- 2,953
- 4,298
- 113
- Location
- Olympia/WA
So if you're doing a hardwire install, then that one isn't ideal, but it will work.
The reason I say this is it comes with an inlet box and power cable, which you shouldn't need for this job.
The 9854 is the same transfer switch without those 2 items.
The first website I checked is showing the 9854 for $200 less, but backordered through august.
The 9855 is also backordered, but shows through mid July.
This switch is designed exactly for the situation you are in, so good to go.
I believe that 6/3 with ground would be correct for this. the 6 is 6 gauge, the 3 is 3 conductors. 6/4 would have 4 conductors and would be appropriate for 3 phase power.
For 50 amps power at 70 feet of run, limited to 3% line loss gives you a minimum size of 6 gauge. With 4 gauge it would be 1% loss, but even 5% is still within allowable range for this type of application. You can easily bump up the voltage a little at the generator if you are worried about it, but pretty much all household appliances will work normally within 10-15% of rated utility (so for a 120V circuit you might see anything from 110 to 130VAC, though usually it's between 115 and 120)
you do have to run the ground and neutral wires as well. For a permanently installed generator like this, it has to be tied into the house ground circuit (and the little bar between ground and neutral removed in the generator). Or your local code might say differently. The problem with grounding the generator separately than the house is the ground (earth/dirt that the ground rods get driven into) still conducts electricity. This can cause issues with some circuits.
The neutral is required because the 2 hots carry 240V between them. They each carry 120V to the neutral. If you don't have the neutral then all you will be able to use is 240V appliances. If you happen to have 2 120V circuits that share a neutral between them then if one has a tiny load and the other a heavy load, the one with the light load will be way over voltage, and the heavy one way under voltage as it tries to balance everything out. Very bad for anything plugged into those circuits.
So I don't want to insult anyone, but he is likely padding his time. He knows roughly what it should take for time to move all those circuits over to a new panel, but is giving himself a lot of extra just in case. Homeowners don't want to hear a quote of $1200 then have it double if something goes wrong.
The only issue is if everything goes perfect and he's out of there in less than a day, you'll still get the $2300 charge.
This particular transfer switch has all the wiring to it already done, so in the electrical panel all the loads that are coming over get disconnected then hooked to the new wires they go to, and a 50 amp breaker gets installed to power the sub panel. A competent electrician should be able to do it in a couple of hours.
I don't know how the power is being run from the gen to the switch. If it's just EMT above ground being run alongside the house, then once again, shouldn't take more than a couple hours. (I'd have expected electrical pvc conduit as it's easier/more secure) I would also think it would be 1" rather than 3/4" for that size.
If it's being buried then a couple extra hours would be expected, depending on soil type and depth of install.
There are too many variables involved for me to give even a wild guess as to how much time/money it should take to install.
My only suggestion is if there is more than one electrical company that is nearby you talk to each of them and get additional bids.
