Generator Installation
Whole home standby units and portable generator hookups, sized off a real load calculation, with the permit and utility coordination handled.
What it is
A standby generator starts itself when APS or SRP drops. An automatic transfer switch moves your circuits over, then back when the grid returns. We install the air cooled units most homes use, Kohler among them. Every job starts with a load calculation: whole home versus essentials is math, not a guess. We set the unit at its listed clearances, 5 feet from any window, door, or vent. We wire the feeder and transfer switch, pull the electrical permit with your city, or Maricopa County on a county lot, and meet the inspector. Fuel is not our trade: a licensed gas contractor runs the natural gas or propane line and we coordinate with them. If standby is more than you need, an inlet with an interlock kit or manual transfer switch gives your portable a safe hookup.
When you need it
- →A July monsoon outage leaves kids or older adults with no AC
- →A rural lot with a well pump loses water when the grid drops
- →Refrigerated medication or a home office cannot ride out a long outage
- →You already own a portable generator and want a safe, legal hookup
How we run it
Scope and load calc
We walk the property, run the load calculation, and settle whole home versus essentials, including whether your meter main combo needs replacing to take a whole home switch. You get a real number in writing before anything is ordered.
Permits and utilities
We pull the electrical permit and coordinate with the licensed gas contractor early, because on natural gas a bigger Southwest Gas meter is often the longest lead item. If the transfer switch goes ahead of your main, APS or SRP pulls the meter and reconnects once the inspection clears, so we book all three as one block.
Set, wire, inspect
Unit set at its listed clearances, feeder run, trench inspected before backfill when it goes underground, transfer switch wired, controls tied in. Once the gas side clears we test it under load, the city or county inspector signs the final, and we show you the weekly exercise cycle.
Questions
The load calculation decides. Essentials usually cover the AC, fridge, a well pump, lights and outlets, and internet. Whole home puts a service rated transfer switch ahead of your main, which makes your panel a subpanel. Either the unit carries the full load, or a load management module briefly holds off a second AC so a smaller unit can.
The AC is the big one. Its starting draw usually pushes the size up, and a soft start on the condenser can bring that down a size. We also size for the fuel, since a 22 kW propane rating is about 19.5 on natural gas, and for the heat, because these units lose output on a 115 degree afternoon.
No. That is backfeeding with what electricians call a suicide cord: illegal, main on or off, and can kill a lineman. The legal setup is an inlet on its own breaker feeding a manual transfer switch or an interlock kit listed for your exact panel, matched to your generator's neutral. The generator stays outside, 20 feet from the house.
Ready to get it on the calendar?
Tell us about your generator job and a licensed electrician will come scope it and write you a real number.
Or call (443) 559-1598Veteran owned · ROC 338610 · 4.9 stars, 174+ reviews