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Buying guide · Generators
The buying mistake on whole-house generators is reversing that order. Dealers will happily quote a 24 kW unit for a 9 kW problem — or a 10 kW unit for a heat pump that will never start.
The Home Backup is a desk, not a dealer. We do not sell named standby SKUs and we will not invent a generator affiliate hop. This guide is the sequence a competent installer already uses. If you skip a step, you buy kilowatts you cannot feed, or a pretty enclosure that will not pass inspection. Class choice (air-cooled 9–12 kW versus liquid-cooled 20 kW+) belongs after the load list, not before. See best standby types once you know the job. Money: cost.
Start with the circuits you refuse to lose, not the square footage. A refrigerator, freezer, well, sump, furnace or air handler, a few lights, and network gear is a different machine from “the house feels like the grid, including both condensers and the dryer.” Write running watts from nameplates or a clamp meter if you have one. Then write starting watts. Compressors and motors care about the first second. Locked-rotor amps on a heat pump can dwarf the running number. If the dealer only talks running kilowatts, they are selling a brochure.
Soft-start devices on condensers exist. Load-shed modules exist. Managed panels exist. Those are how an air-cooled 10–12 kW class covers a house that would otherwise demand 20 kW. They are also how you stay honest: the second outdoor unit may be dark during an outage, and that is fine if heat or the well was the actual job. Do not let “whole house” talk you into a liquid-cooled plant you will not maintain.
Altitude and temperature derate the same nameplate. A mountain house is not a sea-level house. Ask for the derate in writing. If two quotes disagree by a full class, the useful argument is the load calc and whether HVAC is locked out — not whose badge is on the lid. The Home Backup does not stamp load calculations. Hire the electrician who will pull the permit.
Natural gas is the set-and-forget residential standby fuel when the utility stays pressurized. In many wind and ice events the gas grid outlasts the electric grid. It is not a law of physics. Confirm meter capacity. A generator that wants more cubic feet per hour than the meter and pipe can deliver will sag, hunt, or refuse to carry the well. Upsizing the service is a real line item — see gas work on the cost page.
Propane (LP) is independent of the gas company. You own a tank and a level. Runtime is a delivery problem and a winter problem: tanks can weather-lock if they are undersized for the BTU draw in cold. Propane is the usual answer when there is no natural gas in the street, or when you want on-site fuel after a utility gas outage. It is not “free energy.” Budget the tank, the trench, and the fill.
Gasoline belongs on portables, not on a pad plant you expect to start itself. It is easy to buy, hard to store, and it goes stale. Dual-fuel portables that also take propane are a compromise for people who chose the driveway, not the pad. If you are still deciding automatic versus manual, read standby vs portable before you shop fuel cans.
| Fuel | Typical use | Strength | Failure mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | Automatic standby on a pad | No jerry cans; utility often still flows in storms | Meter/pipe too small; rare gas outages; you do not “own” the supply |
| Propane | Automatic standby, or dual-fuel portable | On-site energy; works off the gas utility | Tank empty or iced; delivery lag; trench and tank cost |
| Gasoline | Portable generators | Easy to buy the day before a storm | Stale fuel, carburetors, fire storage, short runtime per can |
An automatic transfer switch is the product. The engine is the accessory. Without a listed transfer method you do not have whole-house backup; you have a loud box and a temptation to backfeed. Service-entrance ATS gear sits at the service and can move the whole panel if the generator is sized for it. Load-shed ATS kits drop big 240 V loads so a smaller engine stays alive. A managed panel (smart breakers, priority circuits) is another way to keep an air-cooled class honest. All of this is licensed work in almost every US jurisdiction.
For portables, the house hook is usually an inlet box plus a panel interlock, or a listed manual transfer switch. The interlock physically prevents the utility main and the generator breaker from being on together. That is how you avoid energizing a downed line. Extension cords to a fridge are a smaller, legal-enough job only if the generator is outdoors and the cords are rated. They are not a whole-house design.
Do not let a salesperson skip the conversation about 120 versus 240, bonding, and whether the ATS is service equipment. Those details decide inspection. They also decide whether a future battery inlet can share the same thinking — different product, same electrician. If you are comparing a pad plant to a split-phase battery, the named kit on this site is the Anker SOLIX F3800, discussed as a class alternative, not a generator.
The Home Backup is not your AHJ, gas fitter, structural engineer, or HOA architectural committee. Local noise ordinances, setbacks, and covenants kill otherwise “best” units. A pad that sits under a bedroom window, blocks a meter, or sits inside a manufacturer’s clearance diagram will fail even if the kilowatts were perfect. Walk the lot with a tape measure and the installation diagram before you sign a deposit. Ask the dealer who pulls the permit. If the answer is “you file it,” price that work and the rework when it comes back red-inked.
HOAs argue about enclosures, paint, screening, and whether a generator is “equipment.” Some allow a plant with landscaping. Some ban it. Get the covenant answer in writing before the concrete truck. Neighbors hear weekly exercise. Pick a time window the manual allows and the street can live with. Placement is also a carbon monoxide problem: exhaust away from openings, not into a fenced corner that traps fumes.
Flood plains, snow drift, and dog paths matter more than brochure photography. A unit in a swale will drown. A unit that needs a snow tunnel will not start. Concrete, composite pads, and manufacturer kits are part of install, not extras you discover on inspection day. Airflow around liquid-cooled radiators is not optional. If the only pad location is illegal, you do not have a standby project. You have a portable-plus-inlet project or a battery project.
If this list already feels like too much project, you may want an expandable battery and inlet box instead. Start at the battery guide, or go straight to hours-of-essentials at power stations for home backup. Featured carts if you leave the engine aisle: Jackery, BLUETTI, Anker SOLIX. Physics fork: battery vs standby.
The Home Backup is not your AHJ, gas fitter, or structural engineer. Nothing here is a permit, a load calculation, or a blessing to backfeed a dryer outlet. We do not sell standby brands as affiliates. Method: how we review. Money: affiliate disclosure. Desk scope: about. If a sentence on this page is wrong for your code, write contact — we will not remote-approve a panel.
