Reliance Controls 6 circuit Transfer Switch with 4 prong 30Amp Receptacle

This article will give you a basic understanding of how a manual transfer switch is used with a portable generator. You’ll learn how a manual transfer switch differs from an automatic transfer switch. This explanation will be rather elementary for the more experienced. It is meant as education for someone with little or no knowledge of the process.

Let’s say you experience a power outage and you want to use your portable generator to give you some of the comforts in your home. A transfer switch allows you to connect your generator via a suitable power cord from your generator to your selected circuits on your home’s power panel. You can then switch the power source from the power utility, which is down, to the power generated by your generator.

A transfer switch like the Reliance Controls 6 circuit model pictured above, is an electrical switch that switches a load (electrical supply) between two sources. It’s for those who choose not to run generator cords throughout their home.  but you must first decide where the power will be allocated within your home by selecting the appropriate circuits. Read the rest of this entry