When You Hire The Gen Plus Team of Generator Specialists...

Why Hiring a Cheap Installer Will Cost You More

We see a lot of installations where people paid a lot less but the quality of workmanship is also less. We don’t ever cut corners, because we don’t want you to have problems.

We see a lot of solo electricians getting involved in low priced generator installs . They work for themselves out of one truck without a support team.

They need to subcontract out various aspects of each installation, such as excavation, laying pipe, and masonry for the concrete generator pad.

As you can imagine, when scheduling multiple contractors with busy schedules, things often don’t go as planned.

Guys don’t show up when they’re supposed to.Things are not always done correctly. You end up with delays and problems down the road. We’ve heard the stories from our customers and seen the results first hand… we clean up after these contractors all the time.

These are some of the common problems we run into when repairing generators that have been installed by an inexperienced contractor:

• Not using a properly installed concrete pad. We’ve seen installations where the generator was placed right on dirt or gravel, or even left on the pallet it came on. Your generator always needs to be on a hard level surface. Anything less will impact proper oil distribution and cooling, potentially shortening its life.

Generater incorrectly installed on plywood instead of a concrete generator pad.

• Installation of units in areas with inadequate ventilation, or the generator exhaust pointing toward dryer vents (yes, we have really seen this!), which can cause carbon monoxide poisoning or worse.

Generator incorrectly installed in a small shed.

Poor ventilation will cause a buildup of heat and carbon monoxide. By code, a generator needs to be 5 feet from any combustible structure.

• Low quality wire could short out your whole generator and cause a fire. Using cheaper aluminum wire instead of copper might cause the wires in the generator to loosen up under the lugs from the generator's vibration. Also, copper wire is a better conductor than aluminum and is more flexible.
• Not installing to code. When you have someone who doesn’t know what they are doing, they could be ignorant of proper code. And this is a liability for you.
• Sloppy installs. We’ve seen generator installs look even worse than what you see here, because the installer just slapped it in without caring about how it will look when finished.

Hey, here’s a way to save some money. Don’t bury the fuel and electrical lines... slap that thing in next to the doorway and just call it a day.

Who cares if it’s not safe or violates electrical code... Or if the homeowner won’t be covered by insurance when it catches fire?

And when you need service or repair, your cheap installer won’t be there to help you!

We get many calls where the power went out, the generator didn’t work, and the customer calls us instead of the contractor who installed it – either because they couldn’t get the contractor on the phone, the contractor couldn’t figure out the problem, or they told the homeowner, “Sorry, we don’t do repair work!”

• This is what a properly installed generator should look like.

Everything is installed to code for optimal safety and insurance compliance.

Propane fuel lines are buried to the correct depth. The generator has adequate ventilation for proper cooling and safe exhaust expulsion. Concrete gen pad is in place and electrical wiring is tight.