Wiring II

How you are going to wire depends on where your generating system and batteries are located in relation to the items that you are going to power. The best place for the batteries is in a ventilated room against or in the house itself. If, as in my case, the charging systems are located in another building, you will need to make some decisions. Some of these decisions will depend on the distance from the house the charging system is. Do you transport batteries to a special room in the house and exchange them for fresh batteries as needed? Do you wire from the charging station to the house, putting your junction box in the house? I have opted to transport batteries, saving much wiring and cutting down the loss of power due to long wiring lines. Should you opt to wire from building to building, I would suggest you buy underground wire and bury it at least 18 inches deep. At your charging station you will also need to install an amp meter and a volt meter. These can be obtained at any auto store and will tell you how the batteries are being charged. You may want another set of these at your junction box to let you know how much electricity is being used. The one I use at the junction is basically a volt meter, but uses colors instead of numbers. Green=fully charged, yellow=low and red=discharged. Thus you can tell at a glance when your batteries need changing. Now to wire from your power source to your batteries. If you are using a gas or diesel generator, all you need is an extension cord to your appliances. I use regular house wire and make my own cords, using 12/2 for 110v wiring and 10/2 for 220v. I never use anything lighter than these and occasionally will go to an even heavier grade. Wiring inverters to your appliances is very much like any other house wiring. It takes some real planning to keep the new wires hidden when retrofitting. You can buy outlets that mount on the wall instead of in it. You can drill through the floor next to the wall and mount the plug in right there. Lacking a basement or crawl space, you can pull your baseboard off and run the wires behind the baseboard. I like to use single plug outlets, which I paint red and install the plastic childproof caps, which are also painted red. This will keep anyone from attempting to use one of these except in an emergency when the power is connected. Other than that, these plug-ins remain inactive. To be continued.