We were out of power for 3 days during the snow storm. This weekend my BIL gave us a used Craftsman 3500 watt generator. I was going to buy a bigger one before he did this. So just what can I power with this one? I'm looking at 2 fridges, a deep freezer, tv/cable box, couple of fish tanks...etc. Is it worth having an electrician adding a box for full home power for a small unit?

How often do you / have you lost power??

That was the longest in the 10 years we've been here. During the summer we get a few single days of no power for some reason or another. Peace of mind thing as I get older and less physically able.

Gotcha. It might be better to get a bigger generator or an installed house generator.
A transfer switch for that 3500watt gen will probably run you about $600 - $1,500 installed. Depends on the capacity of the switch and hookup.

That 3,500 watt gen would run the 2 fridges and a freezer but if they any cycle at the same time, it will overload it.
I would not run any other electronic devices at the same time either.
You could cycle the fridges and freezers every 6-8 hours or so but that would be an extension cord setup as it would not work well on house hook up.

A SiL got the largest Firman tri fuel generator (10kw or 12kw) and had the transfer gear installed and had a NG hookup put on his patio. I don’t remember the total cost, but I remember being surprised it was so easily affordable.

He had the transfer gear set up for selected circuits.

A person could get along with 3500 watts, but has to be selective about what to run and when.

For this, I would just buy some extension cords if you don't have, and run what you need/can the old fashion way.

I agree. If the needs are pretty rare a few cords could save you quite a bit. The amp needs are on appliance labels. You can calculate your needs.

I have a 5500 watt gen that I ended up not needing during that freeze. But I was ready. I had two 20 amp/12 gauge cords coiled up by the back window with splitters on each. I had a pile of other smaller cords for lamps, cable box, computers, etc. The gen would have been right outside the house with a piece of decking ready to lean over it against the house for snow cover. I have about the same power needs as Jimbo. If I calculated everything right I had way more than needed.

I have my house setup for hurricane power outages, ran the house on a Predator 6500 (Harbor Freight). Ran 3 freezers, fridge, gas central heater, all necessary lights, and water well. I used the L1430P twist lock plug and have it setup to plug into my shop breaker box and feed everything from there. I used You Tube to find out how to wire it, just keep looking until you find one you understand and feel comfortable doing yourself. It will not run my central air system during hurricanes, but we have ceiling fans and box fans to try to get thru the heat. It worked great for the freeze, only problem was finding gas to keep it running. We had gas stations sitting on all the gas you need, but no power to get it out of the tanks. Able to keep it running for 3 full days until we got power back. Will plan better for that if it ever happens again!

If you feel safe turning breakers on and off yourself, there's a much cheaper solution than installing a transfer switch. Generator Interlock Kits are available cost about $50-$75 and satisfy electrical code requirements. An electrician can install one at the same time he installs a power inlet box for connecting a generator directly to your breaker box. It's a very simple method to ensure the main breaker and breaker for your generator are not on at the same time.

Generator Interlock Kit

If I were younger I would consider a whole house standby generator,probably diesel, wired in with a transfer switch.

A standby generator like mine (20kw) should cost about $10k total, as a cost comparison to other options. I’d go with NG or Propane before I’d use diesel. I chose to go with the big Generac, which is completely automatic, rather than continuing to use the Honda 7000. The Honda worked fine, but required me to get out of bed in bad weather, go to the barn, start the Honda and do the hookups. Now I can just stay in bed, like I probably will tonight, when the storm boils through here.

I'm a bit envious.

I lost power on the coldest night of the deep freeze at 0430 AM. I had my Generac 15000 watt read y to go but still had to go out and crank it at 8 degrees. I might consider a remote start. Would love a 23KW so I could run the whole house but gonna hang on to my cash.

To answer the OP, IMO 3500 will run those appliances but I'd start them(plug them in) several minutes apart. Compressor start-up is about 3X the load as run load. Forget the extension cord and run to a 220V blank in your main panel. Just have to shut off the main to prevent feedback into the main lines. Save up and get a 7000watt. They are anywhere from $800-$1200. Caution with sensitive electronics running on gen power.

Raybob, I only mentioned the parts where I was arguably smart. What I didn’t say was that I never considered the possibility of 8 or 9 days without power, so I was WAY understocked with propane. The last 4 or 5 days, I was down to running a couple of small gas generators. Didn’t do me much good to have just a Generac lawn ornament. The bigger tank is on order.

Daughter and SIL have a gen run on propane in their RV.On the way back from Ruidoso the campground we stayed was having power problems so our pedistals didn't have any power.Daughter had to have her ac and about 10 pm they ran out of propane.Diesel has the best efficiency for powering generators is why I would prefer it over Propane.Besides,a tank of diesel next to the genny and if I need to I could pump it into my truck.

For just those things on list that 3500w unit should be enough, and just using (heavy duty) extension cords when the need arises.

You CAN buy/setup a limited circuit manual X-fer switch like this one ($300) - https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200702786_200702786
IF you do something like this, definitely have the electrician run a heavier FEED WIRE to support a larger generator for if/when you get a larger portable generator - the max the x-fer switch is rated for.

You can also just get lockout-plate like Dan suggested - my advise here too would be run a heavier feed wire that would support at least 8000 watts, in case you upgrade gen later. You can easily size/change the breaker to match the generator you end up with.

John2 makes a good point about diesel. If I had a diesel RV or a TT pulled by a diesel truck, my generator would run on diesel. The SiL has an RV like that. But, for home use in a free standing generator, propane and NG are easier to deal with long term.

If we had NG in our home then I would go that route but we are on all electric and no NG around us.

I read about possible blackouts last winter long before the blizzard hit.
I bought a 5000 watt at Lowe's. Left it in the box. Never used it.

Took it back for credit.

We lost power and water for almost 5 days during that last freeze. Two little 2,000 watt inverter generators supported two chest freezers and two full-sized refrigerators, aerobic system pump, and lights. They both ran continuously without a hiccup.

I was gifted a new 5,000 watt generator that I am going to wire to back feed my panel, using the interlocking bracket method.
My new generator can provide 7,000 watts for 10 seconds, so I hope that it will start my 3 ton condensing unit if I add a soft start kit.

Marc

Thanks for the replies. I was going to buy a duel fuel 9000 watt gen before I was given the 3500. I want to be able to run the pool pump also. Need to talk to the wife before selling this one because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

[quote=corkys son]I have my house setup for hurricane power outages, ran the house on a Predator 6500 (Harbor Freight). Ran 3 freezers, fridge, gas central heater, all necessary lights, and water well. I used the L1430P twist lock plug and have it setup to plug into my shop breaker box and feed everything from there. I used You Tube to find out how to wire it, just keep looking until you find one you understand and feel comfortable doing yourself. It will not run my central air system during hurricanes, but we have ceiling fans and box fans to try to get thru the heat. It worked great for the freeze, only problem was finding gas to keep it running. We had gas stations sitting on all the gas you need, but no power to get it out of the tanks. Able to keep it running for 3 full days until we got power back. Will plan better for that if it ever happens again!

I used my generator initially to keep my pool circulating, that's two 220 volt pumps added on the generator. I drained the pool to below the skimmer baskets, pulled the drain plugs on the pumps and filter. This took a big load off the generator, and had absolutely no problems with the pool.

i just cut the 30amp 220 cord to my generator and wired it to a 30 amp breaker on my outside panel. turn off main breaker of course all other breakers as well and all inside breakers as well. fire generator turn on its 30 amp breaker, turn on main house breaker only, then go inside and start turning inside breakers on, i ran everything in my house including fridge and freezer all lights and plugs and one space heater on a 5500 watt generator, to run the microwave i had to turn the space heater off or you would hear that generator struggle. its not gonna run hot water heater or electric stoves or furnace or dryer

You can run a 240v water heater or strip heat on 120v and get 1/4 of heat at 1/4 of the power draw.

For example, my standard 50 gallon water heater draws 4500 watts on 240. Running it on 120v will only draw 1100 from my generator. I'll be happy to wait four times longer for a shower vs. no hot water at all.

You just need to add a 30 amp 3-way switch that diverts one side of the 240v load to common to get 120v for generator support.

Lots of interesting and useful info here.

I made a better graphic in my post above, to help clarify the details.