One of the most common questions we get during consultations is “do I really need a generator that powers my whole house?” The honest answer: it depends on your priorities, your home, and your budget.
Both whole-house and partial-home (also called “essential circuit”) generators provide automatic backup power. The difference is how much of your home they cover. Let’s break down what each option offers so you can make an informed decision.
Already know what you need? See our generator installation process.
A whole-house generator is sized to handle your home’s entire electrical load. When the power goes out, everything works—every light, every outlet, every appliance. You might not even notice the outage happened.
Best for:
Typical sizing: 20kW to 26kW for most Monmouth County homes. Larger estates may require 30kW or more.
Approximate cost: $10,000 to $18,000 installed, depending on unit size and installation complexity.
The main advantage of whole-house coverage is simplicity. There’s no managing loads or worrying about what you can and can’t run. The main tradeoff is higher upfront cost and slightly higher fuel consumption during extended outages.
A partial-home generator covers the circuits you designate as essential—typically your refrigerator, some lighting, your HVAC system, sump pump, well pump, and maybe a few outlets for charging devices. Everything else stays off during an outage.
Best for:
Typical sizing: 10kW to 16kW for most applications.
Approximate cost: $5,000 to $9,000 installed.
The advantage is lower cost—both for the equipment and for installation (since a smaller generator may not require panel upgrades). The tradeoff is that you’ll need to think carefully about which circuits matter most and accept that some things won’t work during an outage.
During your free consultation, we’ll walk through your home’s electrical system and discuss how you actually use power. Questions we’ll ask:
There’s no wrong answer. Some customers want whole-house peace of mind. Others are perfectly happy covering the essentials and saving several thousand dollars. Our job is to give you accurate information so you can choose what’s right for your situation.
Yes—with some caveats. If you install a partial-home generator now, you can potentially add circuits later if the generator has capacity to spare. However, upgrading to a larger generator entirely means replacing the unit and possibly the transfer switch, which isn’t cost-effective.
Our recommendation: if you’re on the fence and budget allows, size up slightly. It’s much cheaper to install a bit more capacity now than to upgrade later.
Subject To Availability & Eligibility
