What a Standby Generator Costs Installed (2026 Guide)

Generator Cost Table by Size

Standby generators are sold by output, measured in kilowatts (kW). A bigger number means the unit can power more of your home at once, and it also costs more to buy and to wire in. The table below groups the common residential sizes into three classes and shows where each one lands inside the harvested price ranges, along with what that size typically keeps running during an outage.

Unit prices span roughly $3,000 to $10,000 across the sizes, and installation adds about $2,000 to $5,500 on top, which is how the finished job lands in that $8,000 to $16,000 window per Generac. Angi's 2026 figures put the average whole-house install near $5,162, a reminder that smaller, essential-circuit jobs can come in well under the top of the range. A load calculation is what pins down your size, because a home with a well pump, central AC, and an electric water heater draws far more than one with gas heat and hot water.

What's in the Installation Price

The sticker price on the generator is only part of the job. A permanently installed standby unit is a piece of fixed electrical and fuel infrastructure, and most of the labor cost is in tying it safely into your home. Here is where the installation dollars go:

• The pad. The generator sits on a level concrete or composite pad, poured or set near your electrical panel and gas meter.
• The automatic transfer switch. This is the brain of the system. It senses when utility power drops, disconnects your home from the grid, and starts the generator, then switches back when the power returns. It is required for safe operation and is a real line item.
• The fuel line. Most Berks County homes run the unit on natural gas tapped from the existing meter, which means a plumber sizes and runs a new gas line. Homes without gas service use propane and need a tank, which raises the cost.
• Electrical work. An electrician wires the transfer switch to your panel and runs the circuits the generator will back up. The more of your home you want covered, the more circuit work is involved.
• Permits and inspection. Most municipalities require an electrical permit, and gas work needs its own sign-off. We handle the permitting so the finished install meets local code.

The single biggest swing factor is the distance and complexity between the generator, the gas supply, and the electrical panel. A short run with the meter and panel close together keeps labor down. A long gas line, a panel upgrade, or a propane tank all push the total toward the upper end of the range. That is why an honest quote comes after a site visit and not off a price list.

What It Costs to Run

Once the generator is installed, the ongoing cost is modest and comes in three parts: fuel, the weekly self-test, and annual maintenance.

Fuel. A standby generator only burns fuel while it is carrying your home during an outage, and the burn scales with how much load it is running. Backing up the whole house through central air uses noticeably more fuel than running just the furnace, well pump, and refrigerator. On natural gas, the fuel simply shows up on your normal gas bill for the hours you were running. Propane owners buy tank fills, so a long outage means watching the tank level.

The weekly self-test. Standby units are built to exercise themselves on a schedule, usually a short weekly cycle that runs the engine for a few minutes to keep it ready. It uses a small amount of fuel and is part of owning the system.

Annual maintenance. Like any engine, a generator needs oil changes, filter checks, and a battery test to stay reliable, and that upkeep is what makes it actually start on the night you need it. We can fold your generator into a regular maintenance schedule alongside your heating and cooling equipment, so one shop keeps all of it running instead of you juggling separate providers.

Is a Whole-House Generator Worth It?

Whether a standby generator pays off depends on what an outage actually costs you, and for a lot of Berks County homes the answer adds up quickly. The value shows up most in the systems you cannot afford to lose when the grid goes down:

• Sump pumps. A dead sump pump during the same storm that killed your power is how basements flood. Backup keeps it running.
• Well pumps. Homes on private wells lose water entirely when the power quits. No power means no water for drinking, cooking, or flushing until the grid returns.
• Freezers and refrigerators. A multi-day outage can spoil a freezer full of food, an expensive loss that a generator prevents outright.
• Medical equipment. Anyone relying on powered medical devices at home needs power that does not depend on the weather.
• Heat and work-from-home. Keeping the furnace or boiler running protects your pipes from freezing in winter, and steady power keeps a home office online when the neighborhood is dark.

That well-pump angle carries extra weight out in the rural townships around Shoemakersville, Oley, and the ridges above Hamburg, where a large share of homes draw their water from a private well. When the power drops, those households lose water on top of everything else, which moves a generator from a nice-to-have to genuinely practical. If your home runs on a well, our well pump service and a properly sized standby generator work hand in hand to keep water flowing through the next storm.

Standby vs Portable

Portable generators cost far less up front, and for some households they are the right call. The trade-offs are real, though, and worth understanding before you decide.

A portable generator is a wheeled unit you store in a shed or garage and roll out when the power goes. It runs on gasoline you have to keep on hand, it needs to be started by hand and refueled every several hours, and it has to sit well away from the house because it produces exhaust that is dangerous indoors. It powers a handful of appliances through extension cords or a manual interlock, not your whole home, and it does nothing while you are away or asleep.

A standby generator is permanently installed, wired to your panel through an automatic transfer switch, and fueled by your natural gas line or a propane tank, so there is no gasoline to store or pour. It starts on its own within seconds of an outage, whether you are home or not, and runs for as long as the fuel supply holds. You pay more up front for that hands-off reliability, but for a home with a well, a sump pump, or a family that cannot be caught in the dark, the automatic operation is the whole point.

How DeLong and Sons Installs Generac Standby Generators

The advantage of buying your generator from a full-service HVAC shop is simple: one contractor handles both your power and your heat. If a winter ice storm knocks out your boiler and your generator on the same night, you are calling one number, not chasing two companies. We install Generac standby generators sized to a real load calculation, run the electrical and fuel connections, pull the permits, and can add the unit to your ongoing maintenance schedule so it starts when you need it.

See our whole-home generator services for the full scope of what we install, repair, and maintain. And because a standby generator is a real investment, we offer financing to spread the cost out. For more homeowner guides like this one, browse our blog.