Safe Use of A Portable Generator for Your Home

by | Aug 25, 2020

Total Comfort’s Electrical Division can install a circuit in your home that would enable the homeowner to plug in their portable generator to an outlet in an approved location that is connected to their main electrical panel. This connection would eliminate running multiple extension cords from the generator to an electrical device that they want to power.

This circuit that backfeeds from the portable generator to the panel allows the homeowner to select the circuits within their home that they want energized during periods of power outage. The number and types of circuits that can be effectively powered will depend on the size of the portable generator. To ensure the safety of both the homeowner and utility workers an interlock kit must be installed at the panel.

According to Wikipedia, “a generator interlock kit (or just interlock kit) is a device designed to allow safe backfeeding of a home through a portable generator during power outages, thereby eliminating illegal and/or unsafe generator backfeeding situations that could potentially electrocute a power linemen or destroy the generator.”

There are many variables that go into the cost of installing these portable generator circuits which include the distance from the generator to the main panel, the power output of the generator, and the type of panel. Interlock kits will vary greatly in cost depending on the brand and configuration of the electrical panel.

Portable Honeywell Generator

If you have a portable generator and would like to be able to safely and conveniently operate it during power outages, please give us a call at 386-944-0858 and we’ll schedule an electrician to come to your home and give you an exact estimate.

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