Whole House Generators – a review of just what it means, and how much power you obtain

Some standby generator packages are referred to as providing “whole house power” meaning they can power everything in your own home. The packages almost always have an automatic transfer switch with power management features.

On its own, “whole house power” signifies that the entire property is given power, however don’t assume all generators can handle producing enough power to support all appliances and lights at the same time.

Home Power Use

The standard brand new home in the USA includes a 200-amp service panel with a large number of circuit breakers. If the amperage of all of the breakers inside the panel are added up, they could total just as much as 800 amperes, far more over what the panel or perhaps the main breaker can handle. If each of the home’s appliances and lights were started up, the total would still not exceed 200 amperes as well as the main breaker wouldn’t trip.

Safety and convenience dictate the size of the primary service panel and the number of circuits it supplies. The size of the primary breaker is not a good indicator of the volume of power the complete house uses.

Power Management

Managing power takes two forms. Homeowners do their part by turning off nonessential appliances and lights while operating on standby power. What is really a nonessential appliance depends on your situation and also the capacity for the complete house generator. Power management devices for example load-shedding controllers or digital power management systems prevent backup generator overloads by limiting the number of high-demand appliances that operate concurrently.

Automatic Transfer Switches

The automatic transfer switch is an essential part of the whole house generator system. Their installation configures them because the gatekeeper for electrical energy for your home. During normal operation, they send power from your electric utility towards the main service panel. When utility power fails, they disconnect the utility lines from your home and route power from your whole house generator towards the main panel.

To meet electrical codes, the automated transfer switch current rating inside a whole house power configuration must equal or exceed the primary circuit breaker current rating. A 200-amp main circuit breaker uses a 200-amp or greater automatic transfer switch. Utilizing a smaller switch for whole house power might cause a fire or permanently damage the switch.

Whole House Generators

Generators are rated in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW), a measure of the work electrical power is capable of doing. Air-cooled generators for whole house power commence with ratings of about 8,000 watts (8 kW) and top out at approximately 20,000 watts (20 kW). Liquid-cooled generators for residential applications offer 20 kilowatts to 65 kilowatts of electrical power.

In comparison, a 100 amp main circuit breaker can handle about 24,000 watts of power along with a 200 amp panel about 48,000 watts of power. Keep in mind that your home never uses the volume of power the primary breaker is prepared for.

Choosing a Home Standby Generator

For some applications, you shouldn’t have or economical to setup a whole house generator able to giving the same amount of power the primary circuit breaker is prepared for. Through the use of power management devices and judicious homeowner power use, smaller generators will give the complete house with electrical power.

Execute a power audit to ascertain the maximum amount of power used at the time. Figure out what high voltage appliances are necessary and which aren’t. Finally, go with a backup generator package that may fulfill the power needs of the whole house and employ power management devices to manage the ability supplied to high voltage appliances for efficient whole house power that meets your needs.

For more info go to: www.NPSGenerac.com