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In April 2019 my buddy and I bought the Hillsborough and Pinellas County territories (Florida) for a national generator install/monitoring/service franchise. We obtained electrical and gas contractor licenses and got to work.
The typical invoice for a Generac 22kw is $14k on the Tampa side and $15k on the St. Pete Clearwater side of the bay.
80% of our sales are the 22kw. Also, we are the installer for one of the big box stores (we have thirteen of those stores) and it is an absolute nightmare for everyone involved. We stock hundreds of generators on any given day. The big box stocks zero and drop ships them from the manufacturer to the store. LOL. During Covid the customer sometimes waited a 10-11 months to get a 22kw. Buyer beware.
In June, total sales and service was $1.2m. In 2019 we did $0.00 in sales/service. We will probably do $8m this year.
Gotchas:
1. city / county permitting. We have two full time clerks to shepherd permits. Pasco Polk is 2 hours. Hillsborough is two to four weeks. Pinellas County can be months. If there is a FEMA flood Area involved, the complexity multiplies.
2. demand the serial number of the generator that you purchase. Even better, go see it for yourself to make sure that they physically have it in their possession. Salesmen lie.
3. You mentioned LP. 500 gallon tanks are expensive. (we stock them). Nail down terms for fills , frequency and cost. Propane companies don't like to fill tanks that they don't own (lease to customers). Probably 80% of our installs in Pinellas County are underground tank installations. Customers constantly complain about price/availability and refills during severe weather events. Keep in mind that if you are using the LP for a gas stove, water heater, pool heater, etc, when the bad weather comes, you and everyone else will be calling to get "topped off". They will always refill the leased tank customers first. If you own the tank, they may not get to you.
4. The Generac and Honeywell generators are both Generac units. The Kohler I'm sure is a fine machine but I have no experience with them.
5. Ask about monitoring. We install a cellular device on the generators that we service so that we can monitor them at all times. The WIFI is a joke and obviously won't operate if the grid fails.
6. Get the 10 year warranty (Generac). Once or twice a year, Generac offers it for free. After Covid, Generac did not offer it the next year because demand was insane.
7. Last time I checked, a PWRcell that would run a central air unit all night (while the solar is not charging), was upwards of $35k just for the batteries. If you had a minisplit and only were cooling a small part of your house, my number might not be accurate. We have sold exactly zero of those units. I don't know how Tesla is doing with Powerwall sales, but I imagine the buyers of those units are "cost is no issue" type people.
I hope this helps.
DL
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