Generator Installation in Gresham, OR
- Transfer switch or interlock installed
- Sized to what you want running
- No pressure to buy extras
What Our Customers Say
What Should Keep Running in Your Gresham Home When the Power Drops?
A standby unit that takes over on its own, or a safe hookup for the portable you already own. Either way, nothing feeds back onto the PGE line.
If you already own a portable generator, the first question is how it reaches the house. An extension cord to the fridge is safe but limited. Back-feeding the house through a dryer outlet with a double-ended cord is not safe at all. The proper hookup has two parts: an inlet on an outside wall, and an interlock plate or manual transfer switch at the panel that lets the generator breaker on only when the main is off. You plug in at the inlet, flip two breakers, and the circuits you picked run from the panel as usual.
A standby generator is the hands-off version: a fixed unit on an outdoor pad, wired through an automatic transfer switch that cuts the house off from PGE's line before the generator takes the load, then reverses the order when the grid comes back. That break is what protects a lineworker on a line that should be dead. A standby generator installation usually takes 1 to 2 days. A licensed gas fitter runs the natural gas or propane line, and we schedule around that so the unit has fuel when we test it with the main breaker off.
How Generator Installation Runs Here
List what stays on
Your list sets the size and the switch
Written estimate
Standby or portable hookup, agreed before work
Check the panel
Space and condition, before the switch lands
Set and connect
Unit or inlet mounted, switch wired to the panel
Changeover test
Inspection passed, then main off, generator on
More than half of Gresham's homes (53%) date from 1960–89, and their panels were never planned around a generator. The switch or interlock lands at the panel, so a panel with no room, or a Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco, comes first.
Signs It Is Time to Call About Backup Power
What Affects the Cost of Generator Installation in Gresham
The first choice, portable hookup or standby unit, sets most of the job, and your list of circuits does the rest.
Portable hookup or standby unit
An inlet and interlock for a portable you own is a small job next to a pad-mounted unit with automatic switching.
How many circuits you keep
Carrying the whole panel calls for a bigger unit and switch than carrying the fridge, furnace and a few lights.
Interlock plate or transfer switch
An interlock fits on the existing panel; a separate manual transfer switch adds a box and more wiring.
A panel from 1960–89
Over half the homes here date from those years, and a full panel, Federal Pacific or Zinsco is dealt with first.
Where the unit sits
The farther the pad or inlet is from the panel, the more cable and conduit the run takes.
Fuel to a standby unit
A standby unit needs natural gas or propane piped by a licensed gas fitter, and we schedule around that work.
Keeping PGE's line safe
The switch has to cut the house off from PGE's line, and the city inspects the electrical side before the changeover test.
Every job gets a written estimate before any work starts.
Why Homeowners Here Call PWR Pro Electric
No back-feed onto PGE
Every hookup goes through a switch or interlock
We pull the electrical permit for you
The gas fitter files theirs; we schedule around both
Bonded & insured
Licensed Oregon contractor, 1-year warranty on our work
Questions Homeowners Ask
Can the generator cover only some of my circuits?
I already own a portable. Can you hook it up to my panel?
Does PGE have to do anything for a generator install?
How many days does a standby generator installation need?
Book Generator Installation in Gresham
Written estimate before any work begins.