A whole-home standby generator runs about $7,000 to $15,000 installed. The generator itself is roughly $4,000 to $8,000; the rest is the install it depends on — an automatic transfer switch, a gas line, a concrete pad, a permit, and a licensed electrician tying it into your panel. The unit is the sticker price people see, but the labor behind it is half the bill.
Here's where the money goes, what pushes a quote up, and when a portable generator at a fraction of the cost is the smarter buy.
An air-cooled 10 to 14 kW unit for essentials, or a 20 to 26 kW unit to run a whole home including central AC. Larger and liquid-cooled units cost more. This is the part you shop for, but it's only half the project.
An automatic transfer switch and the wiring that ties the generator into your panel safely. This is licensed electrician work, and it's what makes the generator turn on by itself when the power drops.
A natural gas or propane line sized and run to the unit, a concrete or composite pad, and the permit and inspection. A long gas run or a buried propane tank is where this climbs fast.
Two homes can get quotes thousands apart for the same generator. The variables:
A whole-home standby is a lot of money for a problem a portable can sometimes solve:
A standby earns its cost when outages are frequent, you have medical or work-from-home needs, or you want the house to run untouched through a multi-day event.
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A whole-home standby runs about $7,000 to $15,000 installed. The unit is $4,000 to $8,000; install, transfer switch, gas, and electrical add $3,000 to $7,000.
A 10 to 14 kW unit covers essentials; a 20 to 26 kW unit runs a whole home with AC. An electrician sizes it by your panel load.
Much. A portable runs $500 to $2,000 with a $500 to $1,500 install. It's the better value for occasional outages and essential circuits.
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