WHAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY PAYING FOR
WHAT IT COSTS, BY WHAT IT POWERS.
Generator sizes are sold in kilowatts. Below is what that means in terms of what the machine can actually power.
Please keep in mind this is a rule of thumb, not a one-size-fits-all. An 1,800 square foot house with electric heat can need more generator than a 3,000 square foot house on gas. The only way to know is a load calculation, which we do at the assessment.
TYPICAL INSTALLED PRICE
THREE TIERS
ESSENTIAL CIRCUITS — furnace, fridge, sump pump, well pump, some lights and outlets. 10–14 kW, about $11,000–$12,500.
ESSENTIALS + COMFORT — power essential circuits plus air conditioning and most of the house. 18–22 kW, about $13,500–$14,300.
WHOLE HOME — Its life as normal when the power goes out. Run all major appliances. Best for larger homes, all-electric homes, or homes with geothermal. 24–28 kW, about $14,800–$16,600.
Worth knowing before you compare quotes: the middle of the range is inexpensive to move through. Stepping from 22 kW to 24 kW to 26 kW is roughly $500 a step. The bigger jumps are at the two ends.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
WHAT THE PRICE COVERS.
Most homes in Eastern Iowa fit inside our standard install without modification. Here's exactly what that covers — and what gets quoted separately.
INCLUDED
STANDARD INSTALL
In every install
A 10–28 kW natural gas air-cooled Generac, a single 100-200A automatic transfer switch, 30 ft of generator cable, 10 ft of gas plumbing and a cold weather kit — plus both permits, utility coordination, the inspection, a startup walkthrough, and the 25-hour break-in service.
CUSTOM QUOTE
NOT INCLUDED
Quoted separately
A long trench or attic pull, a 400-amp service needing a second transfer switch (about $2,000), a liquid-cooled generator, a utility-pole switch on an acreage, or a main panel that needs replacing. If it takes two days, it's a custom quote — and you'll have that number in writing before anything is scheduled.
REAL EXAMPLE
A 2,400 sq ft home in Marion with one AC unit, gas heating, and a private well pump typically lands on an 18–22 kW unit — the middle tier, and a standard one-day install with nothing quoted separately.
WHAT MOVES THE PRICE
THE FIVE THINGS THAT MOVE THE PRICE.
None of these are a mystery, and none of them should show up as a change order halfway through the job.
01
The size of the unit
The biggest single factor, and the reason for the tiers above. Size comes from a load calculation, not a guess — square footage, every 240-volt appliance, and the starting draw of your largest motor.
03
How far the gas and electric run
If either line has to cross the house, that adds cost. Pipe size and gas delivery pressure are both engineered for full load, so distance changes the design, not just the length. Trenching adds excavation, locates and putting the yard back.
02
Where the generator sits
The closer the unit sits to your gas and electric meters, the cheaper the install. Out in the yard can mean hand-digging or trenching both lines to reach it. Clearances limit the choice — five feet from any door, window or vent into the house.
04
Whether your gas meter is upgraded
A generator is the hungriest gas appliance in the house. A water heater burns about 40,000 BTU per hour; an 18 kW generator burns roughly 235,000 and a 26 kW around 316,000. The utility decides whether your meter changes.
05
Your panel and service
A modern 200-amp panel is straightforward. An aging or corroded one isn't. A 400-amp service — often two 200-amp panels in the house — needs a second transfer switch, about $2,000 more.
BEFORE YOU COMPARE QUOTES
TWO THINGS INEXPERIENCED COMPANIES MISS.
Both of these are rare enough to be forgotten and expensive enough to matter. Ask about them on every quote you get.
01
EXCESS FLOW VALVE
The excess flow valve
If your gas meter has an excess flow valve, upgrading it runs roughly $1,500 to $2,500 — and it has to be done before your generator will run reliably. An EFV is a circuit breaker for your gas meter: too much flow at once reads as a leak and shuts the service off. By the time it resets, your generator has shut down and needs a manual restart with the error cleared at the controller — which is a problem exactly when you bought the generator for. We check for one during the site evaluation and get the maximum allowed flow from the utility before we quote. It's rare, but if a quote you're comparing doesn't mention it, ask whether they checked.
BREAK-IN SERVICE
02
The 25-hour break-in service
Generac's manual calls for shutting a new generator down after its first 25 hours of operation and changing the oil and oil filter. Once that's done, the interval opens up to 200 hours between oil changes. It's in the manual, and it isn't a suggestion. Most companies skip it — it means another trip back to your house, and asking you to run the generator for hours on a day when the power is on. We perform it as part of the install, at no additional cost. If you're comparing quotes, ask whether the break-in service is included or whether it's something you'll be expected to arrange yourself.
WHY WE DO A BREAK IN MAINTENANCE
We learned this one the hard way. Before the 2020 derecho we treated the break-in service as a recommendation rather than something we did ourselves. Then the derecho ran a lot of new units for days at a stretch, well past 25 hours on fresh engines, and we saw engine damage that shouldn't have happened. It's been part of our standard install ever since.
SIZING UP OR MANAGING LOADS
TWO WAYS TO KEEP THE WHOLE HOUSE ON.
If you'd rather put in a smaller unit and still keep the whole house connected, load management modules are how that works. A module pauses a large load automatically — the air conditioner, the electric water heater — before it can overload the generator, and it can lock out an appliance you don't want coming on during an outage at all, like the dryer or the range. They run about $350 each, installed.
01
ONE BIG LOAD
Managing one load, or going one size up
In the middle of the range these are close to a wash — a module is about $350, and the next size up is about $500. When it's that close, sizing up is often the simpler answer: fewer parts, and nothing to think about during an outage. We'll show you both numbers for your house rather than steering you to one by default.
SEVERAL BIG LOADS
02
Managing several loads, or a liquid-cooled generator
This is where modules genuinely pay for themselves. A large home with a lot of electric appliances can need a liquid-cooled generator to run everything at once — a different class of machine, in a different price bracket, and outside our standard install package. Managing a handful of the largest loads can keep that same home in the air-cooled range. That isn't a few hundred dollars saved. That's a different project.
HOW WE QUOTE IT
We'll price both options for your house — the module and the next size up — and show you the two numbers side by side rather than steering you to one by default.
WHY WE WON'T QUOTE OVER THE PHONE
Because the five things above are things we have to look at. Anyone who gives you a firm installed price over the phone is quoting a package and hoping your house fits it — and when it doesn't, that shows up as a change order halfway through the job. We'd rather come out, look at your panel, your meter, your gas service and where the unit can legally sit, and hand you a number that doesn't move.
MAINTENANCE & SUPPORT
NOBODY IN THE MARKET SERVICES MORE GENERATORS THAN WE DO.
1,200+
GENERATORS MAINTAINED EVERY YEAR
24/7
SERVICE DEPARTMENT, 365 DAYS
5-7 YEAR
GENERAC PARTS, LABOR, & TRAVEL WARRANTY
1984
SERVING EASTERN IOWA SINCE