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Which generator for a home in Québec

Portable or standby, how much power, which fuel: how to choose without paying for capacity you will never use.

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By the master electricians of STM-ÉlectriqueRBQ licence 5815-0137-01Sources checked on September 11, 2026

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In short

Two families: the portable you take out of the garage, and the standby unit that starts on its own.

You choose the output based on what you want to back up, never on the size of the house.
A portable is never plugged into an outlet in the house. It’s deadly for line workers.
The real electrician’s work is the hookup, not the machine.
A standby generator without a transfer switch doesn’t exist.

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Portable or standby
What to back up
How much power
Propane, natural gas or gasoline
What the installation involves
Frequently asked questions

Portable or standby

In Québec, the question never comes up at the right time. It comes up in January, on the third day without power, when the freezer has given out and it’s 8 degrees in the living room.

Here is how to answer it calmly, in March, when there is time to choose.

They are two different objects, with two different logics.

	Portable	Standby
Where it lives	In the garage, taken out when needed	Outdoors, permanently, on a pad
Starting	You, by hand, outdoors	On its own, a few seconds after the outage
Connection	Through a switch and a power inlet	Wired to the panel through a switch
Fuel	Gasoline, to refill during the outage	Propane or natural gas, continuously
When you’re not there	Nothing happens	It starts anyway

The deciding point, for most people, is the last one. A portable protects you if you’re home, awake, and ready to go out into the storm. A standby unit protects the house, including while you’re at work or travelling.

It isn’t just a question of comfort. A basement without a sump pump during a three-day outage means an insurance claim. A house without heat at −25 means frozen pipes.

What you choose to back up

This is where the choice is really made, and almost nobody starts there.

A residential generator doesn’t power “the house”. It powers the circuits you decided to back up, connected to a panel or a dedicated section of a panel. The longer the list, the bigger the machine has to be, and the price follows.

The order of priority, as we build it with our customers:

What prevents damage: sump pump, heating, furnace controls
What prevents a loss: refrigerator, freezer
What keeps the house liveable: a few lighting circuits, outlets, the well if you have one
Comfort: the rest, and that’s what costs a lot

Many people discover at this stage that they don’t need to back up the whole house. It’s one of the rare conversations that lower a quote.

How much power

Output is calculated from the list above, not from the floor area. Two identical houses can need very different machines depending on whether they heat with electricity or gas, and whether or not there’s a well pump.

Two things to know before comparing figures:

Starting power isn’t running power. A motor (pump, compressor, furnace) draws much more when starting than when running. A generator sized on running power stalls at the moment you need it.
Electric heating changes everything. It’s the heaviest load in a Québec house. Backing up the baseboard heating of a whole house takes a machine of a completely different order than backing up a gas furnace.

That’s why sizing is done on site, from your actual circuits. A figure found online for “a 2,000 square foot house” means nothing.

Propane, natural gas or gasoline

Fuel	Advantage	Limit
Natural gas	Continuous supply, nothing to refill	Only if gas reaches your home
Propane	Can be stored, keeps a long time	You need a supply, and to have it refilled
Gasoline	Simple, for a portable	Degrades, and you have to go out to get it during the outage

Gasoline’s weakness shows up exactly at the wrong time: a regional outage also means gas stations without power to pump.

Ready to ask for prices?

We take a look, we price it, and the price is in writing before anything starts.

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What the installation involves

Whichever family you choose, none of it plugs into an outlet. Connecting a generator to a house’s installation necessarily goes through a transfer switch, which isolates your house from the grid while the generator runs.

Without it, the current produced at your home can flow back to the grid, and electrocute a Hydro-Québec line worker working on a line they think is dead. That’s why this part isn’t optional. We devote a full guide to it.

The rest of the job depends on the family: a standby unit needs a pad, a fuel connection by the appropriate trade, and a location that respects the clearances. A portable needs an outdoor power inlet and a suitable switch.

Frequently asked questions

Is a portable enough?

If you’re home when the outage hits, ready to go out to start it and refuel it, yes, it gets you through. If you want the house protected even when you’re not there, and that’s often the real need, you need a standby unit.

How much power for the bare minimum?

It depends entirely on what you want to back up and on how you heat. A gas-heated house with a sump pump and a refrigerator needs a much more modest machine than an all-electric house. Sizing is done on your actual circuits, not on floor area.

Can I plug it into the dryer outlet?

No. Never. It’s what’s called backfeeding, and it’s deadly: the current can flow back to the grid and electrocute someone working on the line. The connection necessarily goes through a transfer switch installed by an electrician.

Does a standby generator really start on its own?

Yes. The automatic switch detects the loss of grid power, starts the machine and switches over the backed-up circuits, usually within a few seconds. When power returns, it switches back and stops the generator. You have nothing to do, even when away.

Is a permit needed?

Electrical work is declared to the Régie du bâtiment du Québec by the master electrician, and the Régie can inspect it. Depending on the municipality, a permit may also be required. Depending on the municipality and the fuel, other approvals may be added: we check this for your address before starting.

Is it noisy?

A modern standby unit is much quieter than a portable, but it makes noise. It’s a location criterion: we take your bedroom window and your neighbour’s into account, in addition to the required clearances.

What maintenance?

A standby unit runs a periodic automatic test cycle and needs regular maintenance: the manufacturer specifies the frequency in its manual. The key point: a machine that has never been maintained won’t necessarily start the day you need it.

A generator to assess?

We start from what you want to back up, size it on your actual circuits, and tell you frankly whether a portable is enough.

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Sources

The figures and requirements cited in this guide come from the official pages below, consulted on September 11, 2026. Programs change: check the page’s update date before committing to any expense.