Integrity Air & Heat can provide you with sales, installation and service for standby generators here in the central Florida area.

A whole house (standby) generator is not the same as a portable generator. Standby generators are permanently mounted generator systems, connected directly to your home. Kind of like a central air-conditioning system would be. Also, most standby generators are powered by "self-feeding" natural or propane gas. Finally, the system is controlled by an "intelligent transfer switch" that automatically turns on the generator when a power outage occurs.

So, basically, when you lose electrical power, your standby generator will "automatically" keep the electricity on in your home. If it's properly sized, that means you can keep running your air conditioner, heat, hot water heater and even your refrigerator/freezer. How wonderful is that!

It only takes about one or two days to have a standby-generator system installed if you already have gas longer if you need a propane tank installed so plan accordingly.

As far as the best time of year to install a standby generator, consider this: Rain is the biggest problem installing the generator. You can’t touch the electrical panel in the rain and you don’t want to dig propane tanks if it’s raining. So weather plays an important role in the planning. Also during hurricane season the demand is the highest so plan ahead.

Severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes can all cause long-term power outages so don’t be left in the dark.

So have Integrity Air & Heat’s standby-generator estimator out to discuss the job's size, scheduling and pricing. We will have the proper licenses, insurance and will get the appropriate permits from local authorities.

Also, I recommend getting a standby generator with a composite or aluminum shell that is especially built to stand up to the elements. This could be particularly important if you live by the ocean, because the salt air can be very corrosive to standard materials.