Severe storms, hurricane season, ice events, and aging grid infrastructure make power outages a regular concern for homeowners across the Raleigh and Triangle area. A whole-house standby generator eliminates that concern by detecting an outage automatically and restoring power to your home within seconds — without you lifting a finger.
Generator installation is one of CMC Electric’s core specialties. We have been installing, repairing, and maintaining standby generators for homeowners and businesses across central North Carolina since 2005, and our team handles every phase of the process: site assessment, generator sizing, electrical permitting, gas line coordination, automatic transfer switch installation, and ongoing annual maintenance.
Below are the questions we hear most often from homeowners considering a generator or looking for reliable service on one they already own. If your question is not covered here, visit our FAQ Center for additional topics.
Licensed electrical contractors with generator experience handle whole-house standby installations in the Raleigh area. This is not a general handyman job — it involves electrical permitting, transfer switch wiring at your main panel, coordination with your gas utility or propane supplier, and compliance with local building codes and National Electrical Code requirements. The installer should be a licensed electrician who understands both the electrical integration and the mechanical setup of the generator unit.
CMC Electric installs whole-house standby generators across Raleigh, Clayton, and the full Triangle region. Generator installation has been a core part of our business since we opened in 2005, and it remains one of our most-requested services. We work with leading generator brands and handle the full scope of work from initial site assessment through final inspection and startup testing. Our technicians are trained to size generators correctly for your home’s load, install the automatic transfer switch at your electrical panel, manage the City of Raleigh electrical permit, and coordinate with your gas provider for the fuel connection.
When evaluating installers, ask whether they are licensed with the NC Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, whether they pull permits and schedule inspections, and whether they offer ongoing maintenance after the install — because a generator that is never serviced is a generator that may not start when you need it most.
A whole-house standby generator is a permanently installed unit that sits outside your home — typically on a concrete pad near the electrical panel and gas meter. It connects to your home’s electrical system through a device called an automatic transfer switch (ATS), which monitors the incoming utility power around the clock.
When the ATS detects that utility power has been lost, it signals the generator to start. Within roughly ten to thirty seconds, the generator is running and the ATS transfers your home’s electrical load from the utility feed to the generator output. Your lights, refrigerator, HVAC system, sump pump, and other connected circuits come back on automatically. When utility power is restored, the ATS detects the stable return, transfers the load back to the utility, and the generator shuts itself down.
The entire process happens without you pressing a button or flipping a switch. Most modern standby generators also run a brief self-test cycle once a week — usually for about ten to fifteen minutes — to keep the engine lubricated and confirm the system is ready to operate. CMC Electric installs the ATS as part of every generator project and walks homeowners through how the system operates, what the weekly test cycle sounds like, and what the indicator lights on the unit mean so there are no surprises the first time it activates.
Generator sizing starts with understanding your home’s electrical load — specifically, which circuits and appliances you want the generator to power during an outage. Some homeowners want full-home coverage, where every circuit in the panel stays live. Others prefer a managed approach, where the generator powers essential loads like the HVAC system, refrigerator, well pump, lighting, and a few convenience circuits while leaving non-critical loads (like a pool heater or electric dryer) off during an outage.
The sizing process involves a load calculation. A licensed electrician reviews your panel, identifies the wattage requirements of the circuits you want covered, accounts for starting surge on motor-driven appliances (which draw significantly more power at startup than during continuous operation), and recommends a generator rated to handle that combined load with an appropriate safety margin.
Common residential standby generators range from around 14 kilowatts to 26 kilowatts or more. A 2,000-square-foot home in the Raleigh area with central air conditioning, a standard kitchen, and typical lighting loads will often land in the 18 to 24 kilowatt range for whole-home coverage, but every house is different.
CMC Electric performs a load calculation as a standard part of every generator consultation. We walk you through which loads to prioritize, what the sizing options mean in practice, and how the choice affects cost — so you get the right generator for your home, not an oversized unit you are overpaying for or an undersized one that cannot keep up.
Yes — an automatic transfer switch is a required component of every whole-house standby generator installation. It is not optional. The ATS is the bridge between your home’s electrical panel and the generator. It monitors utility power, initiates the generator startup sequence when an outage occurs, and physically transfers your home’s circuits from the utility feed to the generator output.
The ATS also ensures that your generator never back-feeds electricity into the utility grid. Back-feeding is extremely dangerous — it can send live current into power lines that utility workers believe are de-energized, creating a lethal hazard. Building codes and the National Electrical Code require an ATS (or a manual transfer switch for portable generators) specifically to prevent this.
There are two general categories of transfer switches. A whole-panel ATS transfers your entire electrical panel to generator power, which is the standard approach when the generator is sized for full-home coverage. A load-management ATS (sometimes called a load-shedding or managed-power transfer switch) selectively powers priority circuits and cycles larger loads on and off to stay within the generator’s capacity. This approach allows a smaller, less expensive generator to cover your most important needs.
CMC Electric installs both types and helps homeowners choose the right configuration based on their generator size, panel layout, and priorities. The ATS is installed directly adjacent to your main electrical panel and wired during the same visit as the generator itself.
Yes. A standby generator installation in Raleigh and most jurisdictions across Wake County requires an electrical permit — and in many cases, a gas or mechanical permit as well, depending on whether a new gas line is being run to the unit. The permit process ensures that the installation is inspected and confirmed to meet the North Carolina Electrical Code and local building requirements.
The electrical permit covers the wiring between the generator, the automatic transfer switch, and your main panel. If a gas line needs to be extended or a new connection installed, that work requires a separate mechanical or fuel gas permit. Some municipalities also have setback requirements that dictate how far the generator must sit from property lines, windows, and HVAC intake vents — so placement is part of the planning process, not an afterthought.
CMC Electric manages the full permitting process for every generator we install. We submit the electrical permit application, coordinate the gas permit if applicable, ensure the unit placement meets local setback rules, and schedule the required inspections once the work is complete. We also handle any documentation your gas provider requires to activate or extend service to the generator. The goal is that you never have to visit a permit office or chase down inspection appointments — we take care of the administrative process from start to finish.
Licensed electricians and authorized generator service providers handle standby generator repairs in the Raleigh area. Common repair issues include failure to start during an outage or weekly test, error codes or fault lights on the controller, battery failure, fuel delivery problems, transfer switch malfunctions, and voltage or frequency irregularities in the generator’s output.
Because a standby generator integrates with your home’s electrical panel through the transfer switch, generator repair often involves both mechanical diagnosis (engine, fuel system, coolant, battery) and electrical diagnosis (ATS, wiring, control board, voltage regulation). That is why it is important to work with a contractor who understands both sides of the system.
CMC Electric provides generator repair services across Raleigh, Clayton, and the greater Triangle. Our technicians diagnose and repair all major standby generator brands and carry common replacement parts — batteries, filters, belts, and control boards — so many repairs can be completed in a single visit. If your generator is displaying a fault code, failing to start, running roughly, or shutting down mid-cycle, call us and we will schedule a diagnostic visit. We will identify the issue, explain what is needed, and provide a written estimate before starting any repair work.
Most generator manufacturers recommend a professional maintenance visit at least once per year, and twice per year for units that run frequently or operate in harsh conditions. Annual maintenance is essential because a standby generator spends most of its life sitting idle — running only during its brief weekly self-test and during actual outages. Without routine service, components degrade quietly and the unit may fail when you need it most.
A standard annual maintenance visit typically includes an oil and oil filter change, replacement or cleaning of the air filter, inspection and testing of the battery and charging system, inspection of the spark plugs (on gas-fired units), a check of coolant levels and hoses (on liquid-cooled models), a fuel system inspection, exercise testing under load, a visual check of the enclosure and connections for corrosion or pest intrusion, and a review of the automatic transfer switch operation.
CMC Electric offers both one-time maintenance visits and an ongoing generator maintenance membership program designed to keep your unit in reliable operating condition year after year. Our membership includes scheduled annual service, priority scheduling if your generator needs an unplanned repair, and documentation of every service visit so you have a maintenance history for warranty purposes and for your records. You can learn more on our Generator Maintenance Membership page or call us to discuss which plan fits your situation.
Generator installation is a significant investment, and the quality of the installation directly affects whether the unit performs reliably for years or becomes a source of ongoing problems. Before signing with any contractor, ask these questions:
Are you licensed with the NC Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors? Generator installation is electrical work and requires a licensed electrical contractor in North Carolina. Will you pull the required electrical and gas permits? Unpermitted generator installations can create code violations, void the manufacturer’s warranty, and cause problems during a home sale. What brands do you install, and do you stock parts for ongoing service? Working with a contractor who is familiar with and supports the brand you choose simplifies future maintenance and repairs. Will you perform the load calculation to size the generator, or are you just installing a unit I have already purchased? Proper sizing is critical to performance and cost efficiency. Do you install the automatic transfer switch, or is that handled separately? The ATS should be installed by the same electrician who does the generator wiring. Do you offer maintenance plans after installation? A generator that is installed but never maintained is a liability, not an asset.
CMC Electric answers yes to every one of these questions. We handle the full lifecycle — consultation, sizing, permitting, installation, inspection, and ongoing annual maintenance — so you have a single point of contact for every stage of owning a standby generator.
These topics often come up alongside generator questions:
CMC Electric was founded in 2005 by Chris Conrad in Clayton, NC, and has grown into one of the Triangle’s most trusted residential and commercial electrical contractors. Our licensed, insured, and background-checked technicians serve Raleigh, Clayton, Garner, Durham, Chapel Hill, Apex, Cary, Holly Springs, and dozens of communities across central North Carolina.
Generator installation, repair, and maintenance have been a core specialty of CMC Electric since day one. We also provide electrical panel upgrades, EV charger installation, indoor and outdoor lighting, home automation, and full-service electrical repair. Every project comes with upfront pricing, a lifetime craftsmanship warranty, and honest communication at every step.
Considering a whole-house generator for your home? CMC Electric provides free generator consultations for homeowners and businesses across Raleigh and the Triangle — including a load calculation, sizing recommendation, and a written estimate with no obligation.
