Fall 2026 installation booking — Kingston & Eastern Ontario
The power goes out. Your house doesn't.
A Generac standby generator detects the outage, starts itself and restores your house in about 10 to 15 seconds — heat, water, freezer, sump pump, internet. You don't have to be home. You don't have to do anything.
No charge, no obligation. A licensed electrician attends the property, sizes the unit correctly, and issues a fixed price in writing.
- Authorized Generac sales & service dealer
- ECRA/ESA licence 7012923
- Master electrician — 45 years
- Installed and serviced by the same company
Read this before you sign with anybody
Not every Generac dealer can service a Generac
Most homeowners never learn the difference until year four, when the controller board fails and the company that installed it tells them to phone Generac themselves. There are two kinds of dealer, and only one of them can actually take care of you after the truck leaves.
| Installation dealer | Authorized dealer | |
|---|---|---|
| Sell you the unit | Yes | Yes |
| Install and commission it | Yes | Yes |
| Factory service training | No | Yes |
| Open a warranty claim on your behalf | No | Yes |
| Perform warranty repairs | No | Yes |
| Dealer access to parts and technical support | No | Yes |
| Diagnose a controller fault on site | No | Yes |
Knapp's Electric is an authorized dealer. That means the company that sells you the generator is the same company that shows up when it throws a code at 4 a.m. in February — not a call centre, and not a subcontractor who has never seen the inside of one.
Why fall, and why now
Everybody calls the day after the storm
A standby generator isn't an off-the-shelf purchase. There's a unit to order, a gas line to run, a pad to set, a trench for the feeder, and an ESA inspection to schedule. Booked in September, that's routine. Booked the morning after a region-wide outage, it's a queue.
Ground conditions
Excavation and gas piping go in cleanly on dry fall ground. Wet, snow-covered or frozen conditions mean slower digging, more restoration work and a bigger bill.
Permits and inspection
ESA notification, inspection scheduling and the gas permit all take lead time, and none of it moves faster because you're in a hurry. Booking now means you're commissioned before the first storm, not behind everyone who waited.
Equipment lead times
Units and transfer switches ordered in late summer arrive on schedule. Ordered after a major outage, when every dealer in the province is ordering at once, they sit on backorder.
Outage season
Eastern Ontario's worst outages land between late fall and spring — ice, wet snow and wind on rural lines. A generator delivered in May protects you for a season that's already finished.
Fall booking offer
Booked and deposited by September 30
Reserve a fall install slot and here's what comes with it.
- Free on-site assessment and correct load sizing — not a phone guess
- Fixed written price, with the ESA permit and inspection included
- Service plan available at installation, with your first-year rate locked in at booking
- Priority scheduling ahead of post-storm callers
- Financing available — ask during the assessment
How it goes
Four steps, one contractor
Site assessment
We attend the property, review your panel and service, determine the right location for the unit and the gas run, and establish what you actually need running. Usually under an hour.
Fixed written quote
One fixed price for the finished job, with the ESA permit and inspection in it. The scope is set out in writing — what's included, what isn't, and what would be extra — so there are no surprises on invoice day.
Installation
Pad, unit, transfer switch, feeder and gas connection. Licensed gas fitter subcontracted, ESA notified and inspected. Typically one to two days on site.
Commissioning and handover
Load test, simulated outage, controller setup and Mobile Link registration. We walk you through the operation until you're comfortable with it, and we maintain it from there.
Straight answers
What people ask me
What does a standby generator actually cost?
Whole-home standby installations in this area start at $15,000 and run to $30,000, depending on the size of the unit, the distance of the gas and electrical runs, ground conditions, and whether your existing service needs work. Every property is different, and we won't quote a number over the phone that has to be revised after seeing it — that's what the free assessment is for.
Natural gas or propane?
If you have natural gas at the road, that's almost always the answer — no tank, no refills, no running out during a long outage. Rural properties run propane, which works just as well, but the tank has to be sized for the generator's draw as well as your furnace and range. We size that during the assessment.
How long can it run?
On natural gas, indefinitely. On propane, it depends on tank size and load — a properly sized tank will carry a typical home for several days to well over a week. Either way it needs an oil change after extended running, which is part of what a service plan covers.
Is it loud?
Quieter than most people expect — comparable to a central air conditioner at conversational distance. It also runs a short self-test once a week, which you can set for a time that suits you.
Do I really need a permit?
Yes. A standby generator ties into your main service and requires ESA notification and inspection, plus a gas permit for the fuel connection. Anyone offering to skip it is creating an insurance problem for you, not saving you money. Both are included in my quote.
What maintenance does it actually need?
A standby generator is an engine, and it has a real service schedule. A new unit runs on break-in oil for its first 25 run hours, then gets changed over to 5W-30 full synthetic, and from there it needs an oil and filter change every 100 run hours — plus plugs, valve lash and a battery that will actually crank at minus thirty. The weekly self-test proves it starts. It doesn't prove it will carry your house for three days in January. We offer annual and priority service plans, and a plan taken out at installation locks your first-year rate in at booking. As an authorized dealer we also handle warranty repairs directly instead of sending you to a call centre.
Service area
Eastern Ontario, based in Elginburg
Not on the list? Call and ask. If you're within reasonable driving distance we'll tell you straight whether we can look after you properly — and if we can't, we'll say so.
Book your assessment
Start with the intake form
It takes about two minutes. It tells us your service, your fuel, and what you need backed up — so the assessment is a real conversation about your property instead of a round of twenty questions on the doorstep.
- Two minutes online, no phone tag
- A callback with the right questions already answered
- Free on-site assessment booked from there
Prefer to talk? Call 613.929.9679.