when should the generator be started?

[PG1995]

Hi

My uncle has a generator which can be run on gasoline or natural gas. Whenever there is a blackout, my uncle first switches the home electricity supply to be run using the generator using this switch. After that he starts his generator which he runs on natural gas. The consequence of this arrangement is this that as soon as 2kW generator starts (at this stage it hasn't even started properly), it has to supply almost 1.4kW to power the entire home. I think that's a bad idea. I think he should first start the generator and once the generator has started running smoothly, then he should connect the home electricity line to the generator line. This way I believe it would be more easy for the generator to accommodate sudden 'pressure' of the load. Please let me know your opinion. Thank you.

Regards
PG

 

[Reloadron]

First, a 2 KW generator is a small generator.

Given a choice in how to do it when a blackout happens I would start the generator but totally reduce the load as low as possible before switching over to the generator. I only suggest this because the generator is so small.

I have an 18 KW whole house generator with fully automatic transfer. When power fails within about 7 to 10 seconds the generator is online and has no problem doing the transfer under the full load the house is providing. This is typically about a 4 KW load since I have not yet transfered the air conditioning over to the generator yet. However, given a choice in the system you describe I would eliminate as much load as possible and then bring the load up slowly. Since it is a manual operation that should be easy enough to do.

Just My Take
Ron