Adding couple outlets from portable generator wiring to house

Question

I want to add a couple of outlets from a generator to inside of the house to avoid having extension cords running through the door when the power is out. Similarly to this product.

I’ve got a small portable generator with a 30a L5-30r plug on it. I’ve ordered a L5-30r inlet box plug and 25ft cord to connect generator to house.

My plan is to get some 10/2 wire. 3/4” conduit to run the 10ga into the house to a pair of receptacles.

The generator is fused @ 30a. But the receptacles aren’t rated for 30a. I’m thinking I should run 2x 20a GFCIs to protect the outlets from being overloaded. It’s just for emergency power, fridge, sump, a light or 2 etc.

Is this correct? I was told I should fuse it separately. Do I need a subpanel?

Answer 1

You need a subpanel to do this correctly/safely.

You also need an L5-30P inlet to take an L5-30R cord. Plug goes to Receptacle, and the side that has power needs to be R, while the side that gets power needs to be P.

Since you are not proposing "dual-use" inside receptacles, a small sub-panel that takes your 30A input and has a couple of 20A breakers to feed your receptacles would be sufficient. GFCIs are not breakers (though some breakers are GFCIs) so using 20A GFCIs connected to a 30A input without a 20A breaker in between is not safe nor code-compliant.