Generator Interlock Kit for Square D Homeline Panels

Read the label before you buy

Open the panel door. On the label, find:

• The catalog number, starting with HOM.
• The series code. Schneider says the kit choice depends on it.
• Whether it's an indoor (NEMA 1) or outdoor (NEMA 3R) load center.
• The main breaker. The Homeline kits are built around a QOM1 or QOM2 main.

The kits are for convertible Homeline load centers with a main breaker. In these kits a QOM1 main covers 100 to 125 A and a QOM2 covers 150 to 225 A.

The three Homeline kits

Each kit includes a retaining kit for the back-fed generator breaker. That retainer matters: a back-fed breaker is energized from its line side, so it has to be held to the bus mechanically.

Two exclusions to check. The HOMCGK2C isn't for the 60-space HOM60120M200PC or HOM60120L225PC. And none of these kits go in combination service entrance devices, the meter-and-panel combos common on newer outdoor installs.

How the Homeline interlock works

It's a bracket with a sliding arm between the QOM main and the back-fed two-pole breaker that acts as the generator main, rated up to 125 A. The arm lets only one of those two breakers be on at any time. To switch over, you turn the main off, slide the arm, and turn the generator breaker on. No electronics, nothing to wear out but the slide.

No kit for your series?

If the label says Series 1, 2 or 3, or any series not in the table, Schneider has no interlock for it. Your options then:

• A Homeline main lug panel in Series S, S1, S2, S3 or S4 can be converted to a main breaker panel with the matching QOM1 or QOM2 main, and then take a kit. That's a job for an electrician.
• A manual transfer switch, which doesn't care about the panel series.
• An aftermarket interlock that's listed for your exact panel. Interlock Technologies says its kits are MET listed to UL standards. Check that the listing covers your panel before buying.

Repair parts for the Square D kits aren't sold separately, so a lost slide plate means a new kit.

The rest of the hookup

Besides the kit you need the back-fed HOM breaker, an outdoor inlet box and a cord matched to your generator's outlet. Interlock Technologies pairs a 30 amp back-feed breaker with generators up to 8,000 watts and a 50 amp one with larger units. On the HOMCRBGK1C, remember the generator breaker can't be larger than the main.

Schneider updates its instruction sheets, so follow the one in the box you buy rather than one you found online.