I’m curious if anyone has any experience implementing a generator transfer switch, and if so, whether it impacted their smart switches both when running on regular power and on a generator supply,
I don’t think it’ll make a difference to this question but in case it does I have multiple LZW31-SN and a LZW36.
@Bry - Can you answer the floating neutral? I run my generator directly to the panel and don’t use a ATS. Neutral is still bonded to the panel in my setup, but in short, I don’t think this will have any affect on the switches.
The concept of a floating neutral vs a bonded neutral really pertains to the mating of the generator and the transfer switch. A generator will use one the two, and how the transfer switch handles the neutral and ground must match.
I don’t have any practical experience with these as they relate to smart switches. That being said, I can’t imagine why a smart switch wouldn’t work with either method. TBH, I’d be more concerned with how well smart devices in general work running under dirty power.
Our portable 6,500 watt generator is the king of dirty power. We ran for 3-4 days last fall due to an extended blackout, and both the LZW30-SN’s and LZW36’s worked fine. I was even using the LZW30-SN in our detached garage to turn on the flood lights from inside the house when generator fueling time came around.
I also have an Eaton 1500 UPS (modified sine wave) on all of our home electronics. It is the only UPS that I’ve ever seen that actually charges/functions without whining on dirty portable generator power. Highly recommended if anyone is looking for a UPS, since my experience with several rack-mounted and floor APC units on larger generators is disappointing…