Does your transfer switch power up the entire house? If so what i did on mine was to wire two pilot lights into the line side of the power so that when they are lit you know that power is back on to both phases. JD.

Thank you very much, JD. That is what I was looking for. The two pilots makes sense too.

I really appreciate it,
Ellie

Is there any overcurrent protection for those pilot lights? If one shorted out I can imagine the full power of the neighborhood transformer being dumped into it with pyrotechnic results.

Reminds me of one of the stupidest things I've ever seen installed by someone in the electrical business. A farm had 400A 3-phase service. There was a #14 wire from each of the big fuses to a box with 3 spring-loaded single pole switches with the other side of all switches bussed together to a voltmeter mounted on the box. You push a switch and read the voltage on that hot leg. One day two switches got pushed at the same time and there wasn't much left of either switch but smoke and echoes of the explosion. If one of the switch terminals had been blown against the box, then the #14 wire would have evaporated and done more damage.

I have a generator with a transfer switch. How can I tell when the power comes back on without turning it off?

voltmeter

I assume this is a manual transfer switch? Could you describe the system more - what's connected where?

Could you use a feed-through panel before the transfer switch with one 15A circuit wired to a lightbulb?

I also have a manual transfer switch and when the generator is on, power is out, I have no idea when the pow comes back on other than to use the transfer switch to test it. I usually do this at night when I shut the generator down. The option I want to pursue is to put a second power panel in, with a single breaker. I would then wire one outlet in the house to that breaker so that it is dedicated only the power company power source. This way I can plug in a light, and turn it on, when the power is out. A nightlight would work. When the light comes on, the power is back on. The question is is it legal to wire a transfer switch to split the incoming power from the power company to a small panel, for this single outlet, and also the transfer switch that leads to the house's main breaker panel. Not sure what wiring requirements there are nor if this is a save installation. Since power panels that are connected to a panel, without a transfer switch, coming from the meter it is essentially the same thing, I think it is logical this would be acceptable. One question is I want to know if the new smart meters also act as a breaker so that if there is a short, the meter would turn off the power as a safety feature. Do these meters work like this? cbicook@yahoo.com

Is your whole house powered by your generator?

If it's only some of the circuits and when the power goes off you manually go and flick off all of the unnecessary circuits before firing up your generator, then I'd suggest that instead of what you are proposing, that you move all of the critical circuits to a subpanel and put the manual transfer switch between the main panel and the subpanel.

Although what you are proposing is basically the same thing, but with only one 'indicator' circuit in your main panel. My way would just make your life easier IF you don't power all of your house from your generator anyway.

If you DO power your whole house, is there a reason you don't have an automatic transfer switch? They flip back over to the grid power when it becomes available.

If you have a smart meter, get a HAN monitor and take note as the radio reception icon returns.

Or, get a Reliance Controls PowerBack Utility Power Return Alert for $30. Will have to install in another enclosure if used outside.

@greg_2015: Expensive auto transfer switches only make sense with expensive hardwired automatic backup generators. Most people use portable generators connected via corded power inlet. My Honda 2000i powers everything in my house except the AC and electric dryer. No need to shed loads at the main panel; just start the genny and and engage the interlock. The UPS takes care of all critical loads for up to 90 minutes, covering shorter outages and giving me time to pull out the genny.

My transfer switch has two lights that tell me when the generator or the commercial power is alive. Of course it also switches back to commercial power after a it comes back alive for 30 secords or whatever and then eventually shuts down the generator.

Thanks everyone. I may not have been clear. I have a gas generator with a transfer switch, no indicators. The grid power company is connected to one side of the switch with the generator connected to the other. Thus I don't know when the power returns and the generator is on. I'm looking at devices that wrap around the incoming power lines and detect when power is flowing, I guess using EMI type readings. The only wired connection is to a ground source which is easy. These alarms are audio vs a light. One comment was some have a remotes which would work since you don't have to live in your basement and can turn it off at night. Still researching these but I still like the idea of a sub panel with a wired outlet in the house. It would work like any other outlet until a power loss. With the generator operating this outlet would not work but a light plugged into it, even just a night light, would come on when power returns. I prefer a light over an audio alarm. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

A disconnect of some sort, a fuse, and a neon bulb and/or sonarlert would work.

The problem with using a current transformer is that without a load (your transfer switch connected over to the generator), there's not going to be any current. If you add a load, you might as well just add one that indicates.

i just solved this problem this way (i use a generator attached to the power panel with an interlock kit).

1) bell transformer (20 VAC output) is mounted on the side of the power panel, that is attached to one side of the main panel breaker input side. during a power outage, i loosened the screw, slide the wire in with the main lead, and tightened the screw back down. i do have an inline fuse on that connection. ground and neutral from the transformer to the ground/neutral bar of the panel.

2) heavy duty speaker wire off the transformer output up to the main hallway in the house, where i installed a normal light switch, and a buzzer.

when the power goes off, i fire up the generator, switch over the interlock, and then turn on the switch for the buzzer. when power returns, the buzzer goes off. the buzzer is loud, and will wake us up in the middle of the night.

This is very close to what I said, there are a couple of problems.

First, putting even a small additional wire under the MAIN BREAKER screw is not likely permitted by the code.

Second, you have created a DANGEROUS situation here. Your bell transformer and its wiring is not rated for 100A or whatever the main breaker is. You should have put it on an appropriate sized breaker (or at least an inline fuse) to protect it.

if you re-read my post, you will notice that i do state that i have an in-line fuse between the transformer and the main...

The fact remains that the panel main lugs probably aren't rated for multiple conductors. From your description, you're also connecting AHEAD of the main breaker. Having a load that the main can't interrupt is all kinds of wrong, even if you fuse it.

You may never have a problem. I hope you don't. But when you sell the house, an inspector may flag it. And then you'll probably have to pay an electrician to come out and remove your "hack."

My POCO sends me text messages when the power goes out and comes back on. There is not a long enough record to judge accuracy, but so far, so good for a couple of outages. Of course, you must have phone services that support text messaging and given that the OP can't see any neighbors, regular cell service might not be available.

What we need, obviously, is an approved device type and a corresponding code change to cover hooking a single purpose, independently fused indicating device to something on the "wrong" side of the main breaker. It should be easily connected and pretty much universal to any residential main panel or transfer panel configuration. The "fuse" might even be very high gauge wire making the connection if it is all contained inside the panel that would burn up at a few mA. The panel manufacturers could get into the act and include a connection method that is ready to use.

swensr I know you last wrote here 3 years ago, but I'm guessing that you still have your contraption hooked up. Please, for your own safety and those around you, read up on something called the "breaking capacity" of a fuse. This specification is completely unrelated to the current at which the fuse 'opens', and the breaking capacity of the fuse you use must be determined by the *source* of the current, not the load you put on it. In a nutshell, what happens when you use a fuse with a breaking capacity too low for what's supplying the current is that when a fault occurs downstream from the fuse and the fuse melts and *tries* to open the circuit, the huge fault current simply arcs over the small gap and continues to flow through your wiring until the next weakest link fails - probably when the wiring catches fire and burns your house down.