⚡ Buyer’s Guide
A whole-home standby, a transfer switch for the portable you already own, or just honest numbers to plan with — here’s how to gather quotes, check a license, and hire a good installer on your own terms.
The math from our Power & Generators guide is simple: the install is the expensive part done once, and the protection lasts decades. A whole-home standby typically runs $8,000–$20,000 installed, a transfer switch for a portable a few hundred — and the only way to know your number is a quote from someone who has stood in a yard like yours. If you used our size calculator, have your result handy when you call.
We don’t take quote requests — and that’s on purpose.
BuyItAt50 is an independent guide, not a lead service. We don’t collect your name, email, or phone number, we don’t sell your information, and we don’t hand it to contractors. To find installers near you, search “licensed generator installer” plus your town, or start with your state’s contractor-license lookup and call the ones with active licenses.
Have a general question? Write to us and a real person will answer — no sign-up required.
Questions? Contact Us →No form, no sign-up, and nothing to buy. We are not collecting names, email addresses, or phone numbers on this page.
What This One Buys You
Knowing enough to not be sold.
Walking into a quote with the load list and the size already worked out is what keeps the conversation about your house instead of about the installer's inventory.