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Generators
Osprey Electric offers you Generator Services
Backup Power wherever you need it.
If you have been in a power outage, you know how frustrating it can be. Between losing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars’ worth of food from your fridge or freezer, or not being able to flush the toilet, we understand. With changes in the environment and growing communities, power outages are becoming more and more frequent. We are your generator experts and we are here to help!
Why choose Osprey Electric for your Generator installation needs?
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Our generator installations are specifically designed to meet our customer’s individual needs and can fit almost every budget.
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All of our installations are done by professional ticketed electricians and gas fitters. We have all necessary electrical and gas permits.
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Every generator installation comes complete with a 1-year parts and labor warranty, 1-year maintenance agreement, and a 5-year minimum manufacturer’s warranty.
Beat the Blackout
Always On.
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System Options
Our Generator Division field crews are hard at work
Our partners for installing
generators on Vancouver Island
3 different generator types we want to explain to you
1. Portable Generator : Manual Transfer
This type of system includes a manual generator essential loads panel which tends to be installed right next to your main electrical panel. We then install a “generator inlet” on the exterior of the home and provide the customer a cord to connect the generator inlet to the customers portable generator.
Pros – Cost Effective, covers the essentials
Cons – Must keep good gas on hand, manual so work is required to get the system up and running, 12KW max capacity, customer supplied generator, present danger of carbon monoxide poisoning if generator is not correctly placed.
2. Automatic Standby Generator : Standby Essential Loads
This type of system is fully automated, in the event of a power outage, the generator detects the outage, starts the generator and powers your essential loads until the utility power returns (excluding electric heating loads). Essential loads are determined prior to installation but tend to be fridge, freezer, septic, well, water filtration, lighting, internet, kitchen receptacles, sump pumps etc.
Pros – Cost-effective, can detect essential loads, includes 5 year warranty, propane, natural gas or diesel options available, set it and forget it, can be monitored.
Cons – Smaller systems cannot back up heating loads, loads restricted to generator output and dependent on location of electrical feeds.
3. Automatic Stanby Generator : Whole Home
This type of system is also fully automated, but powers the entirety of your home. Again, these generators are powered using propane, natural gas or diesel. These systems are ideal if heating loads are an essential and load shedding options are available to ensure your generator is never overrun no matter what you are backing up!
Pros – Automated, whole home is backed up, 5 year warranty, fueled using propane/natural gas/ or diesel options available, set it and forget it, can be monitored.
Cons – Installation costs due to BC Hydro disconnect/reconnect fees can be higher.
We are the largest residential generator installer on Vancouver Island
Maintenance
Osprey recommends your automatic standby generator be maintained at least once per year to ensure the longevity of the generator and to ensure that the generator is in tip top shape when you need it most! Our annual agreement includes one scheduled maintenance callout in which we change the oil, spark plugs and filters. We perform both visual and physical inspections of all systems, test the generator with and without loads, and record the data. In addition to the maintenance callout, Osprey’s Maintenance Agreement includes one free emergency callout. This means in the event of an emergency, we will attend the site free of charge to identify any issues you may be having during the agreement period. Once you are part of our agreement program, we will contact and invoice you once per year for that “set it and forget it” peace of mind and convenience.
If you are looking for complete peace of mind in knowing your generator is always 100% in working order, try Generac’s Mobilelink software. This can notify you and our team if the generator is ever in need of maintenance or troubleshooting.
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Automatic Standby Generator?This is a permanently installed generator mounted to a concrete pad and hardwired into your electrical system fed by a hard piped gas line.
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Automatic Transfer Switch?This is the part that controls what is powering your home, utility or the generator. Normally installed inside next to your main panel, or close to the generator.
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Load Shedding?Load shedding is a method of maximizing the loads backed up by generators undersized to the system by giving the generator the ability to drop certain larger loads in the event that they are overloaded. For example if we had a house with a peak demand of 20KW, we might be able to utilize a smaller 14KW or 18KW by utilizing load shedding on the heat pump and hot water tank. This helps keeps fuel consumption and costs down without compromising functionality!
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What types of fuel can you use?Typically home standby generators are propane or natural gas, but diesel options are also available.
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What can an automatic standby generator power?Smaller installations may be for only the bare essentials (fridge, freezer, water pump, etc.) larger installations may be the entirety of your home including heat, hot water, cooking appliances etc.
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How long will an automatic standby generator last?On average, with the appropriate servicing and maintenance, these generators can last up to 3,000 hours of use but we have also seen much more!
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How long will an automatic standby generator run during a power outage?This depends on your fuel source. Run on natural gas it will run indefinitely. Run on propane it really depends on your loads and the propane tank size. The most common tank is an 80G and most generators consume 2G/hr at 50% so roughly 40 hours. That being said your can always parallel these tanks for a longer runtime.
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Where can I put the generator?Automatic standby generators require 5’ separation from all windows, doors, vents of any kind as well as 10’ from fuel sources and heat pumps. Otherwise they need 18” separation behind from any combustible surfaces and 3’ on either end for intake and exhaust.
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How do I know what size generator I need?This is a free service we offer, but essentially to calculate the generators size we need to identify all the loads the generator will be backing up. Once we have this list we can determine each items power demand in watts and calculate our minimum generator size (eg. well pump 1800 watts, fridge 1000W, freezer 800W, therefore we would require 3600W or a 3.6KW generator minimum)
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How loud are they?61-67dB – I know, “what does that mean?” Well to put it in perspective, 60-70dB is normal conversation. A vacuum cleaner is 70-75dB. The noise inside a car at 100 km/hr is 70dB.
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Sounds great, but how much does it cost?!"Supply and installation can be anywhere from $7500 - $22,000 depending on model, design, existing site conditions, fuel source, and electrical systems. If this is outside of your budget, you may try a more cost effective portable generator with a manual transfer switch.
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