I have two 200 amp panels in my house connected to a single meter. I am wanting to connect a 22kW standby generator to power a portion of the total house load. Is it practical / legal to move all the loads I'm interested in protecting to one of the two 200 amp panels and connecting only that panel to the generator through an automatic transfer switch? I already have a 200 amp automatic transfer switch with load shedding capability. Each panel has a main breaker but there are no other breakers/cutoffs between the meter and either panel.
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It should be okay. The transfer switch will isolate one panel from the rest by turning off the main breaker for that panel. I think life gets more difficult if trying to use both panels from a generator.– crip659Commented Dec 24, 2023 at 21:01
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1 Answer
I'd run the ATS off a feeder instead
I know this sounds weird to people who are used to the promise of "whole house backup generators", but I would rather see you run a feeder of appropriate size from one of your panels then put the ATS on that, with a subpanel downstream of the ATS for your backup loads. This way, you can service the ATS without needing to have the utility kill power to your entire house.
Note that this feeder need only be sized for the computed load served, which may be more practical than trying to run a 200A feeder to it.
answered Dec 24, 2023 at 22:47
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1Interesting idea. 22kW is a lot, but basically enough for a full 100A panel and not 200A. The logical thing to do would be to install a subpanel right next to the 200A and of the same type (e.g., Siemes or Square D QO or Square D Homeline or GE or Eaton BR or Eaton CH) so that circuits can be relatively easily moved between the panels without worrying about dealing with different breaker types. Commented Dec 24, 2023 at 23:10