Kit - Emergency Shore Power

[REM]

Just purchased this kit to provide emergency backup power to my house. I've been looking for quite a while for a safe and simple solution, and this one seems promising. Hopefully I'll remember to document the whole process for others out there like me who can't really justify spending thousands on materials, labor, and permits for an automatic transfer switch (we have extremely reliable power where I live).

I'm also thinking about implementing a throw switch and/or interlock; not sure yet though. Open to suggestions all around. If nothing else, I'll place a lock on the box to prevent shock or electrocution, should the breaker be flipped on by someone unawares.

Also, here is a great tip for the startup sequence for generators.

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[CT_AZ_4x4]

Just purchased this kit to provide emergency backup power to my house. I've been looking for quite a while for a safe and simple solution, and this one seems promising. Hopefully I'll remember to document the whole process for others out there like me who can't really justify spending thousands on materials, labor, and permits for an automatic transfer switch (we have extremely reliable power where I live).

I'm also thinking about implementing a throw switch or interlock; not sure yet though. Open to suggestions all around. If nothing else, I'll place a lock on the box to prevent shock or electrocution, should the breaker be flipped on by someone unawares.

Also, here is a great tip for the startup sequence for generators.

You should get a permit, my brother-in-Christ.

Seriously, ? you need to make sure that you don’t end up feeding electricity into the grid when a line worker is not anticipating that occurence. It’s as much for the safety of those upstream from your home as it is for the safety of you and your house.

1 amp is sufficient to kill somone. Be careful and enjoy your truck!

 

[REM]

You should get a permit, my brother-in-Christ.

Seriously, ? you need to make sure that you don’t end up feeding electricity into the grid when a line worker is not anticipating that occurence. It’s as much for the safety of those upstream from your home as it is for the safety of you and your house.

1 amp is sufficient to kill somone. Be careful and enjoy your truck!

If I was doing work that involved a transfer switch and demarc modifications then I absolutely would be passing this off to a licensed professional, but this is small work in a sub panel. ?

I do appreciate you raising the concern. Electricity is dangerous and deadly. I'll be sure to cover this topic when I document the install.

 

[Beetlebug62]

I'm planning to do the same. Definitely get an interlock.

 

[CyberGus]

A mechanical interlock is cheap insurance.

 

[resellpanda88]

Following. Would love to add a manual switch to my home as well. We get a black out once every 18 months but usually last about 4 hours max.

 

[Razorcrest]

I've been looking into this as well but have gotten hung up on the interlock. A manual interlock, I believe, would require a seperate circuit and breaker from the charging circuit. Not an easy or cheap thing to overcome if a setup is like mine, where the main breaker box is unreachable with my truck. My charger is actually located at an outdoor parking pad beside my house, on the exact opposite side as the main breaker box.

 

[cybercricket]

You should get a permit, my brother-in-Christ.

Seriously, ? you need to make sure that you don’t end up feeding electricity into the grid when a line worker is not anticipating that occurence. It’s as much for the safety of those upstream from your home as it is for the safety of you and your house.

1 amp is sufficient to kill somone. Be careful and enjoy your truck!

Danger to line workers is overstated - they already operate as if the wires may be energized either due to a mistake upstream, or some silly goose with a Cybertruck downstream.

Beware of those AA batteries! They can push several amps!

 

[REM]

I've been looking into this as well but have gotten hung up on the interlock. A manual interlock, I believe, would require a seperate circuit and breaker from the charging circuit. Not an easy or cheap thing to overcome if a setup is like mine, where the main breaker box is unreachable with my truck. My charger is actually located at an outdoor parking pad beside my house, on the exact opposite side as the main breaker box.

Yep, that's precisely why I have been struggling to figure out a great solution. I want to strike a balance between safety features and having a sensible failover procedure that wouldn't be a bear to teach to the average person.

I also bought this Safety Switch to place in between the subpanel and the SS2-50 Inlet Box. My thought process is: if the breaker is ever inadvertently energized outside of scope, the switch will be padlocked in the off position. So no chance of accidental backfeed or shock/electrocution when the SS2-50 port is empty (thinking, curious kids opening a plug and sticking their hands in).

I need to retard proof this thing, but on a budget ?

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

Yep, that's precisely why I have been struggling to figure out a great solution. I want to strike a balance between sensible failover procedure that wouldn't be a bear to teach to the average person.

I need to retard proof this thing, but on a budget ?
[/QUOTE]

The f-150 Lightning forums have some discussion on using their trucks’ batteries for household backup in a cost-effective and safe manner. Their discussions might give you some ideas on specific equipment/product lines.

I self-installed my own 10.6 Kwatt solar system including permitting and I have 3 Powerwalls so I already have uninterruptible power at my main residence. But I’d be interested in your ultimate implementation because I might use my CT for backup at a remote cabin or two. Let us know how it proceeds!

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...or-lockout-kit-to-feed-the-whole-panel.20465/

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...th-transfer-switch-for-gfci-generators.13649/

 

[REM]

The f-150 Lightning forums have some discussion on using their trucks’ batteries for household backup in a cost-effective and safe manner.

nice find! I'll read through it for sure, but I just got eye cancer from someone posting a pic of their infotainment User Interface, and I also threw up in my mouth a little bit. Ford needs to stop hiring FFisher-Price for their UX!

 

[AU742]

I would just ask your favorite electrician for a quote to install a generator interlock. I had one on my house already when I moved in. Basically just consists of a bracket that prevents you from shutting the breaker for your generator connection when the main breaker to your panel is shut. I would imagine it is less than $1000 to do that and install the generator plug unless you have some circuits that will have to be relocated. It is the correct way to do it. Provides safety to line workers and to you so you don't have your truck powering the house and then power return and be out of phase. That would definitely blow some stuff up.

 

[Aces-Truck]

REM, Please, Read up on how to correctly setup a manual interlock switch. It is a big deal. And if you have Solar, that's when it gets really complicated.

I understand that there are ways that will work as long as you do things in a carefully prescribed order. But if you miss a step, or get the order reversed, very bad things can happen.

I have a friend that runs a generator by feeding a subpanel with a 14-30 outlet (not Receptacle) It works. But every time he connects it or disconnects it, he's taking a risk. One that could harm himself or a family member, as likely as a lineman.

I'm not an electrician. But I'm doing the electrical for my new garage with EV charging. All with permits. In my state (WA), the homeowner is allowed to do their own electrical. But knowing how to do it right can be a challenge. The Inspector won't allow you to connect if you do it wrong. But you'd need to get the NEC book, and do a lot of internet research as well. Just don't blindly follow what you learn on the Internet. Compare what's said, against the NEC.

As for Interlock kits, it's easier than you might think. The toughest part is ordering the correct Kit for your panel. And you must be able to put the Generator Breaker right next to the main Breaker in the panel. Amazon has a great selection of reasonably price kits.

Stay safe.

 

[cybercricket]

I would just ask your favorite electrician for a quote to install a generator interlock. I had one on my house already when I moved in. Basically just consists of a bracket that prevents you from shutting the breaker for your generator connection when the main breaker to your panel is shut. I would imagine it is less than $1000 to do that and install the generator plug unless you have some circuits that will have to be relocated. It is the correct way to do it. Provides safety to line workers and to you so you don't have your truck powering the house and then power return and be out of phase. That would definitely blow some stuff up.

The main cost isn't in the interlock. Interlock can be added in about 5 minutes by a non-electrician and typically costs less than $20. The issue is before interlock can be added, generator inlet has to be setup on a dedicated breaker (double pole!!!) that is located right next to the main breaker so that interlock bracket can interact with the two. So in many cases that means reshuffling a bunch of stuff in the panel, potentially having to extend some wiring to reach new spots, etc. Sometimes the panel is already populated to the max and there is no room for another double pole breaker, requiring a whole panel upgrade.

None of this rocket science, but mileage varies significantly from one house to the next.

 

[mongo]

I was fortunate that my service went through an external main breaker before routing to the now-a-subpanel due to previous modifications. Updating to a mobile home service panel with feed through lugs worked perfectly with a portable genset.

If the issue is distance to the truck, one can make their own generator cord of arbitrary length ~$5/ ft for Cybertruck truck bed power levels.

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