Standby and portable generators
When the power goes out around Pittsburgh, the things you miss first are usually the heat, the refrigerator and the sump pump. There are two ways to keep them running. The one most homeowners should look at first is a transfer switch and an outdoor inlet, so a portable generator you buy yourself can carry a few circuits without a single extension cord running through a cracked window. The other is a whole home standby unit that runs off your gas line and starts on its own. Here is how each one works, how to pick what stays on, what the electrical and gas sides involve, and what we handle.
A transfer switch and an outdoor inlet
This is the setup we point most people toward, and it is a much smaller job than a whole home unit. We mount a transfer switch at or near your electrical panel and an inlet on the outside wall of the house. The generator itself is a portable one you buy at Home Depot or Lowe's, or we can supply it, and it lives in the garage or the shed until the lights go out.
When the power drops, you roll the generator outside and away from the house, start it, run one cord from the generator to the inlet, and move your chosen circuits over at the switch. That is the whole routine. One cord, one panel, doors that still close and lock, and no web of extension cords across the basement stairs.
Be realistic about what you are buying. This carries a few circuits in your home, not the whole house, so the big electric loads like central air conditioning sit outside what it is meant to do. You start it and you fuel it yourself, which means somebody has to be home. For a lot of Pittsburgh houses that trade is well worth it.
- A transfer switch installed at or near your existing panel
- An outdoor inlet so one cord replaces a tangle of extension cords
- Circuits chosen with you before any work starts
- Works with a portable generator you already own or one you buy
- Permit and inspection handled as part of the job
Deciding what has to stay on
Start with the list, not with a generator model. Walk the house and name the things that hurt most when they stop. For most homes that is heat, the refrigerator, the sump pump, a well pump if you are not on city water, and a few outlets for lights and charging phones.
Heat surprises people. A gas furnace or boiler still needs house power for the blower or circulator, the controls and the ignition, so a gas appliance goes dark in an outage right along with everything else. Getting the furnace circuit on the list is usually the whole reason a Pittsburgh homeowner is reading this page in February.
Big electric loads are a different conversation. Central air conditioning, an electric range, an electric water heater and an electric dryer draw far more than the small stuff, and a portable generator is not the tool for them. The generator you buy sets the ceiling, so we match the circuit list to the machine and tell you if the list is longer than the machine can carry.
One more question decides a lot: does any of this have to work when nobody is home? A portable setup needs a person to roll it out and start it. If the house sits empty for stretches in the winter, that points toward a standby unit instead.
- Furnace or boiler blower and controls
- Refrigerator
- Sump pump
- Well pump if you are on a well
- A few lighting and outlet circuits
- Sometimes a garage door opener or a medical device circuit
What a transfer switch does, and why backfeeding is dangerous
The switch has one job: disconnect the circuits it feeds from the incoming utility line before it connects them to the generator. One source at a time, never both. That is what makes the setup permanent and safe instead of improvised.
Backfeeding is the shortcut people try instead, and it is the reason we spend time on this. It means running a cord with male plugs on both ends from a generator into a wall outlet or a dryer outlet to energize the house wiring. Two things go wrong. Power can travel back out through your meter and onto the utility line where crews are working to restore your neighborhood, and there is nothing between your generator and your own wiring to protect either one. The cord itself leaves live prongs exposed in your hand. It is not how we wire a generator and it is not a shortcut worth taking.
The generator itself belongs outside and well away from the house, never in a garage or under a deck, and never with the overhead door cracked open. Engine exhaust carries carbon monoxide, and it does not need much of an enclosure to build up. Keep it clear of windows and doors, and keep the fuel stored away from it.
Permits and inspection on the electrical work
A transfer switch ties into your electrical panel, so it is permitted work in most of the municipalities we serve. The requirements, the fees and the inspection process are set locally, and they are not the same in Moon Township as they are in Mt. Lebanon or the city.
We find out which office has jurisdiction over your address, handle the permit, and coordinate the inspection as part of the job rather than handing it back to you. When we walk the house we will tell you what your municipality expects so there are no surprises on the schedule.
It matters beyond the day of the install. A permitted, inspected generator connection is documented work, which is worth having on record when you sell the house and the buyer's inspector starts opening panel covers.
Standby generators and what we install
A standby generator sits outside the house on a pad and ties into your gas supply, so there is nothing to haul out and nothing to refill. An automatic transfer switch watches the incoming utility power, and when it drops, the generator starts and the switch moves the house over without anyone touching it.
The real advantage is not comfort, it is that the thing works when nobody is home. Frozen pipes and a flooded basement do not wait for you to get back from vacation. Most standby units also run a short self test on a set schedule, so a problem shows up on a Tuesday afternoon instead of during the outage.
We install Generac standby generators. That is what we install, what our people know, and what we work on. We also service existing Honeywell home standby units, which were built by Generac with Generac engines under Honeywell badging. That line has since been discontinued, so if there is a Honeywell unit sitting in your yard, it is a Generac underneath and it is a machine our people already know.
Our CEO, a master plumber, went out to Kohler, Wisconsin about ten years ago and completed a week long certification class with Kohler. We are not a Kohler dealer, and we do not sell or install their units. We mention the training because it is real, and it is where a lot of our depth on these machines came from.
Sizing a standby unit is a conversation about three things at once: what you want covered, what your gas piping can deliver, and what your electrical panel looks like. We work through all three with you before anybody picks a model.
Gas piping for a standby unit
A standby generator is a gas appliance with an engine attached, and it is a hungry one. Piping that comfortably feeds a furnace, a water heater and a range does not automatically have room for a generator on top of it, so sizing the gas side comes before anybody picks equipment.
That makes the first questions what your gas piping can carry and where the generator would sit relative to the meter. This is squarely our trade. We have a master plumber on staff and we run gas line work with our own people, so it stays with our own crew start to finish.
The meter is the dividing line, so the utility owns the main and the service line up to and including the meter, and everything past it is your house piping and our work.
If you ever smell gas, get everyone out of the house and call 911 first, then your gas utility, from outside. Our emergency service page has the full set of instructions along with more on where the utility's side ends and yours begins.
What we service on an existing generator
We service and maintain the parts that connect a generator to your house. That covers the transfer switch, the wiring and the gas supply and connections, plus troubleshooting a unit that will not start or will not carry the load it carried last winter.
We do not do the routine engine work. No oil changes, no spark plugs, no scheduled engine servicing. That is small engine work, a different parts list and a different skill set from the wiring and gas side we handle.
So if you own a standby unit, plan on two relationships: a small engine service for the engine, and us for everything between that engine and your panel. Saying that out loud before you buy costs us the maintenance work, and you should hear it now rather than the first cold week you need the machine.
How to figure out which one you want
Start with one question: what has to stay on, and does it have to stay on when you are not home? If the answer is the furnace, the refrigerator and the sump pump, and somebody is around to roll a generator out, the transfer switch and inlet route gets you there for far less. If the answer is the whole house, or the house sits empty for stretches, a standby unit is the conversation.
From there it is a walk through the house. We look at your panel, your gas piping, where a unit could sit, and which circuits matter to you, and then you decide. You get the price in writing before the work starts.
Wahl has been family owned in Pittsburgh since 1980. We have 55 team members, more than 40 trucks, and an 87,000 square foot facility on six acres in Oakdale. Licensed and insured, master plumber on staff, PA HIC #PA022302, A+ with the BBB, and 1,522 five-star Google reviews at a 4.8 rating. Call us at (412) 276-9245 and tell us it is a generator question.
Let us reach out to you
Fill out the quick form and we will call you back. For an emergency, call any time at (412) 276-9245.
Questions, answered
Can I buy my own portable generator and have you wire it in?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Buy it at Home Depot or Lowe's, or let us supply one. We install the transfer switch and the outdoor inlet, pick the circuits with you, and handle the permit and inspection. The generator itself stays yours to store, start and fuel.
Will a portable generator run my whole house?
No. This setup is built to carry a few circuits, usually the furnace or boiler, the refrigerator, the sump pump, a well pump if you have one, and some lights and outlets. Central air conditioning and other big electric loads are outside what it is meant to do. If you want the whole house covered, that is the standby conversation.
Why can I not just plug a generator into a wall outlet?
Because there is nothing separating your house from the utility line when you do. Power can travel back out through the meter onto lines that crews are working on, nothing protects your own wiring, and the double ended cord it takes leaves live prongs exposed in your hand. A transfer switch exists specifically to make sure only one source feeds those circuits at a time.
Do I need a permit for a transfer switch?
In most of the municipalities we serve, yes, because the work ties into your electrical panel. The requirements and fees are set locally and they vary from one township or borough to the next. We find out which office covers your address, pull the permit and coordinate the inspection as part of the job.
Which standby generator brands do you install?
We install Generac standby generators. We also service existing Honeywell home standby units, which were built by Generac with Generac engines under Honeywell badging, a line that has since been discontinued. We are not a Kohler dealer and do not sell or install their units, though our CEO did complete a week long Kohler certification class in Kohler, Wisconsin about ten years ago, and that training is part of why we are comfortable with this equipment.
Do you do generator oil changes and spark plugs?
No. We service and maintain the transfer switch, the wiring and the gas supply and connections, and we troubleshoot units that will not start or will not hold a load. Routine engine servicing is small engine work and belongs with a small engine service.
Does a standby generator need new gas piping?
Sometimes. Piping that already feeds a furnace, a water heater and a range may not have room for a generator on top of it. We check what your piping can carry before anybody picks equipment, and if it needs work, our own plumbers do it.
Ready when you are
Call us and get a straight answer. You get the price in writing before the work starts.
Call (412) 276-9245Schedule online