Going to hook up the genset on Monday

We ended up going with a 12KW Briggs and Stratton that were going to run off of lp. We have 400A in the barn that feeds the house also that is 200A. We had the utility crew out to look and the electrician is planning on coming Monday to install and I?m staying home from trade school to give him a hand. The instructor said I?ll learn more helping that day than I will in class so by all means stay home and give him a hand. There?s a 200A auto transfer switch, internal battery charger and block heater. It?s programable to weekly exercise to make sure once a week it?s still starting and running properly on that particular day.

We?re going to have it set up that the barn will be powered by the unit as well as the house. All that runs in the barn now are a few lights and recepticals, nothing too big anymore. The main service is in the barn and the house and shop are both branches off of it.

This panel has feeders in parallel that are too small to meet code. Have to be 1/0 or larger to be run parallel.Reqires larger single wires.

CONGRATULATIONS its nice to see someone who uses a "professional" to install such a good sized system versus Billy Bob and Bubba doing it themselves lol. Being LP you don't have all the stale gas and gum and varnish and carb problems and Id guess you have a large capacity maybe 500 or more gallon LP tank. That and it being 12 KW could run a household a longggggggggg time (subject to actual loads) no problem. All the critical Neutrals and Grounds, Single point grounding, and proper Neutral/Ground bonding and switching will likely be done safe, code proper and CORRECT by your electrician.

Best wishes have fun and learn from the installation... Being "electrical or legal" in nature the topic may well draw several opinions and the choice of brand and cost and equipment is strictly YOURS alone NONE of ours, good luck with it.

John T

dr, FWIW wayyyyyyyyyyy back when I practiced the current NEC which was adopted and binding in our jurisdiction ONLY allowed parallel runs for larger (I forget the sizes) conductors. Unfortunately, I'm rusty and things may have changed since but I doubt it. Looks like (cant tell exact from pictures) they may be only switching the Hots and bonding the Neutrals which is fine provided all other bonding and grounding is correct.

Stop n visit if you're at Flywheelers this Jan or Feb.

John T

Curious why you are set up for 200 amps transfer and 12kW, that is a tiny genset.

Your money is in the wiring, should have put at least a 20kW in.

I have no idea? Herbs been an industrial and residential/commercial electrician for 45 years and he had the utility rep out to plan the install together. Being a 1st year student I?m in no position to question their plans.

I?m just running the house and a few lights at the barn,12 should be all kinds for our needs.

I agree with John T. Help the man install it and ask questions. Learn all you can. And when it is in. Run it at least once a month or more. I can't tell you the number of times.I have been called to a site and hear.We have never used it in five years. Why dosen't it start.Or had to clear animal nest and then tell the owner. The generator is now junk.As we say in this field. Use it or lose it.

It adds up in a hurry, add in well pump, refrigerators, freezers, the motors are what kills you.

Your infrastructure is great, and allows for upgrades later.

Been a few years since I looked through the code book. But NEC code says the service to a house. Must be 200 amp.Does not mean the generator has to be able to produce that much. I am sure John T will have a better answer.


Clear and 44 here John T

Dr is correct in that NEC 310.10(H)(1) states that conductors must be 1/0 or larger to be installed in parallel. But, being that philip is in Canada this may be perfectly fine and up to his local codes.

The smaller roll is single cable not sure the number but it?s triplex size or bigger

All bets are off if it is Canadian code .Would someone explain that so Buick stops arguing with me ?

It is so good to see a proper installation rather than some cheapskate trying to justify a jerryrigged hazard .
Only point that I can think of is while 12Kw maybe acceptable in this application . Most people purchase a generator that is barely half the size that they should have bought .

Hey Billy, I think he indicated it has an auto exercise cycle which is INDEED a good and necessary feature PLUS being LP powered there will be less problems versus gasoline powered. As you know exercising the genset is not the same as a full blown load transfer exercise but its better then nothing...??.

John T

Yo Billy, I'm also code rusty BUT I doubt there's any requirement an emergency backup genset has to be capable of supplying all the power the Utility does...??? No harm in still having plenty of copper and ampacity just because the emergency generator cant provide the amps the Utility does...??.

Take care my sparky friend

John T

Assuming that area of PEI is like the rest of the maritimes it will get load tested 6-12 times a year! Ours was out 12 hours last night.

Hey Philip I WARNED YOU look at all the responses lol when all you're doing is providing the best you can for whatever your budget allows and its good to be proud of it, do it right, and thanks for sharing. I'm still proud of you for having it done professionally and hopefully your electrician will do it safe and proper ???.. I'm NOT second guessing YOUR CHOICES or how its done in YOUR area especially when I know nothing of YOUR energy requirements when the Utility goes down. If asked I'm glad to share what any requirements were wayyyyyyyyyy back when I practiced, but that may NOT apply in your location.

As far as I know (but not familiar with any applicable local codes) theres NOOOOOOOOOOOOO requirement you install an emergency backup genset that can provide allllllllllllll the power the utility can (200 Amps at 240 Volts = 48KW). IE a 12 KW is a decent size for emergency critical load backup purposes, I've seen dudes use 2 to 5 KW gensets for emergency backup.

NOTE its YOUR budget and YOUR decision and only YOU know how much power YOU need if the utility goes down to run what are YOUR absolute necessities. Perhaps 5 KW would provide that perhaps more, and I've seen many smaller then your choice of 12 KW.

BOTTOM LINE you ONLY need to power what are YOUR critical loads if the utility goes down and if 5 or 7.5 or 12 KW will do it that's great.

Again best wishes, good luck, I respect YOUR budget and YOUR choices and can only hope (for your safetys sake) its done correct, safe and in accordance with any applicable codes AND CAN SUPPLY YOUR EMERGENCY CRITICAL LOADS whatever that may happen to be even IFFFFFFFFFFF its NOT 200 Amps the Utility is capable of providing.

John T Longggggggggg retired n rusty power distribution design engineer so noooooooo warranty...?..Consult local trained competent professional electricians and engineers and don't risk your life or risk a fire on any lay opinions especially when unfamiliar with YOUR requirements and YOUR (if any exist or are applicable) codes.

Thank you John! We were advised so long as we don?t try to run the dryer while we?re cooking Christmas dinner we?re in great shape with 12. I remember milking cows and running the house as if the powers on years ago with a 15kw pto driven one. We recently removed our 50kw and it?d run the silo milk tank vacuum pump water pump all water heaters dry cloths and cook dinner at the same time with power to spare but our needs are much lower now.

Haha yes it will Ken!

You're welcome. Yeppers a bit of common sense plus identifying all the truly CRITICAL loads and their power requirements with load balancing should make for satisfactory use of that 12 KW Backup Genset provided its installed safe and proper.

John T

If you look closely, the wires that appear to be parallel head off into different conduits.

That looks like so much fun. Good for you. What kind of licensing/testing for an electrician is required in Canada? Probably similar or maybe same as US.

Thank you! After either trade school or 1000 logged hours in the field you can write the block 1 exam. Once you pass that after each 2000 hours worked after that you can write the following 3 blocks making 4 blocks and 7000 hours. After 9000 you can write your interprovincial license exam.

?It is good to see a proper installation rather than some cheapskate trying to justify a jerryrigged hazard.?

And then when the cheapskate during installation or startup damages components of the generator since he doesn?t
know what he?s doing files a warranty claim with the manufacturer. The manufacturer denies the claim because the
installer is not a licensed installer. Then the installer hops on YT to badmouth the manufacturer.

It pays to buy a generator from a licensed dealer so the generator is installed properly and any warranty claims are
dealt with promptly and with no hassle. Plus no one gets hurt or worse.

Good luck!!

He did John T. But I have found alot of people never use it. Because they are saving the genset.So they can pay the large repair bill.It would be better to run it under load. But at least run it.