Standby generator installation in Fort Washington, PA

Why people here buy one

Outages in this area are not frequent, but they are long when they come. A one-hour thunderstorm on 20 June 2025 knocked out power to about 327,000 customers, and roughly 21,300 in Montgomery County were still dark that evening. The utility beat its benchmark for how often customers lose power and missed the one for how fast it restores them. Before that, an EF-2 tornado with peak winds estimated at 130 mph touched down here on 1 September 2021 and tracked about eight miles north-east through Upper Dublin and Maple Glen to Horsham, taking roofs off houses along the way.

That pattern — rare but multi-day — is the case for a permanently installed unit rather than something you wheel out of the garage.

Where the generator can go

This is the first thing to settle, because it drives the price more than the generator itself.

Upper Dublin's zoning code says accessory buildings, structures and uses may be erected or conducted in a side or rear yard, but not a front yard. They must sit no closer than 10 feet from the principal building, and no closer to any side or rear property line than the greater of 10 feet or any other setback that applies. In the B, C and NH Residential Districts, accessory buildings or structures may be set back as close as four feet to a side or rear line if they are of fire-resistant construction. They also may not encroach on any easement, right-of-way or sight distance triangle. Ask the zoning office in writing whether they treat a generator and its pad as an accessory structure at your address before you promise a spot to anyone.

Two practical consequences on a typical Fort Washington lot:

• A front-of-house location is off the table under those rules, even if that is where the gas meter happens to be.

• The pad is hard surface. The code counts the horizontal area of accessory buildings and structures as building coverage and impervious surface, so on a lot already close to its coverage limit, a pad is not a free addition.

Walk the side yard with a tape measure. Ten feet off the wall and ten feet off the property line eliminates a lot of narrow side yards immediately, which pushes the unit to the rear and lengthens both the gas line and the electrical run.

Gas supply

Natural gas is the usual fuel here when the street has it. Adding or converting gas service is a request to the gas utility, which takes an application to have natural gas installed at your location and asks for equipment information as part of it — that equipment information is where generator load gets declared.

What moves the number:

• Distance from the meter to the generator, and whether the run crosses a driveway or patio.

• Pipe size. A generator is a large intermittent load added on top of the furnace, water heater, range and dryer. If the existing line and meter cannot carry everything at once, something has to be upsized, and that can mean utility work at the meter rather than just contractor work in your yard.

• Propane instead. If gas does not reach your street, propane is the fallback, and then tank size, tank placement and whether you own or lease the tank all change what the install and the running costs look like.

Ask any contractor to show you the gas load calculation, not just the sentence "your line is fine."

The electrical side, and what the utility is involved in

A standby generator is wired through a transfer switch that isolates the house from the incoming service before the generator picks up load. The install therefore touches your service equipment, and that is where older panels become the hidden cost.

Pennsylvania moved to the 2021 International Code family and the 2020 National Electrical Code on 1 January 2026. Among the residential changes, a surge-protective device is now required at the service panel, including when existing service equipment is replaced. If your panel is being swapped as part of the generator job, budget for that device as part of the work.

Two questions worth asking in the quote stage, because the answers differ by property and we are not going to guess at yours:

• Does anything in this job require work at the electric meter or on the service drop, and who schedules that with the utility?

• Is the panel being replaced, sub-fed, or left alone — and if replaced, what else in the house gets pulled up to current code?

Get the answers in writing on the proposal. A quote that is silent about the panel is a quote that can grow.

Permits and inspections in Upper Dublin

Building plans and permit applications must be submitted and permits issued by Upper Dublin Township before any work starts. The township has fully transitioned to online permitting — paper copies of building and other permit applications are no longer available and all applications must be submitted online. The portal lets you apply, pay, request inspections and track the application.

For a generator you are typically looking at more than one application. The township's online list includes an Electrical Permit and a Mechanical & Fuel Gas Permit, plus a Zoning Review Pre-Permit Submittal Form that is required any time you are adding a structure onto the property.

Contractors have to register with the township first: that registration must be completed by all contractors prior to submitting any permit applications, and a project being completed by a contractor cannot get a permit without it.

Building permits here come from your municipality, not the county. Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code sets the floor, but over 90% of the state's 2,562 municipalities administer and enforce it themselves, so fees, forms and inspection scheduling differ from township to township. Do not assume a price or a timeline quoted for a job in another township transfers to this one.

Noise, and the neighbor 15 feet away

Upper Dublin's nuisance chapter specifically covers operating mechanical equipment or apparatus located on premises appurtenant to buildings so as to make or produce excessive noise causing annoyance, inconvenience or detriment to any other person. Sounds from the ordinary and accepted use of emergency apparatus and equipment are exempt, which is the outage itself — it is the weekly self-test, running on a clear Tuesday when nothing is wrong, that neighbors notice.

The code also lets the owner or operator of a stationary noise source apply for a variance. You would rather not need one. Set the exercise cycle for a weekday daytime hour, keep the unit off a shared property line where you have the room, and if you are within a few feet of a neighbor's bedroom window, say so when you get quotes.

Low ground and flooding

Upper Dublin's zoning ordinance includes a Floodplain Conservation District, added 2-9-2016 by Ord. No. 16-1313, as an overlay district. A generator is expensive equipment that sits on the ground and has to work on the worst day of the year, so before you pick a spot, check whether your intended location falls in that overlay and ask the township what elevation requirements apply to equipment there. If your yard holds water after a heavy storm, tell the contractor and ask about raising the pad.

Townhomes, twins and condos

Montgomery County has noticeably more attached and multifamily housing than its neighbors — only 53.7% of homes are detached single-family, and around 30% are in buildings of ten units or more. That changes both what is physically possible and who else has to agree to it. On an attached home the side yard may be inches, the meter may serve more than one unit, and an association may control the exterior. Sort out written permission before you pay a deposit.

Choosing who does the work

Nobody on this site is screened, rated or endorsed. You are being introduced to independent local contractors, and the checking is yours to do.

Pennsylvania requires home improvement contractors doing more than a set amount of work each year to register with the Attorney General. Registration numbers begin with "PA" and are searchable on a public register, so you can look one up yourself in a minute. Contracts above the threshold in that law must give you three days to cancel.

What you can check yourself before you call anyone

• Measure the side and rear yard: distance from the wall, distance to the property line, and where the gas meter and electrical panel sit.

• Photograph the inside of your panel door and note the main breaker size.

• Look for easements on your deed or survey, and for anything buried where you want the pad.

• Note what has to keep running: well pump, second AC compressor, sump pump, medical equipment.

• Decide whether you want whole-house or essentials only. That single choice moves the quote more than any other.