our standard and never ran into a backup generator but I worked in an urban area.

 

[Coyote machine]

Anyone done anything to disable your standby generator in case of a house fire?

The home inspector came by with our solar panel contractor, to do the final inspection.

She cited them for not putting the building's input (from the solar panel) at the bottom of the panel in the house. She said fire code requires inputs be at top or bottom of a panel so firemen can turn them off in case of fire. That got me to thinking. If they did that, my generator would come on. What are the requirements for disabling ones generator in case of fire. (Also crossed my mind: why the **** would firemen come into a burning building to flip breakers when they can quickly just pull the meter outside? You don't want to trouble inspectors too much with such questions.) (My generator inputs to one 200 amp panel while the solar panels input to another 200 amp panel.)

I'm thinking of putting a quick disconnect end onto one of the battery cables on the generator. Looks as though thumb knob or knife edge ones are available.

What have others of you done?

Ralph

Is there a transfer switch in place between the panel and genset? If so, the transfer switch will turn the genset on, if it's on auto start*. Usually there is a disconnect at or near the genset to disconnect it from the house as needed for servicing or emergency.

*I corrected what I erroneously stated in this post earlier today

 

[Industrial Toys]

EXPLOSIVE Bolts on just about everything! You gotta admit, those things sound exciting.

Good question. I throw my main switch to get my (200 amp) transfer switch to flip over (for testing). There is a switch for this, but throwing the main is more convenient. But that's after I have started the generator. I don't want my genset to start automatically for a number of reasons, and I guess this might be another good reason.

There should be an emergency STOP switch somewhere in clear view. Something I may consider.

 

[TnAndy]

Why would it matter? Unless they pull the meter the feed from the power company is still live.

You can pull the meter on my house, and the solar will switch from grid tie to off grid feed....and you'll have a 1200amp/hr @24v battery bank feeding it.

Not that it matters anyway....our local dept is known as the MarshMellow Patrol.....they get there about the time the embers are perfect to roast marshmellows.

 

[grsthegreat]

Never ran into that problem. Ive hooked many gennys into many mains. And yes, when you turn off main the gen will fire up.

Again, no one has ever said anything about this

 

[4570Man]

EXPLOSIVE Bolts on just about everything! You gotta admit, those things sound exciting. Good question. I throw my main switch to get my (200 amp) transfer switch to flip over (for testing). There is a switch for this, but throwing the main is more convenient. But that's after I have started the generator. I don't want my genset to start automatically for a number of reasons, and I guess this might be another good reason. There should be an emergency STOP switch somewhere in clear view. Something I may consider.

Why do you not want your generator to start automatically? I consider this a huge plus. If I am away from home for an extended period and the power goes out my generator will start automatically. The plus to this is the food in the freezer ( over $1000 worth) won't spoil and the water won't freeze. Most of these standby generators are powered by nature gas. The FD could just shut off the gas meter which is a good idea anyway.

 

[JRobyn]

CODE required that if my inside distribution panels (two 200 amp) were more than 3 feet wire distance from the meter base, that there be a inside disconnect switch within the 3 ft distance. Supposedly so that the fire department could remove power from the house in case of a fire. So I had to buy and wire two 200A disconnect switches IN THE BACK CORNER OF THE BASEMENT! Added about $500+ to my electrical system cost.

I'm not a fireman, but the back corner of the basement is the LAST place I would intentionally go if I WAS a fireman responding to any house on fire! And the only way they would know that the disconnects existed is by tracing the incoming service from the meter by being IN the basement. Made no sense to me at all.

- Jay