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Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2012 08:47:21 -0600
From: bud-- <remove.budn...@isp.com>
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Subject: Re: Installation Cost of Nat Gas Generator?
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On 11/16/2012 11:45 AM, Arnie Goetchius wrote:
> bud-- wrote:
>> On 11/15/2012 6:33 PM, Arnie Goetchius wrote:
>>> Oren wrote:
>>>> On Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:22:56 -0500, Arnie Goetchius
>>>> <arnie.goetch...@invalid.domain>   wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> How much should I figure in my budget for installation of a natural gas
>>>>> generator? I'm looking at a 6-7 KW generator to handle refrigerator,
>>>>> freezer, sump pump, gas furnace, computers, TV and some lights but not
>>>>> Air Conditioning. It looks like I need an electrician for installing a
>>>>> transfer box and outlet to the outside to connect to the generator
>>>>> and a
>>>>> plumber to hook up a gas line. Generator would be about 20 feet from
>>>>> the
>>>>> electric breaker box and the gas line.
>>>>>
>>>>> There are a number of companies here (Central NJ) that will do the
>>>>> whole
>>>>> job and wonder what a package price might be for everything that I
>>>>> described above?
>>>>>
>>>>> This may be a DIY for many people but DIY is not for me for this
>>>>> project.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would do this in the Spring after all of the work on Sandy repair
>>>>> is done.
>>
>> If you don't want an automatic transfer switch, another way to do it is
>> to add a breaker in the existing service panel and add a mechanical
>> interlock on the panel cover that prevents both the generator breaker
>> and service breaker from being on at the same time. One interlock is:
>> http://www.interlockkit.com/CATALOG2008.pdf
>> Some panel manufacturers also make them.
>
> I prefer this approach as it avoids the AL/CU issues and I don't need a
> separate automatic transfer box. I checked and they make one for my box
> - Square D QO 150 amp Load center. Has interlockkit been around long
> enough that (1) most electricians will be familiar with it and (2) it
> will be accepted by the local electrical code?

1 Electricians can (I hope) RTFM

2 (from another recent thread) They are sorta listed
http://www.interlockkit.com/warranty01.htm
They have a sticker "Listed to UL 67 by [Wylie Labs logo]" Wylie is a 
Nationally Recognized Testing Lab. Depends on whether your AHJ 
recognizes Wylie, and what "listed to" means. This is a mechanical 
device that does not have electrical ratings, so IMHO it should be OK. 
Ask the AHJ.

>>
>>>>
>>>> What you will pay in NJ is not the same as what it would cost in Two
>>>> Egg, Florida. It's a local thing. Check locally.
>>>>
>>>> I can guess what it would cost. $14.00
>>>>
>>> Do the transfer switches used by Generac accept aluminum wire?. My house
>>> was built in 1968 and the wiring to most of the circuit breakers is AL.
>>> Only new circuits added since the house was built are CU.
>>>
>>
>> The wires will probably be spliced at the panel to wires that go to the
>> transfer switch.
>>
>> The CPSC had extensive testing of aluminum connections done.
>> Recommendations from the supervising engineer are at:
>> http://www.kinginnovation.com/pdfs/ReducingFire070706.pdf
>> This is probably more than your electrician knows.
>>
>>
> Thanks for the link. I had read Aronstein's stuff before but must have
> skipped over the Alumniconn as it is the first time I had heard of it.

Alumniconn is relatively recent.