Sizing starts with a list, not a number
The cheapest useful generator is the one sized to a list you wrote yourself. Heat, the fridge, a well pump, a sump pump, internet and a few outlets is a modest list. Air conditioning, an electric range and an electric water heater are what push the size up fast. We price both ways when it is close, so you can see what the bigger unit is buying you.
The transfer switch is the part that keeps people safe
Without a proper transfer switch, a generator can feed power back onto the utility line and reach whoever is out there working on it. That is the whole reason this work is permitted and inspected, and it is also why plugging a portable generator into a wall outlet is the dangerous version of the idea. The switch makes the handover one-way, and the inspection is somebody else checking that we got it right.
Living with one
A standby unit is a machine that has to start on the worst day of the year, so it needs fuel, oil and a battery that is actually holding charge. Most units run a self-test on a set schedule, and the noise is a feature — it is the unit telling you it still works. We show you what yours needs, what you can do yourself and what is worth having looked at, because the generators that fail are almost always the ones nobody touched since the install.
How A Job Runs
- 01
We Look, And We Test
Not just at the thing you called about — at the panel, the load and how the house is fed. Most electrical problems are somewhere other than where you noticed them.
- 02
You Get A Fixed Price
In writing, before we start, including the permit. If the honest answer is that it can wait, we will say so and you can call us in a year.
- 03
Permit Pulled
We file it, and the work is scheduled around the inspection rather than hoping nobody asks. This is the part that matters when you sell.
- 04
Installed And Labelled
Conductors dressed, breakers labelled properly, and a panel schedule the next electrician can read.
- 05
Inspected And Signed Off
We meet the inspector, and you get the paperwork. A job with no record is a job you have to explain later.
Generators & Backup: common questions
Whole house, or just the essentials?
Essential circuits cover most people for less money and a smaller unit. Whole-house makes sense when air conditioning, an electric range or a medical need is on the list. Write down what you missed the last time the power went out, and the size mostly answers itself.
Is a portable generator good enough?
For a lot of houses, yes — with a proper inlet and a transfer switch so it is wired in safely instead of run through extension cords. What is never fine is plugging one into a wall outlet to backfeed the house. If that is what you have been doing, it is worth a call.
How often does a standby generator need servicing?
Follow the schedule that came with the unit, and treat the battery as the part most likely to let you down quietly. We go through the maintenance with you at handover, and we would rather you asked than found out in an outage that it will not start.
Wiring homes throughout Washington County
Most of our work is in Washington County and the neighborhoods around it. Older housing stock is a large part of what we do, so if your house still has a fuse box or wiring nobody has looked at in forty years, that is a normal call and not an embarrassing one.