2 KW Gennie 100 ft To House: Wire?

[(PeteCresswell)]

It's finally dawned on me that the right place to run my little Honda E2000 is
right where it's stored: in the garden shed. Plenty ventilation, protected
from the elements, lockable....

It's 100 feet to get power into the house.

I'm guessing that 100 feet of 10/3 would be adequate just because that seems tb
the largest they sell at Home Depot.

Stuff's not cheap. Is it overkill?

Anybody got a formula: Load vs Distance?


For occasional (1-2x per year) use, would plain old Romex be out of the
question?

 

[Vaughn Simon]

For occasional (1-2x per year) use, would plain old Romex be out of the
question?

Short answer; The Romex will work. Better answer; If available, pay a
little bit more and get type UF. UF looks just like Romex, but is made to
tolerate dampness. If you wish at some later date, it is OK to dig a ditch and
direct bury the UF (it is NOT OK to do that with Romex).

If you ever do the "dig", drop at least one empty conduit in the ditch,
preferably several.

Vaughn

 

[Vaughn Simon]

Why would you pay for an extra conductor that isn't useful?

You need the ground wire because the frame of the genny should be grounded
for safety.

Technically speaking, I believe that if the generator is going to be wired
to a transfer wire, the ground goes to the generator frame and not the ground
terminal on the generator receptical. Correct?

Vaughn

 

[Bughunter]

I use 100ft contractors power cord between my EU3000 and my inverter. I'm
not sure of the gauge, but I have not had a problem in voltage drop. I
bought the heaviest that I could find at the local hardware store. I run it
at about 17-20 amps load. That is not an uncommon load for power tools. You
should have no problem with 10/3.

It can be a royal pain to try and roll up or manage romex. I used romex to
my old generator. In that respect, a heavy duty extension cord is
preferable.

If you do go with romex, you should get the type that is made to be buried.
It is water proof. You might also consider burying it to remove it as a trip
hazard. The price of all copper has skyrocketed in the last year. 250' of
14/2 was nearly $100. That's nearly 3 times what it was last year. Ouch!

I'd actually think it would be easier to carry an EU2000 closer to the house
than try and unwind and manage 100' of romex.

Of course, if it is 100' away in a shed, you are even less likely to hear
it.

Just my $.02

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Vaughn Simon:

You need the ground wire because the frame of the genny should be grounded
for safety.

Technically speaking, I believe that if the generator is going to be wired
to a transfer wire, the ground goes to the generator frame and not the ground
terminal on the generator receptical. Correct?

You've raised another reason why it makes more sense to run this thing in the
garden shed. I can pound a ground into the earth next to the shed and run a
wire inside.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Bughunter:

I'd actually think it would be easier to carry an EU2000 closer to the house
than try and unwind and manage 100' of romex.

That's where I was at first. The thing is quiet enough to be quite close to
the house.

But this afternoon a squall came through our area: 40-mph winds, driving rain...
and so-forth. Lights dimmed a few times, but the power stayed on.

But looking at the conditions got me thinking that leaving the gennie out in
that kind of weather can't be good - and there's also the thought of refueling
it under those conditions... so the shed has become attractive.

I think I'll just bite the bullet and buy 100' of 10/3 extension cord.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Solar Flare:

Get this down. 10/3 cable has 3 conductors with different colour
insulation and one ground wire in bare copper for a total of four
conductors. The bare ground conductor never counts in the wire spec.
It is assumed.

Now what you noted in the previous post has sunk in..... 10/3 really is
overkill.... Just as you said, I had made the erroneous assumption that 10/2
would not have a ground wire.

Thanks.

 

[Nick Hull]

Short answer; The Romex will work. Better answer; If available, pay a
little bit more and get type UF. UF looks just like Romex, but is made to
tolerate dampness. If you wish at some later date, it is OK to dig a ditch
and
direct bury the UF (it is NOT OK to do that with Romex).

If you ever do the "dig", drop at least one empty conduit in the ditch,
preferably several.

I'll second that, bite the bullet and put in an empty conduit larger
than you think you'll ever need.

 

[Sorobon]

It's finally dawned on me that the right place to run my little Honda
E2000 is
right where it's stored: in the garden shed. Plenty ventilation,
protected
from the elements, lockable....

It's 100 feet to get power into the house.

I'm guessing that 100 feet of 10/3 would be adequate just because that
seems tb
the largest they sell at Home Depot.

Stuff's not cheap. Is it overkill?

Anybody got a formula: Load vs Distance?


For occasional (1-2x per year) use, would plain old Romex be out of the
question?

I would buy a #12 100' long outdoor extension cord, it will cost you about
$50 and you can use it for other things.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Solar Flare:

Get this down. 10/3 cable has 3 conductors with different colour
insulation and one ground wire in bare copper for a total of four
conductors. The bare ground conductor never counts in the wire spec.
It is assumed.

Sounds like different standards in the UK and USA - at least I'm assuming you're
on the UK bco "Colour"....

I checked a couple of cords (transparent plugs) and a couple of reels of
wire-by-the-foot and "10/3" was three conductors in all cases: one red, one
white, and one green.

10/3 on a spool by the foot was $1.30 per foot.

OTOH, I took home a 10/3 100' ready-made cord for $91. Go figure...