When an outage means an oxygen concentrator stops, a refrigerator full of insulin warms up or a workday ends, backup power stops being a convenience. Here is what those loads need, the three ways to keep them running, and how a certified Generac® dealer sizes a system around what matters.
Call (251) 680-7500 Request a Free ConsultationMost of Mobile treats a power outage as an inconvenience: the air conditioner stops, the ice cream softens, the kids complain about the Wi-Fi. For a household with someone on home oxygen, a CPAP, a nebulizer, a feeding pump or home dialysis, or one that keeps insulin or other refrigerated medication, an outage is a medical event with a clock on it. For the growing number of people who work from a home office, it's a lost workday, a missed deadline and a client wondering where you went.
Backup systems for Mobile, AL homes are not one product. Depending on what has to stay on and for how long, the right answer is a small battery unit that bridges a few hours, a portable generator with a proper transfer interlock, or a whole-home standby generator that starts itself and carries the house for days. Professional Systems is a certified Generac® dealer with licensed electricians who have installed backup power across Mobile and Baldwin County for more than 25 years, and we'll tell you which of the three you actually need.
Free in-home consultation. Sized around the loads that can't go dark.
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A steady draw of a few hundred watts, continuously, for as long as the outage lasts. A battery alone buys hours; a generator buys days. The supplier's backup tanks cover the gap between the two.
Small loads, but they run all night and the humidifier adds to it. A compact battery backup handles a night; a standby generator means never thinking about it.
Insulin and many biologics have a limited window at room temperature. A refrigerator on a backed-up circuit is the difference between a scare and a loss.
Scheduled treatments can't wait for the utility. These loads belong on a standby generator with an automatic transfer switch, and the circuit should be labeled.
Charging and adjustment loads that matter for mobility and safety during an extended outage.
For infants, the elderly and anyone with heart or respiratory conditions, keeping the air conditioning running in a Mobile August is itself medical. That is the load that decides generator size.
A home office has three kinds of loads. The ones that can't blink at all: the modem, the router and the computer, which lose work and drop calls in the seconds between the utility going out and a generator starting. The ones that need to run for hours: lighting, monitors, printers, the air conditioner that makes the room usable in summer. And the ones that only matter if the outage runs long: the refrigerator, the water heater, the rest of the house.
The clean solution is layered. A small uninterruptible power supply carries the modem, router and computer through the start-up gap and any brief flicker, a standby generator carries the office and the house for the duration, and whole-home surge protection keeps the grid's return from frying the electronics the outage didn't. If your office shares a circuit with a space heater or the garage freezer, a dedicated circuit is the first upgrade we recommend, outage or no outage.
For people whose remote job is the household income, we treat the office like the medical loads above: on the transfer switch, labeled, and tested under load before we leave.
Free consultation: we list the loads that matter and price the system that fits.
Instant, silent, no fuel. Carries small, critical loads for minutes to hours: a CPAP for a night, a modem and computer through a flicker, an oxygen concentrator until the generator or the tanks take over. It is a bridge, not a solution for a multi-day outage.
The lower-cost route for a few chosen circuits. A licensed electrician installs an inlet and an interlock kit at the panel so the generator feeds the house safely and never back-feeds the grid, which endangers line workers and is illegal. Someone has to be home to start it and keep it fueled.
Starts itself within seconds of an outage, runs on natural gas or propane for as long as the fuel lasts, carries the medical loads, the office and the air conditioning, and shuts itself off when the utility returns. For a household where power is medical, this is the standard.
Sizing starts with a list, not a square-footage chart. We walk the house with you and write down what has to stay on: the concentrator in the bedroom, the refrigerator with the insulin, the office, the well pump, the air conditioner for the person who can't tolerate a 95-degree house. Then we measure what those loads actually draw, at the panel, and size the system to carry them with headroom.
For a standby generator that often means a mid-size unit with load management, which lets a smaller, quieter generator run a larger house by staging the big loads, rather than the largest unit on the truck. The essential circuits are wired to the transfer switch and labeled in the panel so anyone in the house can see what is backed up. For a portable setup, the same list decides which circuits go on the interlock. For a battery, it decides the capacity you buy.
Two standing offers apply to whole-home installations: $500 off the installation and a complimentary home electrical safety inspection with every estimate. Financing with monthly payments is available, and the consultation comes first so you apply for the exact amount. The full cost breakdown is on our generator cost and financing page.
Mobile's outages come three ways: the named storm that takes the grid down for days, the summer thunderstorm that drops a line for an afternoon, and the flicker that lasts two seconds and reboots everything in the office. A standby generator with an automatic transfer switch answers the first two; a small battery answers the third. A household with medical equipment usually needs both, and a plan for the hours in between: backup oxygen tanks on hand, medication moved to the backed-up refrigerator, and a generator that has been maintained so it starts when it's asked to.
Every system we install can include Generac® Mobile Link™ monitoring, which reports the weekly self-test to your phone so a failed exercise cycle is an alert in June instead of a dark bedroom in September. Our generator repair and maintenance page covers the annual service that keeps it ready. We serve Mobile, Saraland, Semmes and Theodore, and the Eastern Shore from Daphne to Fairhope, from our headquarters at 216 E I-65 Service Rd N. For new systems, start with generator installation; for everything else, electrical services.
"They solved my many electrical problems in my 58 yr old home & installed a whole home generator! They even found & fixed a problem that could have easily started a fire in my attic! Excellent work at a fair price."
— Betty M., Google review"Robby and PPS did a superb job installing my standby home generator at a competitive price. Coordination with the utilities companies and the required inspectors was smooth and easy, and the actual installation process, led by Ryan and Chase, was excellent."
— Chris G., Google review"They diagnosed a power issue that other companies weren't able to. The technician was extremely knowledgeable and professional, and explained everything very well. Also, I called them at 8 at night and got a human being on the phone!"
— Laura B., Google reviewThe concentrator itself is a small, steady load. What decides the generator size is whether the air conditioning, the water heater and the kitchen need to run at the same time. We measure the loads at the panel during a free consultation and size the unit with load management so a mid-size generator carries the house without stalling.
For hours, yes: a CPAP for a night, an oxygen concentrator for a few hours, a modem and computer through a flicker. For a multi-day outage after a storm, a battery is a bridge to a generator, not a replacement for one.
It can be, if a licensed electrician installs an inlet and transfer interlock so the generator feeds the house without back-feeding the grid, and if someone is home to start and fuel it. For loads that can't wait on a person, a standby generator with an automatic transfer switch is the safer answer.
Within seconds of the utility dropping. The automatic transfer switch senses the outage, starts the generator and transfers the house. A small battery backup on the modem, computer or concentrator covers those seconds.
We size and install the backup system; the utility programs are between you and your provider. What we can promise is that your backup power doesn't depend on where you fall in the restoration order.
A UPS is an inexpensive purchase. A portable generator inlet and interlock is a modest electrical job. A whole-home standby generator is a four-figure to five-figure installation with financing available, $500 off and a free safety inspection with the estimate. Every option gets an exact price in writing after the consultation.
Something we didn't cover? See our full FAQ page or call (251) 680-7500.
Whole-home standby generators sized, installed and commissioned by a certified Generac® dealer.
Generator InstallationPanels, dedicated circuits, surge protection and repairs from licensed Gulf Coast electricians.
Electrical ServicesEverything we do in Mobile, AL, from AC to panels to backup power.
Mobile, ALA licensed electrician lists the loads that matter, measures them at the panel and gives you one price in writing for the system that fits.
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