Guide · Wilmington and Cape Fear
Standby or portable: picking a generator for hurricane season
When a storm takes out power along the Cape Fear coast, it can stay out for days. Here's how to choose between a portable generator and a whole-home standby unit, and the one safety step you can't skip.
By PJ Hofer, licensed electrician (NC U.35874) · October 25, 2026
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30. Along the Cape Fear coast, a single storm can knock out power for days. A generator turns that from an emergency into an inconvenience.
There are two main ways to do it.
Portable generators
A portable generator runs on gasoline (some on propane too) and gets rolled out when the power goes down.
- Lower cost to buy.
- You run it. You set it up outside, fuel it, start it and keep it running, often in bad weather.
- Powers what you choose. Usually the essentials: refrigerator, freezer, some lights, a well pump, fans, internet.
Standby generators
A standby generator is installed permanently outside your home, like an AC unit. It runs on natural gas or propane.
- Starts on its own. When the power drops, an automatic transfer switch starts the generator and moves your home onto it, usually within seconds. You don't have to be home.
- Can run the whole house, including central air, depending on its size.
- Higher cost, and it needs a permit, a pad and fuel hookup.
The safety step you can't skip
If you want a generator to power your home's circuits, it has to connect through a transfer switch or a panel interlock.
Never plug a generator into a wall outlet to backfeed the house. That can send power back out onto the utility lines, where it can seriously injure the line workers restoring power, and it can damage your home's wiring and the generator.
A transfer switch or interlock is the legal, safe way to do it, and it's installed by a licensed electrician with a permit.
How to size it
Start with what you can't live without for three or four days.
- Essentials only: refrigerator, freezer, a few lights and outlets, well pump, internet, fans.
- Comfort: add a window AC or part of your central air, the water heater, the range.
- Whole home: everything, including central air.
We size it from a load calculation of your home, so you don't pay for more generator than you need, or end up with one that can't start your AC.
Install before the storm is on the map
Once a storm shows up in the forecast, every electrician and supply house in the region gets busy at once. Schedule your generator, transfer switch and inspection in the spring, before June 1.
Quick answers
Do I need a transfer switch for a portable generator?
If you want to power your home's circuits from a portable generator, yes. A transfer switch or a panel interlock keeps the generator from feeding power back onto the utility lines, which can seriously injure line workers and damage your equipment. Never plug a generator into a wall outlet to power the house.
What size generator do I need for my house?
It depends on what you need running during an outage. Essentials like the refrigerator, a few lights, the well pump and internet need far less than whole-home coverage with central air. An electrician can size it from a load calculation of your home.
When should I install a generator before hurricane season?
Before June 1, when the Atlantic hurricane season starts. Installs, permits and inspections take time, and demand spikes once a storm is in the forecast.
Talk to an electrician, not a call center.
Hofer Electrical is licensed and insured in North Carolina. When you call, you talk to PJ, the owner.