If the last few hurricane seasons in Naples taught us anything, it's that the power doesn't come back as fast as we'd like. After Irma, large parts of Collier County were dark for over a week. After Ian, even longer. A properly-sized whole-home standby generator keeps your AC running, your fridge cold, and your well pump working through the worst of it, automatically, the moment the grid drops.
A 5,000-watt portable from the hardware store will run a couple of lights and a refrigerator. It won't run a 4-ton AC unit. It won't run an electric range or an electric water heater. You have to fill it manually every 6–10 hours of runtime, you have to keep gasoline on hand (which goes stale), and you have to drag it out of the garage and run extension cords every time you need it. In a Florida summer outage, that means choosing between sleep and not melting.
A whole-home standby unit sits on a small concrete pad next to the house, runs on natural gas or propane, starts automatically within 10–30 seconds of an outage, and powers the entire home until the grid comes back. You don't even have to be home.
Sizing comes down to one question: do you want to keep the AC running? In Southwest Florida, the honest answer is almost always yes. That puts most Naples homes in the 22–24 kW range. Smaller homes with a single AC zone can sometimes work with a 14 kW unit. Larger homes or homes with multiple AC zones, pool equipment, and electric ranges may need a 26 kW or even a 36 kW unit.
This is why the install starts with a load calculation, not a quote. The right size for your house depends on the actual loads, not the square footage.
All three are reputable. Generac has the largest install base and the widest dealer network in SWFL, which matters when you need a part at 9 PM on a Sunday. Kohler is well-engineered, often quieter, with strong warranties. Cummins is a great pick for commercial or large-residential installs.
For most Naples residential customers, Generac is what we install most often, but we work with all three.
Florida hurricane season opens June 1st. The first named storm of the year is usually when the phones start ringing, and at that point you're 8–12 weeks out from having a working generator. There's permitting, an HOA letter for many neighborhoods, the equipment lead time, the gas line work, the electrical work, and the final inspection.
The right time to plan a generator install is October through April, well outside storm season, when timelines are reasonable and the equipment is in stock.
If you already have a generator: get it serviced every spring. A unit that hasn't been started in eight months may not start when you need it. Dan House Electric offers preventative maintenance for most major generator brands. Call 239-262-4420 to schedule.
Generators require an electrical permit in Collier and Lee counties, and most gated communities require HOA approval for the equipment placement. We handle the permit paperwork as part of the install and we'll draft the HOA submission package for you. Both are straightforward when started early; both are bottlenecks when started in the middle of a storm watch.
Generators are engines. Engines need oil changes, air filters, spark plugs, and load tests. A standby unit that hasn't been serviced in three years is a unit that's at high risk of failing on the day you need it. We offer annual service contracts that include the oil change, filter, plug, battery check, and a full load test simulating a real outage.
A whole-home standby generator is one of those things you buy hoping you'll never need it, and feel grateful every time you do. For Naples, where summer outages can stretch into a week or more, it's not a luxury upgrade. It's the difference between sheltering in place comfortably and packing up to drive north.
Thinking about a generator for your Naples home? Call 239-262-4420 or request a free sizing visit. We'll walk the property, do the load calculation, and give you a fixed quote.
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Install, service, and preventative maintenance for whole-home and commercial standby generators across SWFL.
Free sizing visit. No high-pressure sales.
