Where To Start?

With a disclaimer. Working with electricity is very dangerous and can lead to serious harm. We also strongly encourage you to contact your local electrician and state inspector and ask about all the laws and regulations regarding your project. With that out of the way, start by gathering everything you’ll need to complete your project.

What You’ll Need

Having all of your tools ready before you start working saves a lot of time and frustration during your project. While I would normally encourage you to try and find the best deal possible, when working with electricity it’s best to use products from brands you can trust. Below is a list of everything we recommend having before you start working on your project.

Preparing Your Panel

Start by removing any jewelry and loose articles of clothing as they add unnecessary risk when working inside an electrical panel. We also recommend safety glasses, a pair of insulated gloves, and insulated tools for working with electricity.

Once you’re all geared up, flip the main circuit breaker off and remove the panel cover. While turning the main breaker off doesn’t remove all the power from inside the panel, it will cut power off from anything wired after the hot plugs. With all that being said, you should still treat everything inside the panel as if it were still live.

Next, check if there is anything currently occupying the two top rightmost spots on the panel. If they are empty, you can move on to the next step. If a breaker is in that spot, pull it out and move it to a different location.

On the actual panel cover, knockout any tabs that would be in the way of a breaker when replaced and flip it over to the back. Using the provided template piece, slide it over the top rightmost spot (now on the top left) and drill the holes using a 3/32’’ drill bit. Flip the panel back over to the front and make sure that the holes line up before re-drilling them out with a 3/16’’ bit. Screw on the interlock plate with the provided hardware so that the plate is still able to slide up and down.

Adding The Power Inlet Box

With your panel prepared, you are now almost ready to start connecting wires. Before that though, you’ll need to find a spot for the power inlet box. The box needs to be outside in an accessible location, adjacent to the panel. Feel free to remove the plug from the box in order to make mounting the box easier. Remove the knockout on the back of the box and drill a hole through so that you are able to run conduit from the panel to the inlet box.

Running The Wires

To start off, you’re going to need to decide if you’ll be using indoor or outdoor rated 10/3 wire. If your wire is going to be used anywhere outside, you’ll need to use the outdoor rated wire, even if you use conduit. For the large majority of people, the indoor rated wire is what will be used. Strip the sheathing off the ends of the wire and pass one end into the inlet box and the other into the panel. As a reminder, while the power is turned off for most of the panel, always treat it as if everything is live. First, attach both the ground and neutral wires to the neutral busbar if this is a main panel, or, if this is a sub-panel, attach the ground wire to the grounding busbar and the neutral wire to the neutral busbar.

Next, connect the two hot wires to your 30A circuit breaker and snap it into the top rightmost spot. After the breaker is in place, add the retaining bracket by unscrewing the right screw below the main breaker and reattaching it with the bracket in place.

Over in the power inlet box, strip the wires back according to manufacturer specifications, usually between 1/2” and 5/8’’, and twist the tips clockwise in preparation for the wire nut. Once again, start by connecting the ground wires together, followed by the neutrals and then the hot wires. Close the power inlet box, replace the panel, and you are good to go.

Final Notes

With everything now hooked up, you can switch from getting power from the grid to getting it from a generator. When switching from power source to power source, it’s a good idea to disconnect any sensitive electronics or, safer yet, switch off all the breakers in your house. You also need to keep in mind how many watts your generator is able to produce and how many you are using. This may require you to either buy a more powerful generator or keep some unnecessary electronics off until the grid comes back online. And that’s it, you’re all ready to switch from grid power to generator power.