Straight answers to the questions North Dallas homeowners ask before hiring a generator installer. For pricing detail, see the cost guide.
Local companies' own published prices put a typical installed standby system roughly in the $7,000–$30,000 range, with most average homes between $10,000 and $17,000: Grasten Power lists $7,000–$10,000 (11–14 kW), $10,000–$14,000 (18–22 kW), $13,000–$17,000 (24–26 kW) and $17,000–$25,000+ (36 kW+); Berkeys lists standby at $10,000–$30,000 installed. See the cost guide for the full breakdown and what drives a quote.
Yes — Texas licenses electricians at the state level through the TDLR; TECL = Texas Electrical Contractor License. Nine companies in this guide publish a license number on their own website: HomeSafe (#41809), Adis (#26917, type not specified), Wellott (37215), Top Notch (#30865), Secure Volts (#40780), Emertech (#36654), Blessed (32002), McGee (#22625) and Generator Authority (#33662). Ask any other installer for its number.
In practice, yes — a standby installation involves electrical and gas work that is permitted and inspected. Grasten includes City of Dallas permits in its published prices and HomeSafe states permits are included. Ask each installer who pulls the permits and handles the inspections, and get it in the written scope.
It depends on your home's size and on what you want to keep running — a few essentials, or the whole house. Installers size the system from a load calculation done at your home. Ask each installer how it sized your system, and compare quotes at the same kW, not just the same price.
A standby generator is permanently installed, wired into your panel, and starts automatically when the power goes out. A portable generator is moved into place and powers selected circuits through extension cords or an inlet box. Most installers in this guide focus on standby systems; Generator Supercenter of Dallas lists turnkey installation from 18 kW to 60 kW, residential and commercial.
Generac is the most common brand in this guide. Kohler appears with HomeSafe, Brotherlylove, North Texas Solutions, Grasten, America One and Cantwell; Cummins with HomeSafe, Brotherlylove, Grasten and America One; Briggs & Stratton with HomeSafe, Brotherlylove, Grasten and Cantwell; Onan with Cantwell. Ask who services your brand locally after the sale.
No company in this guide is based in Addison, Richardson or Allen — those towns are served by Plano, Dallas and McKinney companies. The northern edge (Sherman) is served by Top Notch Electrician; the east (Rockwall) and south (Ennis, Cleburne) are covered only by service-area companies. If you live in one of these areas, ask the installer whether it serves your town before assuming coverage.
Compare the same scope: kW size, brand, transfer switch type, permits and inspections, gas line work, pad and placement, and warranty — parts and labor, in writing. A quote that leaves out the switch, the permits or the gas line will look cheaper and cost more later. Request up to three quotes with one form and compare them side by side.