We dodged a bullet with the winter storm but I’m already thinking about the next one. Our house has two 200A panels. Not practical to move circuits to put everything I want to run off the generator into one. I’m planning an outdoor 30A power inlet and corresponding 30A breakers with interlocks for the panels. I’d also like a switch between the power inlet and the panels so I can pick the panel getting power. Having a hard time finding what I want - a three position switch (A - off - B). What would this be called? Any suggestions?

I’d do an outlet for each panel and an interlock for each panel. I’d plug the generator into the outlet for whichever panel I wanted to run, run separate generators for each panel, or some of the bigger generators have two 50amp connections.

This is the type of interlock: Link.

I’d also do 50amp outlets, breakers, and cable between the generator and the outlet because my generator has 8,600 watts of starting power.

Not sure the reason for wanting to pick which panel gets power - why not both?

If it's because of generator capacity vs. several systems with too much startup draw, there may be a solution that could let you power both panels.

That's what I wound up with - two panels, one generator. The new generator had plenty of power for steady-state but needed some wiggle room at startup time due to amp loads.

The new Generacs can work with startup time-delay devices ("Smart Management Modules") that go on the outlets powering high-inrush-current-draw devices (HVAC, hot tubs, etc.) that stagger their startup times from power off so the generator doesn't have to start everything at once. We have three - two on heat pump HVACs, one on a hot tub.

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Originally posted by Tgrshrk99:
We dodged a bullet with the winter storm but I’m already thinking about the next one. Our house has two 200A panels. Not practical to move circuits to put everything I want to run off the generator into one. I’m planning an outdoor 30A power inlet and corresponding 30A breakers with interlocks for the panels. I’d also like a switch between the power inlet and the panels so I can pick the panel getting power. Having a hard time finding what I want - a three position switch (A - off - B). What would this be called? Any suggestions?

Like PHPaul referenced you’ll want a manual transfer switch. But instead of a 30 amp switch consider a 50 amp switch if your generator is large enough to support it.

We had 400 amp service in our last house and used a transfer switch. We then selectively used various circuits when needed to run what we wanted. For instance we ran the well pump when we took showers and ran the dishwasher then turned it off to run other circuits.

Although we dodged a bullet in our current home I convinced my wife last night to wire one here. That plus a 11.5 kW tri fuel generator from Harbor Freight should get us through just about anything

Does your house have a master panel where power comes in from the street which then runs to two 200A sub-panels?

If so, you could install a power inlet to the master panel, which then would feed both of the sub-panels. You'd have an interlock on that main panel.

There are a lot of considerations where to put that inlet. Security against theft of your generator if things are quite desperate, carbon monoxide (including into windows close to the generator), noise, and fuel accessibility.

If the two panels are next to each other, you could install a manual transfer switch box which has enough switches for your important circuits.

It will be tough to power the entire house without a very big generator, which means it will need a lot of fuel, and will be noisy. Deciding ahead of time which services are most important to you and wiring for them might be much less expensive and more practical.

If you haven't looked at generators, investigate inverter generators. Sensitive electronics such as computers, tv, furnace circuit boards, other appliance circuit boards, etc can be damaged by non-inverter generators. The inverter puts out clean power, but the others put out dirty power which your surge protectors won't clean up.

Please study on the portable generator ground and neutral requirements. A floating neutral from the generator may be required.

I have a single 200 Amp main panel with two sub panels.

I have 4 of the time delay load management boxes that joel9507 pictured.

One for each subpanel and one each for Heat/AC 220 circuits.

I have a Generac 24K generator with an 200 amp auto transfer switch.

The generator itself is rated for 100 AMPS.

I have yet to need it but it tests itself once a week at noon, so it is working, I hope.