I have natural gas. I know nothing about transfer switches.
A transfer switch is not mandatory. You can do what you want to do with out one. The transfer switch simply shuts off the power from your service provider to your house while allowing power from your generator to “feed” the circuits in your house. The transfer switch will not allow power to be fed back into the service provider’s lines causing a danger to linemen working to restore your power. It also will not allow power to feed back into your generator (destroying it) when the service provider restores your power unexpectedly. It allows you to simply attach the generator to your power panel (outside & this will require an electrician to install)
to “feed” your whole house, or rather a small portion at one time. Obviously if you have a 5000 watt generator you can’t run 9000 watts of TV’s light, refrigerators etc. While your whole house is “hot” you have to pick and choose what you have on at any one time so as not to overload the generator. The advantage of the transfer switch is you can go from room to room turning on, and turning off lights without having extension cords running all over the floor. Without a transfer switch, you can simply fire up your generator (OUTSIDE) and run an extension cord to a power strip, and run shorter lines from the power strip to the things you want to run…lamp, TV. Refrigerator, fan, etc. This is what I do during short (2-3 hour) power outages...Run a small generator, to provide, a couple of lamps, a fan, TV, and run the vent hood over the stove if needed.
If my food rots, it rots. I will cook what I can outside.
A small to medium size generator will run your refrigerator…or a freezer
Yes, I want to keep the body cold - MINE - well not cold - I'd be happy if I could keep a single room under 85 Deg. The only room I can shut off and keep cool is a bedroom.
What I'm thinking is a small window A/C unit (I have central A/C which will not work)- to be powered with a generator.
This is a good plan….a small 10,000 BTU A/C will only requires around 1000-1500 watts to run depending on the make/model etc. It may require 1800 + watts to start the compressor, but this is just for a very brief time. Most generators have a surge rating that is higher than the run rate….A 5000 watt generator may have a surge rate of 7000 watts to help with brief power surges caused by electric motors starting in refrigerators, freezers etc.
So, with a medium, portable size generator you can create a “cool” zone in your house to run a Small a/c window unit, a light, TV, and quite possibly your refrigerator.
If your house is all electric then an outside propane grill is nice….as is a propane cook stove with two burners etc.
Most Gasoline generators can be converted to run on propane or natural gas…expect to pay between $100-$200 + for the conversion kit and labor.
CAUTION: NEVER RUN A GENERATOR INDOORS. CARBON MONOXIDE KILLS!!!
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