Back up power

[Ericb]

This past storm and all the power outages got me thinking what to do if the power went out. I have a generator but have done nothing to the house to ease hooking up to run anything. I figured if power went out I could run an extention cord threw my dryer vent to power the heater. What has everyone else done to prepare for these events?

 

[Rizzo]

If I remember right, you can shut the main breaker off to the house and power one circuit of the house via double male ended [double header] extention cord.

 

[ItemB]

I have been thinking about this too as I have electric heat and no back up heat source except for a couple mr buddy propane heaters

 

[Kickemup]

We lost power for a couple hours today. I just ran a cord in a window. To run the electric fire place and another for the tv.

 

[NDwalleyes]

I have a 5000w generator and a 100 foot 10 gauge extension cord (don't ask what it cost). For heat (gas furnace) I shut off the breaker and wire the cord directly into the furnace at the shutoff switch that is near the furnace. Wire it into the switch leg with a couple of wire nuts. We also run in a couple regular extension cords for power to the TV and some lamps, etc. It's simple and gets a guy by for a couple days.

I don't normally run the generator all the time. I'll start it up a few times a day and heat the house up to about 75 degrees and then restart it when it gets down to 55 degrees or so. At night I'll start it up once at about 3am and then again in the morning.

- - - Updated - - -

I also set up the buddy heaters and run them during the day.

 

[Sub_Elect]

I have a 5000w generator and a 100 foot 10 gauge extension cord (don't ask what it cost). For heat (gas furnace) I shut off the breaker and wire the cord directly into the furnace at the shutoff switch that is near the furnace. Wire it into the switch leg with a couple of wire nuts. We also run in a couple regular extension cords for power to the TV and some lamps, etc. It's simple and gets a guy by for a couple days.

I don't normally run the generator all the time. I'll start it up a few times a day and heat the house up to about 75 degrees and then restart it when it gets down to 55 degrees or so. At night I'll start it up once at about 3am and then again in the morning.

- - - Updated - - -

I also set up the buddy heaters and run them during the day.

This is a safe way to do it!

 

[Farmer]

The double male power cord trick is extremely dangerous...I don't know if it will even work on new houses with ground fault interuptors or with arc controls. Whatever you do disconnect the entire house from the main power line. Utility workers lives depend on it.

 

[LBrandt]

Top burners on our gas stove will work, just have to light them with a match. Sunflower and big buddy for basement.

 

[NDSportsman]

Nice having our propane powered backup generator wired directly to the house. A minute or 2 after the power goes out we are back up and running automatically.

 

[gonefshn]

I've always been tempted to get a Generac. A friend got one for his mother's house in Elgin ND and it works great. Starts up on a regular schedule and does its diagnostic check and charges the battery. Nice clean look. Has it wired so the main outlets and appliances can run by it. They've had quite a few power outages in that area the past 10 years or so and it's been a real lifesaver for her. In this part of the country they'd sure be handy at times.

 

[PrairieGhost]

I asked around and found there is liability and legal issues about how you hook up. My furnace is off peak electric, but the fan is on the regular circuit. The furnace has about 1000 lb of ceramic brick that supposedly heats the house for three days. Hmmmmm, maybe in Texas, but it's made in Dickinson. So I paid $1000 to have an electrician hook it all up. He put in another box that turns off the main breaker box when turned on. I only have a 3000 watt Honda so I can only run three of the new boxes six circuits at one time. It's push button so switching circuits is easy. He also wired in a special plug in on the outside of the house, and made a 30 ft heavy 50 amp cord.
I have a gas fireplace in the basement, and a wood fireplace upstairs. If a cord of wood isn't enough I had 11 trees go down this summer and the logs are still on my yard. I think this latest ice storm took down enough large branches to heat my house for a couple weeks. Anyway, the gas fireplace has a fan, and we hooked the furnace fan to the same circuit to distribute the heat around the house. The wood fireplace is one of those with the efficient insert so it will about cook you out of the living room if you don't cut its air a bit. So I can run heat, the freezer, but he refrigerators, and the large TV in the family room with two circuits and choose between the other four.

 

[Davey Crockett]

I have a portable generator in the basement that I could bring outside and run but probably wouldn't need it, I have a propane fireplace in the basement for backup, It has a fan but doesn't need it to function. Have a few antique oil lamps and lanterns and a propane mantle lantern. Being in the country we have a well so we make sure we have extra water on hand. Events like this are good, They bring us back to reality.

 

[Wild and Free]

I had a generator switch panel wired into my house with the major circuits hooked to it several years back while doing a kitchen remodel and electrical updates. Had a new 110v 98% efficient propane furnace installed and have the refrigerator and deep freeze circuits wired in along with kitchen lights and outlets and bathroom lights. Have a 6500 watt portable generac which has kept the lights and heat on for a week long run when we had the major ice storm 5 years ago or so that took hundreds of miles of power lines down.

I did use the double male cord trick for many years prior to the switch panel off an old 5k watt coleman generator I still have too and that got us through several power outages through the years as well. extension cords strung everywhere through the house switching them from one appliance to the next every few hours got old after a while.

Come fall both generators are full of gas and I keep 15-20 gallons of gas on hand on top of that so I have about 4 full days worth of run time there before needing gas.

 

[johnr]

I had a generator box on the old house, that when the power went out I could plug the generator into that male outlet, and it would power my furnace, kitchen lights, garage outlets, a bathroom, and the kitchen outlets. I used it once when the Vikings were playing the saints in a play off game and the power went out. Of course the room with the big TV didn't have the outlets connected so I ran an extension cord from the kitchen down to the big TV. By the time I got everything hooked up and running, the power came back on 15 minutes later...haha. It was nice to know it worked anyway. 10 years we lived in that house, and it was used just that one time.
The new place doesn't have this option, not sure I would add it, unless we are already having some work done.

 

[Obi-Wan]

We purchased one for my mother who had medical issues and needed electricity and it worked great but it was sold with the house.

I've always been tempted to get a Generac. A friend got one for his mother's house in Elgin ND and it works great. Starts up on a regular schedule and does its diagnostic check and charges the battery. Nice clean look. Has it wired so the main outlets and appliances can run by it. They've had quite a few power outages in that area the past 10 years or so and it's been a real lifesaver for her. In this part of the country they'd sure be handy at times.

 

[NDSportsman]

I've always been tempted to get a Generac. A friend got one for his mother's house in Elgin ND and it works great. Starts up on a regular schedule and does its diagnostic check and charges the battery. Nice clean look. Has it wired so the main outlets and appliances can run by it. They've had quite a few power outages in that area the past 10 years or so and it's been a real lifesaver for her. In this part of the country they'd sure be handy at times.

It's money well spent. I highly recommend them!
http://www.generac.com/for-homeowners/home-backup-power

 

[Allen]

The double male power cord trick is extremely dangerous...I don't know if it will even work on new houses with ground fault interuptors or with arc controls. Whatever you do disconnect the entire house from the main power line. Utility workers lives depend on it.

Absolutely! They sell boxes at Menards, etc that allow a person to relatively simply hook up a generator to a house. The generator supplies power to that box and when you throw the switch on it the power from the main breaker is disconnected and a select set of circuits are powered by the generator. My house has this with a plug out in the garage for hooking up the generator to it. Granted, I haven't tested it since I moved in, but that's my understanding of how to best do it.

 

[Enslow]

I have a generator in the basement that runs off the 1000 gallon propane tank. The exhaust is vented outside. When the power goes out i switch over to propane heat and turn on the generator. Just got to make sure that the exhaust pipe outside is not buried in snow.

 

[327]

Not only is the cord with two male ends very dangerous to you and the lineman trying to get your life back to normal but if you haven't disconnected from the grid and your house is heated up by the utility your gen will be junk at best. As a lineman I ask you please do it the proper way and get a disconnect switch. Turning main off will work but its a step that gets missed.

 

[Ericb]

Absolutely! They sell boxes at Menards, etc that allow a person to relatively simply hook up a generator to a house. The generator supplies power to that box and when you throw the switch on it the power from the main breaker is disconnected and a select set of circuits are powered by the generator. My house has this with a plug out in the garage for hooking up the generator to it. Granted, I haven't tested it since I moved in, but that's my understanding of how to best do it.

This sounds like the way to go. Did you put this on or was it installed when you bought the house? I know its somwhat unlikley to need in Bis but I dont like my garage getting below 65 let alone my house. Any one go as far as a ups system?