Manual generator transfer switch - make recommendations?

A whole house changeover switch with only a 4 KVA generator might not be the best option. Nothing would prevent someone turning on a high loading appliance and tripping or breaking the generator.

I would prefer a changeover switch that operates only on the lighting circuits and a single 16 amp radial power circuit, this to supply a limited number of priority loads such as fridge, freezer, TV internet router, laptop, central heating controls, cellphone charger, cordless phone base unit, and maybe a kettle, or a boiling ring, or microwave oven but only of these at a time.

A whole house changeover switch with only a 4 KVA generator might not be the best option. Nothing would prevent someone turning on a high loading appliance and tripping or breaking the generator.

I would prefer a changeover switch that operates only on the lighting circuits and a single 16 amp radial power circuit, this to supply a limited number of priority loads such as fridge, freezer, TV internet router, laptop, central heating controls, cellphone charger, cordless phone base unit, and maybe a kettle, or a boiling ring, or microwave oven but only of these at a time.

Good point - but it's OK for our use case. It's a "distress" installation and I want to do it with as little disruption and as little cost as possible.

The generator start and switchover will be manual so part of the process will be to turn off the kettle, coffee machine, cooker, washing machine and dishwasher - then only use one of those (cooker single ring) with due caution. If I can hang a CT clamp onto a tail somewhere, I might be able to rig up a remote radio based ammeter display in the kitchen so people know how the load is.

4kVA will be enough to keep the lights on and run one appliance carefully as noted above. This is to get us through any rolling blackouts this winter[1] and the odd storm like we had earlier this year where we lost power for 48 hours.

Now: If we move to Devon as might be our plan, and we end up somewhere rural: then I'll be looking to put in an auto transfer switch, maybe upgrade to a 6kVA auto start capable genny and add contactors to the non lighting circuits plus CTs so I can pop a microcontroller on to manage automatic load shedding. That would be awesome. But it's just not worth spending that money here as we may be gone in a couple of years.


But thanks for suggesting...

[1] With 3 more nukes decommissioned in the last 2 years and wind averaging 2GW for a straight 7 days Mar 21-28 this year, whilst the media are good are scaremongering, I sense it it quite likely we're (in this semi rural area) going to be seeing power cuts. We get 6 hour ones at least once a year anyway.