How a Generator Inlet Works in Raleigh

The inlet is a weatherproof box on an outside wall with a plug that matches the outlet on your generator. Behind it, a wire runs to a two-pole breaker in your main panel. During an outage you set the generator outside, run one cord from it to the inlet, and the power goes into your panel instead of into a tangle of extension cords.

The interlock is a metal plate mounted on the panel cover. It slides so that the main breaker and the generator breaker can never be on at the same time. That is the whole point. With the main breaker off, generator power can't travel back out onto the utility lines, where it could injure a lineworker, and utility power can't hit your generator when it comes back. The kit has to be listed for your panel's make and model, which is why I look at the panel before quoting.

With an interlock, the generator feeds your panel and you choose which breakers are on. The limit is the generator, not the wiring. Most portable generators can carry the essentials: the refrigerator and freezer, the furnace fan on a gas furnace, a well pump or sump pump, some lights, the internet router and phone chargers. Central air, an electric range, an electric water heater and an electric dryer usually need more than a portable generator can give while it runs everything else, so those breakers stay off.

Before storm season, make a short list of the circuits you want and check that they add up to less than the running watts printed on your generator. Mark those breakers so anyone in the house can find them in the dark. Before we leave, we walk you through the switchover on your own panel, so the first time you do it isn't in the middle of an outage.

Set the generator outside on level ground, well away from windows, doors and vents, and never in a garage, even with the door open. Start it and let it settle. Plug the cord into the generator, then into the inlet. At the panel, turn the main breaker off, slide the interlock and turn the generator breaker on. Then turn on the circuits on your list one at a time, so the generator takes on the load gradually.

When the power comes back, reverse the steps: generator breaker off, slide the interlock back, main breaker on, then shut the generator down and unplug it. If the whole street is dark, report the outage to your utility: Duke Energy Progress serves most of Raleigh, with Wake Electric on some of the northern edges. If only your house lost power while the neighbors have lights, that isn't a generator job. It's usually the panel, the main breaker or the service connection, and we answer that call 24/7.

Yes. An inlet and an interlock are new wiring into your panel, and in Raleigh anything beyond a like-for-like repair needs a permit. Inside the city limits, Raleigh issues electrical permits through its Development Services portal, and a city inspector signs the work off. Addresses outside the city line go through Wake County. We pull the permit and book the inspection either way, so the work is on record.

The other towns we serve each have their own office. In Cary it's the Town of Cary Inspections & Permits office at Town Hall on N. Academy Street. Durham handles permits through its joint City-County Building & Safety department, and Wake Forest runs its own Inspections Department at Town Hall on S. Brooks Street. Wherever you are, an inspected hookup is the one a home inspector or a buyer will want to see.

It starts at the panel. I check the make and model, because the interlock has to be listed for it, and whether there is room for the generator breaker. Then we pick the inlet location: outside, close to where the generator will sit, with enough cord to keep the generator well away from windows and doors. The wire runs from the inlet to the panel, the breaker and the interlock go in, and we test the switchover with you before we leave.

I don't post a single price, because houses differ. What moves the number is the distance from the inlet to the panel, the route the wire takes (along the outside wall, through a crawl space or through an attic), the inlet size your generator needs and whether the panel needs work first. Estimates for new installations are free. If you're planning a panel upgrade, the inlet and interlock can be added to that job and quoted separately in the same estimate.

A standby generator is a permanent unit on a pad. It runs on natural gas or propane and switches on by itself through an automatic transfer switch. A portable hookup is simpler: the generator lives in the garage or the shed, you roll it out when the power fails and switch over by hand, and it runs the circuits you choose for as long as you keep fuel in it.

We do not sell or install standby generators. If you have settled on one, a generator dealer is the right call. If a portable generator fits the way you live, or you already own one, the inlet and the interlock are what make it safe to use with the house, and that is the part we install.