Powering my house with the Ford F-150 Powerboost Generator! Preparing for Texas Ice Storm
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- Опубліковано 12 січ 2025
- Using my Hybrid Ford F-150 Powerboost to Power my house using a Generic 6852 manual transfer switch. I am now ready for Texas winters, ice storms, and power outages! Generac 6852 (affiliate): geni.us/DPrM
Green 30amp cord: geni.us/sJW7ZAQ
Hybrid trucks are awesome!
Ran into an issue with a circuit that has kitchen lights on it because of a shared neutral that we were not able to resolve. Other than that was able to get Master Bedroom/Bathroom, living room, kitchen outlets and microwave, 2 fridges, 2 furnaces, 2 other bedrooms wired up.
Apparently common mistake when connecting the Generac 6852 or 6854 is connecting all the neutrals to the sub panel bus bar. Rework today and it’s alive!!!!
(affiliate links)
What’s on my desk! 👈
16" MacBook: geni.us/r4a7J
Dell S2722QC: geni.us/6LgZq7S
Bamboo Monitor Stand: geni.us/zoOQX
CalDigit TS3: geni.us/r84kcvC
CalDigit 10Gb Ethernet: geni.us/sa7e
Synology NAS: geni.us/bZcb7vV
OWC Envoy Pro FX SSD: geni.us/BBSmI
AirPods Max: geni.us/mOVjcr
AirPods Max Stand (ETSY): geni.us/b7fHZ
Kanto YU2 Speakers: geni.us/Mz6uX2F
Satechi Magnetic Charger 2-in-1: geni.us/BD5Qrna
If this was helpful I have a tip jar: paypal.me/jerr...
My Gear
My Camera: geni.us/pWJI5
Secondary Lens: geni.us/3GmQoy7
Sennheiser MKH-416 mic: geni.us/H39ei0
Zoom F6 recorder: geni.us/x8mU2v5
Rode VideoMic NTG geni.us/1jlIVv4
Used DJI OSMO 3 Gimbal for some shots geni.us/RyAB
Tascam DR-10L Audio Recorder with Lav geni.us/BcWzHh
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.
Generac 6852 (affiliate): geni.us/DPrM Green Cable: geni.us/sJW7ZAQ
Have you ever had a ground fault error message from the truck 🛻
That is so cool! Love to see a video of the system and what was involved in the install and costs.
I second this
I look forward to getting a new F-150 with these features, that's a good feature to have on a truck.
They are definitely making trucks more useful for everyday life!
@@JerrySchulze they are! I have a 13' , my brother has a 23' and it's just amazing the leap in technology and comfort. I'm holding off until I retire, delayed gratification.
Thanks for the real world demo.
Super cool bro! Congrats on your new truck
I disconnected the ground from the 30 amp 240 volt inlet plug and it solved the ground fault on the Truck, I have an interlock on the breaker on the main panel, and all outlets are grounded anyway at the house
Super unsafe to do this, even though it gets around the ground fault issue. When you have one 120V phase drawing more power than the other (normal based on loading), you will have neutral current flowing. That will cause the truck body to be at a different potential than earth ground. Touch something metal in your truck and something that is at earth ground, and you have a serious shock and electrocution hazard. What is shown in the video is the correct way to deal with this - isolated ground/neutral subpanel with critical loads.
My house is only 1300 sqft. I don't have the setup like you do to run the house because we don't have a switch, but I don't think the truck is strong enough to run our AC. We used it for hurricane Ian to run our fridge and a couple lamps.
Ya, AC is probably out with 30amp, but a temporary window AC may work.
@AkronKid330 1300 square foot house doesnt have a huge AC system. Depending on the age of your system it will most likely only pull 20-25 amps max on startup. Continuous is about 15 amps. So I figure with your fridge and some lights in the home you would be just at the limit of the powerboost
Soft start on your A/C system is the answer. Truck will run it with this installed.
Damn. That’s awesome
That’s so weird and crazy your panel is outside for all to access
That’s cool 😎 😊
Powerful!
Thanks for sharing sir
Wish I had an f150 right about now. Still have no power. Hurricane Ian . It’s been a week am no power yet 😩
So this is real? Box on the outside so anyone can mess with your stuff? Now those horror movies make sense. Always wondered why people would be able to do that or where the idea came from.
😂
Most are inside
That's super cool. I had to do a web search as I thought you had the electric truck that you can also use to power your home for a few days. With dual fuel generators costing so little (the gas and propane versions for $500-$600), I was thinking to maybe buy an electric truck and a use a dual fuel generator for backup. Also, in WA State the power main is typically in the house, not on the outside. I don't think I'd like that outside stuff. I wonder what international code is for that?
Yep, the Powerboost is a hybrid. The tech is awesome.
@@JerrySchulze Cool, I hadn't seen that one. My parents just got a Maverick and love it.
nice! I like the Maverick because I used to have old Rangers and they are similar in size.
Wow and a lot quieter than running a generator albeit it would cost me 80 grand for that truck in Canada
This is an awesome video, thank you!
I have 2 questions:
1. What is the approx square footage of your house? I am wondering if this generator would be able to power my house which is around 2500 square feet
2. If you are running this overnight, can someone smash a window and steal your car?
My house is 3600sq ft. You may be able to run a single air conditioner but you really want to segregate the loads you care about most with the manual transfer switch. If the key is not in the truck, they can’t change gear.
Great demonstration! Thank you. It’s a remarkable capability built into a truck. Yet, do you find it limiting that your truck can’t move until the power outage is over? For example, if you’re in a 5 day power outage and you need to go get fuel, assist family across town, or go to work?
Always trade offs. It runs for a long time, is quieter than any other generator, but you may have to leave with the truck.
@ Yes! So much quieter. I was just discussing that with my brother. Thanks for the insight.
I’m gonna be getting this truck
7.2 kw
What’s the trick for the truck to run on both legs of power ? Will it do it automatically?
Can you do this with just an old diesel truck?
How do I get this setup and what’s the approximate cost???
My neutral and ground are not bonded in panel can I just install a 30 amp 2 pole breaker and back feed the panel without the transfer switch? I obv need to kill grid power and manage loads accordingly.
Been doing that, through a welder plug, for 30 years or so. Just have to really pay attention to the cord when it's hot. :)
Hey jerry I did this install I made sure all neutrals were spliced into the transfer switch box everything is separated but still getting the ground fault code any idea?
What do you mean spliced? In the original box they should be disconnected from the neutral bar and twisted to an extension that goes into the neutral bar of the MTS. Is that what you did? Then the hot wire gets extended into the MTS breaker.
@@JerrySchulze yes sir that’s exactly what I did everything holds up and works but I soon as I connect the ground it gets ground fault code, I double checked to make sure nothing was bonded and all checks out fine
@@JerrySchulze is there any way I can contact you? I also found a loose wire in transfer switch box I don’t know where it goes it’s an orange one I would like to see if you could tell me where it goes by looking at yours, I would greatly appreciate it
@@isaac73tx I am really sorry but I am not a qualified electrician or Generac tech. I did hire an electrician to help me so I had someone to blame if the house burned down. I am on the blue bird network though.
How does almost 6000W work on one single 30amp cable ? Did i miss something
220 at 30 amps.
@JerrySchulze that makes sense, thank you
I was waiting for the truck to blow up when you turned the house power back on
🤦♂️
Transfer switch stops that
When I first heard that the truck could power your house I really didn’t think that this much would be involved.thats got to be a 4500 dollar set up. My house was built in 1910 and not certified people wired up the house🤦 So I figured if I ever get a F150 lightning, I would just have them wire up the garage for power that’s not attached to the house.
You can get a panel interlock kit and generator inlet for less than $1k installed by an electrician.
How much is it to install the cutover switch?
I paid around $500.
Can you link the green cord you ran from the truck?
Do you have the 2.4w or 7.2w generator in your F150?
7.2
Cool
Hi Jerry. Just got our F150. Excited to try out the Powerboost but have no idea what cord to buy to connect to our transfer switch. Can you point me to the right one?
This is what I am using geni.us/287TLgb
Could you post the name of the one you are using link is broken. Thank you
@@JerrySchulze Can you please share a updated link to your cable? Thanks!
Where do you connect the neutrals? You mentioned you reworked it.
Disconnect the neutral and the hot from the original sub panel and wire nut them both into the new panel breaker. Some people try to leave the neutrals connected to the neutral bar in the sub panel and wire directly to the new panel neutral bar. This will not work.
A parallel neutral path can be dangerous.
I noticed from the sticker on your Generac switch that you're in the Austin area (512 area code), can you recommend an electrician in the area that has experience installing this?
Sorry for the delay. I used ATX electric but I bought the transfer switch myself from Lowe’s.
So how long can the truck power an average house for without battery dying?
In the PowerBoost the battery gets charged by the engine when needed, it can go for 85 hours on a full tank of gas.
How did you get around the binded nuetral issue everyone talks about?
You need to make sure to move all neutrals along with the hot to the transfer switch. That's it. Most electricians assume you can just run a jumper between the neutral bars on the switch and the sub panel but you can't. Even if there are shared neutrals in the house that can cause problems. For example, I can't have my kitchen lights circuit on the switch because something else is tied into it and I get the fault.
whats this binded neautral problem u talk about???
don't see why you would not just setup your transfer to use the existing panel and just mark mission critical circuits.
Did you install this yourself?
How much you ended spending on the home link and secondary breakers ?
Homelink was 350 from lowes or nationwidegenerators. I spent probably 250 on breakers and the 30amp plug.
@@JerrySchulze you think eventually you will use that for solar or the setup was specifically for the truck ?
Specifically for truck. Solar hopefully in the next 5 years but that would be a complete re-work.
That’s so cool
Did you have any ground fault errors on the truck?
No. You need to make sure to move the hot and neutral to the transfer switch. Don’t connect the neutral bars between the sub panel and transfer switch. I have a couple circuits I couldn’t move because somewhere there was a shared neutral.
@@JerrySchulze thanks so much. I have a transfer box but keep getting ground faults. Do I need the generac or will mine work if I do what you stated
@@robertperez1158 I can’t answer that but if you have the hot and the neutrals completely isolated from the rest of the house it should work.
@@JerrySchulze ok thankyou. I need a sub panel. My transfer switch is on the main box
@@robertperez1158 I recommend getting an electrician. I am specialized in electronics and can do it but if the house burns down you want someone else to blame.
Wait is that normal for you to have the power breaker box on the outside of your house easily accessible to strangers? Here where I live that’s not a thing
Yep, normal here in TX.
@@JerrySchulze oh okay
@@JerrySchulze thank you for the reply
So how long will the truck be able to provide power?
So my truck shows estimated miles left depending on gas in tank. The Gas engine only turns on and off as needed to charge the batteries or if load is high. I ran my house for 2 hours and went from 518 miles of range to 516 miles. I need to run a much longer test, maybe when my wife is out of town.
@@JerrySchulze Thanks! That’s pretty impressive. So your truck is a hybrid. I missed that. Best of both worlds-run off battery with gas backup, not unlike my whole-home generator which runs off the propane that also heats my house. Your truck sounds really versatile. I bet you’re glad you have those transfer boxes set up tonight just in case! Stay warm and safe.
Thanks!
This is great all cars should have this ability for when electric goes out.
As we switch to all electric cars and the grid is overused.
@@Tigerex966 It’s great because he has a hybrid vehicle, but I have my doubts about the utility when powering from an all-electric vehicle. It seems like you’d drain your car pretty quickly, leaving you with a dead car and a dead house in the event of a prolonged (multi-day) power outage. But I could be wrong about that. Any insights into doing what you are doing with an all-electric vehicle, Jerry?
How long could you run on say a tank (I think it is 50 gallon?) It is pretty sweet that is what I know. Being without power sucks majorly, especially in the wintertime up here in Canada. I believe it is an add on to the truck am I right?
So my truck shows estimated miles left depending on gas in tank. The Gas engine only turns on and off as needed to charge the batteries or if load is high. I ran my house for 2 hours and went from 518 miles of range to 516 miles. I need to run a much longer test, maybe when my wife is out of town.
a guy did a test and i think it averaged out to a third of a gallon per hour or so because the truck cuts on and off.
@@JerrySchulze Have you done that long test? That would be awesome!
Ford no longer supports generator control from FordPass.
👍👍
Also you can charge the truck, but just Google F150 UNLIMITED RANGE
So your truck essentially has 2 batteries. One for the car, one as your generator
Yes, it has the 12v battery and a high voltage battery that can run the truck or store energy and act as a generator for the house.
0:27 I dont understand why such a thing is designed to be outside of the house first place. That's the ultimate horror movie plot.
lol. Most places I have lived have the main panel on the outside of the house.
I guess that’s an american thing
This was my first thought as well. I’ve never seen a main panel on the outside of the house; only on the inside somewhere.
In Nebraska it was in the basement and there was no additional sub panel that I remember. In Texas it seems they all have the main panel on the outside. Would be better if were behind the fence at least.
They do it in case they need to kill power in the event of a fire. The local fire department will have access and it is code in some parts of the country.
Still stick with the gasoline/diesel.
We bought a half acre lot in a forested area, and built a tiny a frame cabin. There’s no electricity or water service.
We use our F150 Lightning to power the cabin, all its appliances, lights and hot tub. We charge the truck full at our house, when we get to the cabin (2 hrs away) we can set a limit of how much it’ll draw so we have range to come back. We usually only stay one night. Emissions free cabin getaway ❤
Thats awesome!
If only it was truly emissions free 😂😂😂
Did the cabin also have any heating/AC? That's pretty damn impressive that you had enough power to go from your home, power an entire cabin for a day, and drive back!
@@c300mxer7 Eh. One step at a time. With solar becoming cheaper and batteries becoming less of a hassle to install, I don't doubt that more people will start using them soon!
This is the coolest shit I've ever seen
It’s pretty nuts.
I gave TESLA this idea when TESLA announced their CyberTruck and I was checking it out on UA-cam and left the suggestion / idea in the comment section. Do you think the good folks at TESLA gave it any thought, I can tell you the good folks at Ford must have read my idea. TESLA slept, while FORD gained.
You are wrong!!!!!
I gave Ford and Tesla these ideas of my own free will, I trusted them!
I’m still waiting for my checks that they promised me, my lawyer says it’s coming soon but he won’t release the checks until I pay him the $125,000 that I i owe him.
I have started a “Go Fund Me” page and if you donate a substantial amount of money I will give you a MILLION dollars.
Think about it, win win for all of us!!!!
Thank you for your support, God Bless!!!
😔 P r o m o s m!!!
I don’t know what this means.
Can you link the green cord you ran from the truck?
sure thing, it is geni.us/sJW7ZAQ