I think we all share the concern that our electrical grid is becoming less – not more – reliable over time. Our neighborhood has a special penchant for going down on a clear, sunny summer day. After the last two years of storms and random outages, many people have been looking into alternative sources of backup power and generator installation is a hot topic.
Generators supply power by converting mechanical or chemical energy into electrical energy, which can then be used by your home. You can either have a portable generator or a permanent, built-in unit. The most common portable options run on gas (like from the gas station) and the most common built-in units run off a natural gas hookup.
Various websites quote a 5% increase in your home value for a permanent whole-house generator. I’m not sure it’s that straight-forward, but I always point out a generator to my clients so they can factor that into their considerations. Most buyers view it as a nice feature of a home once I explain the cost investment made and the convenience factor.
Today, we’re looking at a installing a permanent setup that can be used to power a home in the event the grid goes offline.
A Surprise Guest Post!
Luckily, The Mathematician and I know lots of people who have experienced generator installation first-hand, including a few who have done so recently. One of these individuals is an avid-reader of this blog and asked to try his hand at guest-blogging. Surprise!
This reader is a little shy, so he has opted not to share his name. However, his experience can help you understand the process of installing a generator and also importantly, the costs. For framework, our guest poster lives in a condo complex, so his installation had extra (fun!) red tape to navigate. He had his generator installed in late 2023. Read on for his recap.
*******************
There is an old Mark Twain saying “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It will change.” But Michigan winters last a lot longer than five minutes!
Which brings me to winter and power outages. During one of these outages, my wife and I found ourselves without power, using a portable generator and small portable heaters. Covered in piles of blankets worrying about pipes freezing, considering whether to abandon our home and go to a relative’s house or hotel. That was the moment we started discussing a backup home generator. Looking at the future of the power grid and the possibility of rolling blackouts, we decided to investigate.
The Discovery Process
My first task: Find out if anyone I knew had installed one and pick their brain for details. Luckily for us, I knew someone who had one installed recently. We’ll call him Mr. A.
After reviewing the information I was able to gather from my inquisition of Mr. A. combined with my own research, I put together a list to begin our journey.
- Are generators allowed in our Condo complex?
- Can we afford it?
- What size and brand of generator should we choose?
- What company should we use for installation?
- Viability/Quote/Cost/Placement/HOA rules
- Contracts/Pre-Installation requirements
- Installation
- Inspections
1. Does the HOA allow generators?
I reviewed the Master Deed and Bylaws and found nothing on generators. On a mission, I walked the complex and found several generators installed. Green light – we were good to proceed.
2. Can we afford it?
A generator is allowed, but can we afford it? I did some online research and found generators for our home and location were a ballpark price of $4,500 to $5400.
We wanted a generator with enough capacity to power the entire house, but you can scale back the requirements to provide essentials only. We thought “wow, for $5,000 we can insure against future outages”. Well, wait just a minute – the generator is actually cheapest part of this solution.
3. What brand?
After some online research and talking to Mr. A., we decided on a Kohler generator. This decision was based on construction and technology, along with Mr. A.’s recommendation. Mr. A. has a reputation as an intense researcher if he’s going to spend serious money, so his choice carried a lot of weight. There are many brands out there like Generac, Briggs and Straton, and Cummins. You should do your homework to pick the brand you want to use.
4. Who can do the installation?
Now we have a brand. Are there companies in the area that handle installation, service and warranty?
There were two “Titanium” dealers (Kohler’s dealer rating system) in the area, so I chose the same company Mr. A. utilized. I felt comfortable with this dealer because I had an idea on what to expect. Also, Mr. A.’s generator was working great, and he loses power frequently.
Note: Since we live in a Condo complex I did call my neighbor (attached condo) as a courtesy and explained what we were doing and why since the noise would affect them when the generator was running.
5. Get a Quote
I contacted the vendor to explain what I was looking for and scheduled a site check/quote. I spent a significant amount of time reviewing the options including:
- physical size of the generator unit
- whether to select whole house or essentials backup
- location of the gas meter and electrical box
- placement options within the yard
The side yard placement next to the gas meter was the best option. It would reduce the cost of running a gas line through the entire house to the backyard. Great! Side yard placement had us at a reduced cost.
I requested a quote for both a 14kW and a 20kW unit installation. This is the point where the dollars begin to add up: permits, gas line, heater, cables, composite pad plus labor and materials. The line items were starting to add up quite a bit.
6. HOA Approval & Prepwork
We wrote up the HOA request with a description showing placement next to our condo by the gas meter.
Rejected!
Apparently, generators have to be placed in the rear of the condo. There goes our price break. We resubmitted for rear installation, and this time we were approved!
Since the labor was the same price regardless of the unit size, we opted to go with the 20kW unit to power the entire house.
Once we signed the quote, we had to do some yard prep work to make room and upgrade the gas meter to handle the 20kW load. I contacted DTE ($400+) to install a larger meter (DTE was great). [Aside from Dabs: This is the first and last time I think anyone will ever say this about DTE on my blog.]
7. Installation day
Installation was about two months after that initial site check. We had to wait a bit for our turn on the schedule. The work included installation of a level composite pad for the unit to sit on. We didn’t need to have a separate pad of concrete poured.
Moving the location to the backyard required additional cost for gas line installation. Issues with our basement configuration were now in play.
Installation took a day and a half, with the biggest hassle being the gas line. There are issues with distance that affect size of pipe required. Luckily, the experienced installers found a way to weave through my basement to the generator which reduced the pipe size quoted. This adjustment cut my final cost by about 5%.
They installed the gas line, generator unit, a transfer switch to move the house on/off generator power and connected the unit through the back basement wall. Once installation was complete, the installers ran a test and verified the unit worked. Then the installers had to disable the unit while waiting for the city to inspect the installation. The technicians were very engaging, explaining what they were doing and also cleaned up well when done.
8. Inspections
Because the setup touched both gas and electrical, we needed two separate inspections. The generator company scheduled the inspection based on my schedule. In our community, you are assigned a full day window for inspection. Both inspectors came out at the same time (lucky chance!), checking the inside and backyard installation.
The electrical inspector approved the project. The gas line inspection failed. The inspector wanted it grounded in a specific manner.
The company tech came out and made an adjustment. Another gas inspection – another fail. This time, the inspector wrote up a more detailed report on his concern. The company tech came out, implemented the necessary adjustments, and we were approved. The inspection process took over six weeks to complete. Luckily we had no outages during that time.
The generator installation is complete. The unit runs a test cycle once a week to ensure it remains in working order.
Final Thoughts & Cost Breakdown
I have to admit my wife pushed me to do this for a multitude of reasons. Every time I hesitated, I thought back to those five days without power in freezing weather. I insure my condo, my cars and my health, so I looked at the generator as another insurance policy.
It was stressful and a large expenditure, but only time will tell if it was the right decision for us. It does give you peace of mind when the wind starts blowing or the ice/snow storm weather reports pop up.
Cost Breakdown:
- Generator: $5,395
- Install, materials & permit fees: $11,800
- Gas line upgrade: $435
- Extended warranty: $450
Total: $18,080
Ongoing maintenance: $260/yr for annual maintenance inspection and oil change
*******************
Special thanks to our mystery guest for sharing all that great information! As always, I’m here to help with all things homeownership.
