What does it actually cost to never lose power again?

Because they're not the same job wearing different pants. The cheap end is a locking inlet on your siding and an interlock kit in your existing panel, built around a portable generator you wheel out and plug in yourself. The expensive end is a permanently installed engine, a concrete pad, an automatic transfer switch, and gas piping run by a licensed gasfitter. One needs you. The other doesn't.

More worth it than usual. On a $12,000 decision, guessing costs you real money. We look at your panel, your gas meter capacity, where a pad can legally sit relative to windows and property lines, and what you actually want covered. That $49 gets credited straight to the job if you move forward.

Yes. Standby systems are exactly the kind of job people finance, because paying it off over a couple years beats writing one cheque the week your basement floods from a sump pump that stopped running.

Usually it's what's hiding in the quote. Some numbers include the pad, the gas line coordination, and the permit. Some don't, and you find out later. Ask what's excluded before you compare two numbers side by side.

A portable generator is a machine you store in the garage and drag out when the power dies. A standby unit lives outside permanently, hooked to your gas line, and starts itself within seconds of an outage, whether you're home or in Cancun. One requires you to be present and awake at 2am. The other doesn't care what time it is.

You can run it, but not into your house safely without an inlet and transfer switch. Without that hardware you're stuck running extension cords to individual appliances through a cracked door, which is inefficient, a tripping hazard, and still doesn't touch your furnace or well pump.

Portable units in the budget range typically run 7,000 to 10,000 watts, enough for a fridge, sump pump, furnace blower, and some lights and outlets through an essential-circuits setup. Standby units start around 14kW and go well past 20kW, enough to run the whole house including AC without you thinking about it.

It splits roughly on how bad your last outage was. People who lost a sump pump and flooded a basement tend to go standby. People who just want the fridge and furnace covered for a storm or two a year tend to go portable with an inlet.

Depends on the size you buy and how the transfer switch is wired. A budget setup usually feeds an essential-circuits sub-panel: furnace, fridge, sump pump, some lights and outlets. A large standby unit can run everything, AC included, but you pay for that capacity.

You do, we just ask the right questions. Sump pump and furnace are non-negotiable for most people. After that it's your call: home office, freezer, garage door opener, the works. We size the transfer switch and generator to match what you actually pick, not what's easiest to sell you.

Sometimes, if the panel and generator have room to grow. It's cheaper to plan for it now than to redo the transfer switch in three years. Tell us during the assessment if whole-home coverage is a maybe-later, not a definitely-not.

Portable and mid-size standby units usually can't start a central AC compressor without a soft-start add-on, because the startup surge is bigger than the running load. Larger standby units handle it fine. We'll tell you straight whether your AC makes the cut before you buy anything.

Because that outlet has no idea the grid is down. Backfeeding sends your generator's power out through your house wiring, back through the meter, and onto the street lines, the same lines a hydro crew thinks are dead. A lineworker touching what they believe is a de-energized wire can be electrocuted. This isn't a technicality, it's the single most dangerous thing a homeowner can do with a generator.

Same problem, smaller cord. Any connection that ties a generator into your house wiring without a transfer switch or interlock can backfeed the grid the exact same way. It doesn't matter whose generator it is or how thick the cord looks.

It's a metal bracket inside your panel that makes it physically impossible to have the main breaker and the generator breaker on at the same time. No software, no trusting yourself to remember. If one's on, the other can't be. That's the whole trick, and it's why inspectors accept it as a legal alternative to a manual transfer switch.

Yes, every time, no exceptions we've found. Skipping the permit can void your home insurance if a fire or injury ever traces back to the generator hookup, and it can stall a home sale when the buyer's lawyer asks for proof of a permitted electrical connection. We pull the permit as part of every job.

Usually a few hours, sometimes done same day. We mount the inlet box outside, run wire to the panel, install the interlock kit, and test it by actually starting the generator and flipping the switch, not just eyeballing it.

A full day for the electrical and pad work, then a separate visit from the gasfitter for the gas line, then the ESA inspection. Most homeowners are looking at roughly a week from start to a working, inspected system, depending on permit and gasfitter scheduling.

No, and this trips people up. Standby units need clearance from windows, doors, and property lines, and they can't sit right under a bedroom window because of the noise and exhaust. We check the setback rules for your lot during the assessment so you're not staring at a rejected permit later.

For the electrical work, no, though it helps for the walkthrough at the end. For the ESA inspection, someone usually needs to provide access. We'll tell you exactly which day needs you around.

No, and we won't pretend to. Gas piping is a licensed gasfitter's job, full stop. We coordinate the scheduling so it lines up with our electrical work, but the actual gas connection is priced and performed separately by someone licensed to do it.

Not much for us, it mainly changes the gasfitter's scope and your ongoing fuel cost. Natural gas is the common choice if your house already has a gas meter with enough capacity. Propane works fine where natural gas isn't available, you just need a tank.

It happens, especially on older homes with a furnace, water heater, and stove already pulling from a small meter. The gasfitter checks this before anything gets installed, and sometimes the gas company needs to upsize the meter first. Better to find out during planning than after the pad is poured.

Usually not, most portables run on gasoline you fill yourself, which is exactly why they're the cheaper, simpler path. No gas line, no gasfitter, no meter capacity conversation. You trade convenience for the errand of keeping fuel on hand.