Whole-Home vs Essential Circuits in Fort Myers Homes | CoHarbor Electric

Whole-Home vs Essential Circuits in Fort Myers Homes

When we sit down with Fort Myers homeowners to plan out a standby generator, the question almost always comes up: “Should I go with a whole-home setup, or just cover the essentials?”

It’s a fair question — and one that doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer. We’ve installed both types across Lee County: 26kW whole-home systems powering every square inch of a waterfront estate, and compact 14kW units keeping just the fridge, AC, and lights running in a smaller home.

At the end of the day, it’s about comfort, cost, and how you want to ride out a power outage. Some folks want business as usual. Others just want to keep the essentials on and avoid a spoiled fridge or sleepless night.

Here’s how we help homeowners make that choice — broken down the way we’d explain it while standing next to your main panel, sketching the circuits out on a notepad.

Whole-Home Backup: Power Without Limits

A whole-home generator does exactly what it sounds like — it powers everything in the house. Every outlet, every appliance, every light switch. When the grid goes out, the generator takes over automatically, and the transition is so smooth you might not even notice.

We’ve done a lot of these setups for Fort Myers homeowners who just want one thing: no interruptions.

What you get with a whole-home system:

• Automatic coverage. You don’t have to choose which circuits stay on — it’s all of them.

• Peace of mind. Your HVAC, water heater, pool equipment, and even EV charger keep working.

• Future-ready power. As your electrical demand grows (more appliances, an addition, or solar backup), your system can handle it.

Typical setup:

• Generator size: 20–26kW

• Transfer switch: 200 amps (or service-rated switch)

• Fuel: Natural gas or 500+ gallon propane tank

• Cost range: $10,000–$15,000 installed (depending on layout and load)

Whole-home systems are popular in newer neighborhoods like Gateway or Buckingham, where electrical panels are already set up for 200 amps and the wiring’s modern.

The downside? Cost and fuel use. The bigger the generator, the more it burns — around 2 to 3 gallons of propane per hour at half load. But if you want uninterrupted comfort during hurricane season, that’s the tradeoff.

Essential Circuits Backup: The Smart, Targeted Approach

Not everyone wants or needs full-house coverage. Maybe you’ve got a smaller property, or maybe you’re just tired of losing the fridge and Wi-Fi every storm but don’t care about running the oven.

That’s where essential circuits backup comes in.

Instead of powering your whole panel, we install a subpanel that includes only the circuits you care about — your essentials.

Here’s what we usually include in an essential load panel:

• Refrigerator and freezer

• Lighting in main living areas

• Wi-Fi router and outlets for charging devices

• Air conditioning (one zone or small unit)

• Well pump (if applicable)

• Microwave or small kitchen outlet circuit

Typical setup:

• Generator size: 10–16kW

• Transfer switch: 100–150 amps (manual or automatic)

• Fuel: Propane or natural gas

• Cost range: $6,000–$9,000 installed

This setup works great for older Fort Myers homes that still have 100-amp panels or limited space near the meter. It’s also more fuel-efficient, because you’re only running what truly matters.

And here’s the kicker — we can always expand it later. We often pre-wire the conduit or design the load center so you can upgrade to whole-home coverage down the line without redoing everything.

How We Help You Decide

When we walk a property, we always start with one question: “What do you absolutely need working during an outage?”

Some homeowners say “everything.” Others point at the fridge and the thermostat. The answer tells us what kind of system makes sense.

We run a load calculation based on your appliances and HVAC tonnage to make sure the generator can handle your demand. Then we talk through:

• How long you typically lose power during storms.

• Whether your home has natural gas service or needs propane.

• Where the generator can safely be placed and vented.

If your property already has 200-amp service and a natural gas line, a whole-home setup’s a no-brainer. But if you’re on propane with limited tank space, or you’re working with a smaller budget, an essential-load system might be the smarter call.

Real-World Example: Fort Myers Home Near McGregor

We recently worked with a homeowner in the McGregor area who’d just bought a 1970s ranch home. They wanted generator backup but didn’t want a massive system humming all night.

After walking the property, we built an essential circuits plan:

• One AC zone (2.5 tons)

• Fridge and freezer

• Lighting in main rooms

• A few key outlets

• Wi-Fi router and modem

We installed a 16kW Generac, tied into a 250-gallon propane tank, and used a 100-amp automatic transfer switch with a custom subpanel.

When Hurricane Milton hit a few months later, the grid went down for 24 hours. The generator kicked on automatically and ran everything they needed. The homeowner told us, “It was quiet, efficient, and I never worried about fuel.”

That’s what an essential system does best — it gives you just what you need, without overkill.

Real-World Example #2: Whole-Home Setup in Gateway

A few weeks later, we installed a 24kW whole-home system for a family in Gateway. Their house had two AC units, a heated pool, and a full kitchen setup.

They wanted zero downtime, so we installed a 200-amp automatic transfer switch, a 500-gallon buried propane tank, and wired it for seamless whole-house operation.

That unit ran their entire home — lights, TVs, pool pump, even the garage freezer — through two major outages this season without breaking a sweat.

Their words? “It’s like the storm never happened.”

Pros and Cons Summary

Common Mistakes We See

We’ve been called out to fix a few installs gone wrong, and the mistakes are usually the same:

• Generators undersized for the load.

• No load management on whole-home systems.

• Overloaded “essential” panels with too many heavy appliances.

• Improper gas line sizing (causing low fuel pressure).

We take our time up front with design so those issues never happen. When you size it right, the generator runs cleaner, quieter, and lasts longer.

Wrapping It Up

Whether you go all-in with a whole-home generator or stick to essential circuits, the goal’s the same — keeping your Fort Myers home comfortable and safe when the power’s out.

The difference comes down to how much convenience you want and how much power you actually need. Either way, the key is doing it right — properly sized, safely installed, and built to handle Florida’s storms.

👉 Call Coharbor Electric today to schedule your generator consultation. We’ll walk you through your options, size your system correctly, and design a setup that fits your lifestyle and budget — from essential circuits to full-home coverage.

We make backup power simple, safe, and built for Fort Myers weather — the right way, every time.