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Cost guide

What a Whole-House Generator Costs on the Gulf Coast

The honest answer is a range, and the range is wide because the price is set by your house rather than by the unit on the pad. Here is every figure we can source, every adder that moves it, and the questions that get you a comparable quote.

The short version

Those are the 22 kW air-cooled numbers, which is the size most whole-house installs land on. Smaller and larger bands are our own estimates and are labeled as such below.

What you are actually paying for

A standby install is four jobs that happen to arrive on the same truck: the unit itself, a transfer switch wired into your service, a gas supply sized to feed it, and a pad set where code allows. The unit is the part with a price tag on a website. The other three are why quotes vary.

  • The unit and standard install. Sourced for the 22–26 kW band: $8,000–$16,000Source: Generac, home standby installed cost (opens in new tab).
  • Transfer switch. An essential-circuits switch costs less than a whole-house, service-rated one. Which you need is a decision, not a given.
  • Gas supply. Natural gas at the meter is the cheap case. A new propane tank, set and filled, is +$1,500–$4,000estimate.
  • Pad and placement. Normally minor. In a coastal flood zone, where the pad has to be elevated, it is not.

The four things that move your number most

1. Fuel that is already there, or not

If a natural gas main serves your street and the meter is near where the unit will sit, you have the cheapest version of this job. If there is no main, you are buying or leasing a propane tank and paying to set and fill it. That is the single biggest swing between two otherwise identical houses. Each area page on this site names the gas utility we could verify, and tells you to confirm service at your address, because “the city has gas” and “there is a main on your street” are different claims.

2. Essential circuits or the whole house

Essential circuits means a short list: refrigerator, some lights and outlets, the air handler, maybe a well or sump pump. Whole house means a service-rated switch and a unit big enough to carry everything, including the air conditioning. Expect +$500–$1,500estimate for the whole-house switch, plus the larger unit it implies. Decide this before you collect quotes or you will be comparing different jobs.

3. How far the gas has to travel

A long gas run, or regulator work to get the pressure and volume the unit needs, runs +$500–$2,000estimate. This is also why the unit’s location is not purely an aesthetic choice: every foot between the supply and the pad is pipe.

4. Your electrical panel

This is the one that surprises people. If the panel is old, full, or the service needs upgrading before a transfer switch can go in, add +$1,500–$4,000estimate. Have the installer open the panel on the first visit and say plainly whether it needs work. Finding out mid-job is how a budget breaks.

Permits: verify locally, and we mean it

Electrical and gas permits plus an inspection are normal. Fees and requirements differ between cities, between a city address and an unincorporated county address, and they change. We do not publish a permit figure because we have not checked a current fee schedule for your address, and a stale number here would cost you real money. Ask your building department, and ask your installer whether the fee is in the quote or passed through.

Estimate your range

Five questions. Each line in the result says whether the number is sourced or our estimate.

Size you are planning on
Fuel at the house
What it has to run
Distance from the gas supply to the unit
Does the electrical panel need upgrading?

Installed, all in

$8,500 – $17,500

  • Unit, transfer switch and standard install (22–26 kW (most common whole-house size))$8,000–$16,000

    Sourced: Generac (opens in new tab) average, and The Watt Guide (opens in new tab) typical, Oct 2026.

  • Whole-house (service-rated) transfer switch$500–$1,500

    Our rough estimate, not a sourced figure.

  • Permits and inspectionvaries

    Verify locally with your city or county building department. We don’t publish a fee we haven’t checked for your address.

Planning estimate, not a quote. Only an installer’s on-site quote counts.

Get a free install quote

Adder ranges we use: new propane tank $1,500–$4,000, long gas run $500–$2,000, whole-house switch $500–$1,500, panel or service upgrade $1,500–$4,000. All four are our estimates.

There is also a standalone version of this estimator.

How to get quotes you can actually compare

  1. Decide essential circuits or whole house first, and tell every installer the same thing.
  2. Settle the fuel question with your gas provider before the site visits.
  3. Ask each installer to open the panel and state in writing whether it needs work.
  4. Ask whether permit fees are included or passed through.
  5. Ask what the first year of maintenance costs and what it covers.
  6. Ask what they do about salt-air corrosion on an outdoor enclosure here.
  7. Get it all on one page per installer. Then the cheapest quote is a real comparison.

Next

Get a free install quote

Tell us about the house and we’ll pass it to an installer who covers your area. No cost, no obligation.

Get a free install quote

Not sure what size you need? Run the size calculator first.

Common questions

How much is a whole-house generator installed?

For the common 22 kW air-cooled size, published figures run about $8,000 to $16,000 on average and $11,000 to $15,000 typical, with a wider reported range of roughly $8,800 to $20,700. Where you land inside that depends on fuel, distance, coverage and your electrical panel.

Why do two quotes for the same house differ by thousands?

Usually scope, not markup. One quote includes a whole-house service-rated transfer switch and the other covers essential circuits only; one assumes the existing panel is fine and the other prices an upgrade; one runs 10 feet of gas line and the other 60. Ask each installer to quote the same scope and the spread shrinks.

What does the permit cost?

It varies by city and county and the schedules change, so we do not publish a figure. Verify locally with your building department. A licensed installer normally pulls the permits and includes the fee in the quote: ask whether it is included or passed through.

Is financing available?

Many installers offer financing, and some manufacturers run promotional terms through their dealers. We are not a lender and we do not broker finance. If you are comparing offers, look at the total cost over the term rather than the monthly payment, and ask whether a cash price is lower.

Does a generator add value to the house or cut my insurance?

Both get claimed a lot and neither is something we can promise. Ask your own insurer whether they offer any credit for permanently installed backup power, and ask a local agent what buyers in your neighborhood actually pay for. Treat any number you see online, including ours, as a starting question rather than an answer.

What about maintenance after the install?

Budget for it rather than being surprised. A standby unit runs a weekly self-test and needs periodic oil, filter and battery service; on this coast the enclosure and connections also want an annual look because of salt. Ask what a service plan costs before you buy, and what it covers.

Where these numbers come from

Anything marked estimate is our own rough planning figure, not a sourced number and not a quote.

We don’t install, sell or service generators. We’re a local resource that connects homeowners with installers in their area. How we work.