Honda EU2000i Generator - powering the house.
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Backfeeding the house with the mains off testing critical circuts in the event of a power outage. The little Honda proves to be very worthy of this task, even running in eco mode!
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14 Responses to “Honda EU2000i Generator - powering the house.”
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generator will never work if the house is connected to the grid.
So you have the output going directly into the house outlet? which means you have eletricity, but whats happenes when the power ocmes back on? big problem lol, please respond.
I figured as much. Just couldn’t let it pass as an ex-electric company employee….
If I had it to do over, I’d have had the transfer switch installed before I bought the gennie.
My bad.
Wasted almost a hundred bucks on cords as it is… and now it’s pretty obvious to me that I don’t want tb unrolling/plugging cords in the middle of the night with freezing rain coming down….
Actually there was not a power outage during this video. I shut off the mains to test the Honda’s performance running the essentials in the house. The Honda passed with flying colors and I am sizing up transfer switches as we speak.
Yes: they’re supposed to treat every wire as if it were hot. No: nobody can be 100% perfect - especially when they’ve been up for 24+ hours working the storm.
Those 120 volts get fed back into the power system to the nearest, say, 30,000 volt transformer and get stepped up to the other side of that transformer - to kill or maim the lineman who makes a small mistake.
But in the spirit of “Kids: don’t try this at home”….. It should be observed that if the house is still connected to the grid, you can kill somebody who is working to restore power by doing that.
It wasn’t clear whether the house has been disconnected from the grid.
I’m gusssing it is.
The outside outlet doesn’t look like a GFCI, if it was, I wonder if back feeding would mess it up? I’m assuming that the outside circuit is rated at 20 amps, just curious what a furnace, fridge, tv, lights and fan consume?
FWIW: *backfeeding* is a poor alternative to a transfer panel. You need to be knowledgeable (even certified folks make mistakes) to do this work.
I will NOT suggest this to anybody. It is dangerous and possibly lethal. Issues with floating or bonded to ground neutrals, knowledge of phases, power factors a few things to consider
In place of a transfer box, I’ve been thinking of isolated power line (in a house) w/ switches to cut over each appliance one at a time.
Yeah strange (for you) having most of the lights on the same phase there… What does that leave on the other side.. The fridge, microwave and those “240v” appliances (stove, electric? water heater, etc??) I assuming you switched off all 240v breakers as well to protect against current leaking through those to opposite phase… Or did you turn off most breakers to begin with (turning on what you wanted)?
–Doug
yeah… Just really love how quiet it is. I mean I had some video some place of it running and the cars at some distance (~125feet) away was louder that the generator at 8 feet.
(continued above…)
Luckily, most of our lights in the house are on the same phase as the furnace. Our fridge is not, so I simply unplug it and use an extension cord to reach a nearby outlet on the same phase as the furnace. I could move the breaker, but I want to keep normal usage somewhat balanced between the two phases. Our furnace uses 7 amps peak during startup, then settles down to about 3 amps running. I would worry about the common neutral and would not hook up a second EU on the second phase if I had one.
I have an EU2000i also (and love it’s size and use). I understand electricity so I suspect you have to backfeed the correct phase to get the gas furnace — what about the fridge? Do you think (if/when) you got a 2nd EU2000i would you link them on the same phase or use it to power the other phase (understand common returns now have possibility for over current).
How much do you think the fan uses? Typical 3/4 HP motor right?
–Doug