grsthegreat
Super Star Member
If the generator is powering your main panel, the surge suppressor at main panel would still protect it., unless its BEFORE the house main breaker.
Your last generator Maintenance Run
- Thread starter 3930dave
- Start date
- Views: 948210
WinterDeere
Super Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2011
- Messages
- 5,852
- Location
- Philadelphia
- Tractor
- John Deere 3033R, 855 MFWD, 757 ZTrak; IH Cub Cadet 123
I’ll add to this that if you’re feeding the genny thru a sub panel, a surge suppressor on the mains will still offer some partial protection, the degree of which is determined by the associated loads, wire gauges, and lengths. Since you wouldn’t expect enormous transients coming from a generator, the simplified answer is “probably good enough,” either way.
Williy
Elite Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2020
- Messages
- 3,586
- Location
- Texas
- Tractor
- Yanmar YT 235C Yannar YRC 60 rotary cutter, Yanmar RT72 rotary tiller B75 Backhoe & bucket & thumb, LS land grader
If I am ging to go compeletly solar I would never spend the money
to hook up to the grid use that money for the cost of hookiing up
to the grid for solar products. My L6 batteries have to be replaced
as they are between 15 to 20 years old just don't let your batteries
go below a certain voltage and they will last a very long time
willy
to hook up to the grid use that money for the cost of hookiing up
to the grid for solar products. My L6 batteries have to be replaced
as they are between 15 to 20 years old just don't let your batteries
go below a certain voltage and they will last a very long time
willy
The traditional Cost argument was Buy Cheap Land (remote), build off-grid, and put the grid Line-In Cost into batteries.
Still valid today (IMO), for the people willing to live Remote, and take on that project. Just jumped back here from a local EV thread..... I'd add Today - living off-grid, with a sizeable alternative energy system may end up looking even more affordable, in terms of charging your own EV, AND, if you take proper care of your own system, possibly more reliable than where many grid-systems are heading...
Batteries... many people don't want to bother with their maintenance, but it's not that it's a high-skill job (given an understanding of Ohm's Law, and some minimal mechanical skills, it's just Time to Allocate....).
Rgds, D.
nikdfish
Platinum Member
Had the annual service done on the 22kw standby today. Still having it done by the installer (Generac). Still got 3 years left on the 10 yr. guarantee that came with the install.
No issues, but the tech did comment on the number of run hours since last year. Not enough to have required an interim oil change, but close.
Still need to exercise the portables, though....
No issues, but the tech did comment on the number of run hours since last year. Not enough to have required an interim oil change, but close.
Still need to exercise the portables, though....
Fallon
Super Member
Ya, go with batteries or the grid, not both. Unless you have some uncommon situation.
Personally I have a grid tied system. I got a generator disconnect as part of the install when I got the solar. My inverter goes offline the instant I loose grid power. Batteries make very little sense & a lot of cost and maintnance for my use case. I have had maybe 12-24 hours of outage in the past decade. Easy enough to ignore if it's short & not freezing. Or hook up a generator if it's down a while or below freezing.
Entirely different equation if I had to pay $20k to hook up to the grid or the grid around here was that unreliable.
Batteries in the RV are enough of a pain & expense to maintain.
daugen
Epic Contributor
power went out to lot of homes last night at 2am, so nice not to have to get up to turn on
gen, since I just installed a battery backed sump pump.
but I was now wide awake, so after a while, went out with flashlight and fired up gen.
ran fine, and that shore/street power alarm works beautifully.
had to laugh, quotes 86db output, no way, felt much, much louder, and piercing. All good but actually hurt my ears getting near it to turn it off in basement.
gen, since I just installed a battery backed sump pump.
but I was now wide awake, so after a while, went out with flashlight and fired up gen.
ran fine, and that shore/street power alarm works beautifully.
had to laugh, quotes 86db output, no way, felt much, much louder, and piercing. All good but actually hurt my ears getting near it to turn it off in basement.
A reliable grid is the cornerstone/foundation of modern life... your #'s are great.
Once you get into a Cali type scenario..... Island mode starts looking pretty good. UR had plenty of surgeons who previously had been bragging about their PV systems and Teslas, crying pretty hard during extended "safety" outages....
The advantage I see with a designing your own battery system is you can make it much more accessible for service, than many vehicle installations are. That said, most people want everything MTCE-free today, and don't want to deal with batteries.
Rgds, D.
Brian Johnson ended up with hearing problems, not from fronting a loud rock band, but from racing cars.... we all likely need to use better hearing protection !
(not sure where the perma-bold ^ came from....)Thnx for the feedback on the alarm. ".... in basement" ? < Did you change your setup to run indoors ?
Rgds, D.
