A surge protector won't do anything for the ABSENCE of power only for TOO MUCH. It's cheap insurance to install a whole house surge protector.

I too have a generac and an automatic transfer switch. I've never experienced the problem you have. Why can your fridge not ride through the brief power hits? You're not looking at WHOLE HOUSE UPSs. They're not even at the 20KVA your generator is (let alone the full 29KVA that you're 120A service requires).

Further refrigerator compressers are going to generate a substantial start current which is going to cause problems with the smaller UPSs. The likely cheapest solution is to replace the fridge with a more reliable one.

Hi Ron, thanks for your reply. Replacing the fridge isn't an option. Our fridge and freezer are 2 yrs old and very expensive integrated Thermador Freedom units. We love them, except for this issue. It's like a computer that has to be restarted when there's an outage. They handle the longer outages where the generator kicks in just fine. It only happens when we have the very brief outages that happen too quickly for the generator. The way it was explained to us is, if the power blip occurs during a cooling cycle, it gets scrambled and needs to be reset. Apparently this is true of a lot of electronic equipment, or so we've been told by 2 independent sources.

I did see a whole house UPS advertised, and that it was capable of handling most refrigerator compressors. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with these and could lend some advice. Or if you have another solution besides replacing the appliances. I'm sure that we're not the first to have this problem, and as appliances get more sophisticated, surely won't be the last.

I know that the surge protector won't help with this problem, but while we're looking to resolve this, and have an electrician here, we'd like to install a whole house surge protector and so would like some advice on that as well.

Thanks again!

Can you set up the genset to drop out in a more sensitive way and with a longer time delay before transitioning to powering your circuits? You'd have to put up with lights out for a few more seconds and your genset would run more often, but it might be worth it.

You might also be able to power your problematic appliances from a panel with a time-delay relay that drops out in a very sensitive way and will cause a delay before powering back on. I expect this expertise is the provence of an electrician or engineer with more commercial and industrial experience than residential, but maybe not.

APC is best brand of UPS:. www.apc.com

You may need their "Smart-UPS" to get a pure sine wave output depending on how sensitive the frig electronics are. Not inexpensive. Otherwise a less expensive model with a stepped approximation to a sine wave might work.

An appliance like a frig probably has a higher power draw when cooling motor kicks on. Need to size UPS for that peak draw. Amps x 120volt = "volt-amps". The model number of any UPS is the number of volt amps it can support. The watts used by an appliance should be more or less the same as its volt amps.

A UPS is basically a big battery in a box and will need to be placed somewhere. Cabinet over frig? Base cabinet next to fig?

Good article on whole house surge protection: http://www.stevejenkins.com/blog/2014/10/whats-the-best-whole-house-surge-protection/

First, the word surge can mean insufficient current, undervoltage, frequency variation, reverse polarity, excessive current, or a high voltage. The term is subjective and vague. Insufficient to make any decision. Which 'surge' concerns you must be defined by facts and numbers.

Second, power outage does not damage any hardware. But refrigeration units often need time to recover from an interruption. Better ones do.

Apparently yours address that problem by locking itself out. To say more requires testing to confirm what is causing the failure ... long before applying any solution. Is lockout due to sudden power loss when the refrigerator is operating? Is it due to power restoration that is too fast?

If not that good, then a refrigeration unit needs an external device that will delay power application when power is restored. This is standard internally in better machines since electric motors often need that same delay when power is restored after a blackout. Power restoration means a slowly rising voltage. Motorized appliances do not like that type of power on; electronics prefer power on that way.

Better refrigerators and air conditioners would also delay after power restoration to protect a compressor. You may need an external box to do what should have been inside.

Hi Ionized, in the scenario I'm describing, the generator never comes on because the power is restored quickly. It's just a momentary blip that comes and goes within a second or two, tops. Just enough to have to have to reset the clock on the microwave (usually how we know it's occurred when we're not home), but not long enough start the generator.

Keywest, thanks so much for information on the UPS and surge protector. I looked up the APC smart UPS 1000VA at about $500+. There's also another for about $310, but I'm not sure what the difference is between the two.

I then checked the technical details on the fridge, they are: W = 180, A = 15 A, V = 120 V, frequency (Hz) = 60 Hz. Thats just the fridge, the freezer is a separate unit and we'd be wanting to connect that as well. Would the APS mentioned above do the trick, or is that one over-kill?

We'd have to drill a hole in the floor behind the units and run the cord into the basement, then connect it to the UPS from there. There isn't anywhere to connect them in the same room.

Thanks again for your help with this, very much appreciated!

I found the specs for Thermador columns online. You are right about 180 watts for refrigerator. 30" freezer column is 504 watts. Total = 700 watts = 700 volt-amps (approximately).

Both are listed at 15 Amps but I don't believe it. That must mean that they must be plugged into a standard 15 Amp circuit. I would expect a combined 6 Amp power draw (700 watts / 120 volts = approx 6 amps).

The only issue would be if there was a "start-up" power draw greater than the normal operating requirements, which we would have to use when choosing a UPS. But I didn't see anything in the specs to that effect.

I think this is the APC-Smart UPS SMC1000 I would try on Amazon for $245: http://www.amazon.com/APC-SMC1000-Smart-UPS-120-Volt-Uninterrupted/dp/B007ZT2K9I

(Amazon is great because of return policy if it doesn't work out, although not sure how that works with a heavy product with a battery you have to connect)

Next size up SMC1500 is $331: http://www.amazon.com/APC-Smart-UPS-Battery-Backup-SMC1500/dp/B007ZT2KKM

Disclaimer: g thom raises valid points. There could be all sorts of electrical issues going on here. I am not an electrician or a UPS expert, but I have had to use lots of UPSs on computers at work so I feel I know a little bit about them. If you were to buy one of these UPSs, please go into it with the mindset that it's just something to try which may or may not work. Good luck.

Edit: These things weigh like 50 lbs so you'll need to build a beefy shelf for it in the basement.

I understand that the genset never starts up and transfers power. What I am suggesting is that you might change the transfer switch settings to force it to come on. That would give you the down time that the appliances need to avert their shut-down. Of course they will turn off twice every time utility power is interrupted.

If the transfer switch settings can not be changed to do that effectively, you might insert a time delay relay in the power supply line for those appliances that drops out in a relatively sensitive manner and waits a few minutes before reconnecting them to the mains power. If the something similar to device described below can be set to a sufficiently sensitive state, without too much nuisance tripping, it might solve your problem.

http://www.icmcontrols.com/ProdImages/ig_LII335-3.pdf

My thoughts are that with any add-on, the critical question is can the drop-out be set so it is more sensitive than the appliance that it is being installed to protect. Without details about what kind of power fluctuations are causing the appliance problems, it is difficult to try to pick a solution. Ron's suggestion costs about half the ICM492. The former has a 1 second response time and low/high voltages of 90 and 140V. Given that the typical Generac transfer switch operation appears to drop utility power at 60% of nominal (72V, wow, that seems low), There is a lot of room between that and 90V so it might work. The specs I see don't say how long the power fault has to last so the transfer switch thinks it needs to operate.

If the appliances only have trouble somewhere over 90V with a duration closer to the 0.1s lower limit of the ICM492, there may be a combination of settings that allow them to operate with the power faults without nuisance shut-offs, but maybe not. It is really a crap shoot without data about what the appliances will tolerate without locking up.

A UPS is not a surge protector. UPS manufacturers quietly recommend no motorized appliances or protector strips on its output. Reason is made obvious by an output from a typical UPS. For example my 120 volt sine wave UPS outputs 200 volt square waves with a spike of up to 270 volts. From high school math, we know that is a sum of pure sine waves. Perfectly ideal power for electronics. And problematic for motorized appliances (and protectors).

They did not lie. They simply played fast and loose with most consumers who do not always demand spec numbers. A 'so called' pure sine wave may only be one IF spec numbers do not say 'how pure'.

Also read its specs for surge protection. Destructive surges can be hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules does a UPS absorb? Typically hundreds. That near zero protection is sufficient to hype it as 100% protection to naive consumers.

A UPS battery typically lasts about three years. These things are made as cheap as possible. UPS is only a temporary and not a recommended solution.

Better is something that will delay power restoration. Unfortunately that power delay switch does not have a UL listing (some other electrical items also do not). Be careful with their wording. They say it complies with UL requirements. They do not say it was tested to confirm it complies with UL requirements; to have passed testing in a UL approved lab.

Number of cubic feet means nothing. That switch must provide sufficient current to meet the current (or power) requirements listed on a label on that refrigerator or in it User Manual specifications. Any answer that does not include a number should be considered bogus; probably a lie.

I would suggest to get one of the surge protectors with built in delay that Ron posted. (I didn't know those existed, thanks Ron) I have a sneaky suspicion the expensive fridge you have has some way of noticing these quick outages and staying off to protect it from surges. My guess is it would be similar to a thrown breaker switch stuck in the middle position but it waits for the power to be off all the way before resetting. The fridge surge protector with delay should do the trick.

Surges do not exist with power restoration. Two problems can exist. The first is the slowly rising voltage on power restoration when everything is demanding maximum power at the same time. This is ideal for electronics and problematic for motorized appliances.

Second, compressors (refrigerators, air conditioners) often need a delay before restarting. Better central air conditioners do this automatically. Many refrigerators do not. Or, in the OP's case, his refrigerators (for some foolish reason) lock out on short power interruptions. Require manual intervention rather than try to restart after a sufficient delay. That is how food poisoning can happen.

Nobody said anything about a surge - a type that is addressed by surge protectors. Power loss or restoration does not create surges. Power off does not protect from destructive surges - that easily blow through millimeters gaps in open switches.

Furthermore, with power restoration, the POCO has to manage maintaining frequency. Frequency and voltage tend to rise and fall together. Frequency deviations affect motors in a very bad way. In restarting portions of electrical distribution networks, sometimes the power demand is higher than expected, the frequency drops because the generators are slowing, then another disconnect occurs in the area being connected or in some other area. Similarly, in a wide system failure, generators are sometimes brought back on line too quickly as load is not able to be switched on as rapidly as predicted. (At this stage, the generation facility coming online needs to match phase with everything that is already running.) Frequency and voltage rises to fast and, poof, a generating station needs to be shut off again. That maybe causes a temporary sag requiring disconnect of a little load somewhere. This stuff is tough to handle. Premature reconnection of your home and workplace can be pretty tough on your equipment with the repeated assault that is sometimes seen.