will my generator run my central ac ?

[PacifiKool]

Ya I guess the btu to watt conversion won't cut it. Plus you already know the wattage of the A/C unit. Forget I said anything.

[Peztoy]

I would get an electrician to properly size a natural gas generator and hook it up to my homes power supply to automatically start up during a power outage.

The bonus would be that if anything goes wrong (fire), my home insurance will pay out.

The next bonus will be that my electrical meter will be going backwards when there is a power outage in the neighbourhood because my generator will be feeding back into the power grid and thats money back in my pocket.

[pecmsg]

The next bonus will be that my electrical meter will be going backwards when there is a power outage in the neighbourhood because my generator will be feeding back into the power grid and thats money back in my pocket.

Do that and your going to jail.

[cvcman]

Yea not a wise idea at all, think I will disreguard that info

[stebs]

Do that and your going to jail.

All standby generators tied into a homes electical system must have a "transfer switch" to prevent the generator from backfeeding the grid. If you did backfeed the grid, 1 or 2 things would happen. 1. your generator would burn up trying to power everything your neighbors own as well as your stuff, and 2. the linemen working on the lines would not be very happy with you.

If you were a utility worker working on down power lines,would you want some guys home generator energizing those lines when you thought they were dead?

[Peztoy]

Thanks Stebs. I stand corrected.
Hopefully the electrician would have installed a transfer switch.

[blitzz86]

I have a 8000 watt 12000 surge generator. It started and ran my 3 ton ac system just fine but mine is a nice generator that produces utility quality power at less than 5% harmonic distortion so..if you have a crappy generator you might not want to run your ac on it but my guess is its possible it may start and run a 1/2 ton.

[cvcman]

I just checked with Honda, THEY say no problem with my generator running the ac or the furnace ???

I would think IF I did it with everything else off until the house cooled down I would be ok

[cvcman]

I alos wondered IF you back feed the line and have a transformer on the pole by your house would that boost the power even higher ??

My neighbor turned his on w/o shutting the main off and it just bogged the gen down and flipped the breaker

[pecmsg]

cvc

You’ve asked if it would work. The general concusses is don’t do it but you seem to argue this view. Whatever, It’s your generator; your equipment and your house do what you want.

I alos wondered IF you back feed the line and have a transformer on the pole by your house would that boost the power even higher ??

My neighbor turned his on w/o shutting the main off and it just bogged the gen down and flipped the breaker

If you’re hooking that generator into the main panel without a transfer switch then my post #16 still applies. Now you’re putting the utility workers at risk. Please don’t do it.

[beenthere]

A 5 KW generator won't have a problem running your furnace. As long as the grounding and harmonics are good.

When I worked for a company that also installed generators. We would usually install a 7.5KW min if they also wanted to run their A/C.

To run your A/C(with only a 5KW) you may need to have the A/C(including furnace)as the only devices being powered.

[cvcman]

Thanks Jim that is what I was told by electritian too, Its really a 5550 with 8550 surge. IF I did it I would just cool down the house with ONLY the ac on then shut the ac down to use other stuff.

Even the online charts say its enough so...

Thanks Jim I can always cont on you

[fixitguy]

Most generators arent a nice sine wave..
2T AC =24000 BTU divide by 3.4 equals 7058 watts.. the start surge may be
THREE TIMES THAT for a 1/2 second..
1.5T =18000 BTU = 5300 watts and the furnance fan hasnt started......
Course the furnance has to be running for the blower fan, thats 10 amps maybe 14 amps by itself.. so now add 1200 watts for that...

now we are at 7100 + 1200 = 8300 and we still havent covered the start load.
So if you want to gamble a new board for your furnace...

Run it, and report back.. Maybe your furnace is to old to have a control board.
Just watch for smoke...... It may or may not. I cant see it from here!!

What happens, is there is a big current load at start up and the voltage goes way down, so any voltage sensitive items, like transistors, and intergrated circuits, go nuts.. Its all designed to be run AWAYS at 120v, not 100 or 135 if there is poor voltage regulation in the generator, bad things may happen.
If your a risk taker go for it and report back.

Please give us feed back if it works!!
thanks DON..
you do have a way to put out fires right??