Generator services
Commercial Standby Generators
Backup power for the buildings that lose money, product or trust when the lights go out. Offices, retail, clinics, churches, shops, ranches and agricultural property across our service area.
What we do
An outage at a business costs more than an outage at a house
A home in an outage is uncomfortable. A business in an outage is closed, and the cost keeps running whether the doors open or not. Payroll, spoiled stock, missed appointments, a congregation turned away, a herd without water. The maths on backup power looks different once you put a day of lost trading against it.
Armored Power Systems designs and installs commercial standby systems for small to mid-sized properties across Parker, Palo Pinto and Erath counties. Same licensed electrical contractor, same Master Electrician oversight, same TECL #41587, scaled to a building instead of a house.
We are a local contractor, not a national engineering house, and we would rather be straight about scope than take on a project we should not. Larger and three-phase installations are engineered individually. If your project is beyond what we should be doing, we will tell you early.
Who this is for
The properties we work on
Offices and retail
Point-of-sale, card processing, networking, lighting and climate control. A closed shop is lost revenue, and a store full of customers in the dark is a different kind of problem.
Clinics and medical offices
Refrigerated medication and vaccines, sterilization equipment, records systems and patient safety. These loads are small in kilowatts and enormous in consequence.
Churches
HVAC for a building that fills up on a schedule, plus sound, lighting and kitchen equipment. Many congregations also act as an informal shelter during regional outages, which changes what the design has to carry.
Ranches and agricultural property
Well pumps, stock tanks, irrigation, barn and shop circuits, ventilation, and refrigeration for produce or livestock. The pump is usually the load that sets the size.
Shops and small industrial buildings
Compressors, welders, dust collection, overhead doors and lifts. Motor starting current dominates the calculation, and shop loads are the ones most often left out of it.
Rental and mixed-use property
Common-area lighting, lift stations, well and septic systems, security and gate access. Backup power here is as much about liability as convenience.
What changes
Six ways a commercial project differs from a house
The equipment looks similar. The design work in front of it does not.
Service voltage and phase
Single-phase and three-phase services behave differently and need different equipment. We establish what your service actually is before anything else, because it changes the entire equipment selection.
Demand rather than nameplate
Commercial sizing looks at how the building actually uses power over time, not just the sum of its equipment. Interval demand, operating schedule and the loads that coincide matter more than a nameplate total.
Which loads are genuinely critical
Very few buildings need everything backed up. Deciding what must run, what can wait and what can be shed is the conversation that controls the budget.
Required runtime
Four hours and four days are different projects. Runtime drives the fuel decision, the tank size and sometimes the generator platform.
Code, permitting and the inspector
Commercial work carries more inspection and, depending on occupancy, requirements around egress and emergency lighting. We handle the municipal permitting and the utility coordination as part of the project.
Working around your hours
Transfer switch installation means a planned outage. On a business that is scheduled around your operating hours rather than ours.
Much of the underlying thinking is the same as on a home. Our page on generator sizing explains motor starting current and load management in detail, and automatic transfer switches covers the component that decides which parts of the building come back on.
How it runs
Four steps, scheduled around your operating hours
- 01
Assessment
We walk the property with you. Service voltage and phase, panel and switchgear condition, the equipment inventory, the operating schedule, motor loads, and the fuel available on site or at the meter.
- 02
Design and estimate
A load calculation and a written, line-item estimate covering equipment, electrical work, site prep and permitting. If the project is large or three-phase, it is engineered individually rather than pulled off a shelf.
- 03
Installation and integration
Permitting and utility coordination, pad and site work, transfer switch and switchgear, conduit and conductors, then a live simulated grid-failure test so you see the building transfer under real load before we leave.
- 04
Service afterwards
Scheduled maintenance so the system is still ready in year three. Documented service also keeps manufacturer warranty coverage intact, which matters more on a commercial asset than on a house.
Paying for it
Commercial financing may be available
Commercial financing may be available depending on the project, the property and how the business qualifies. It is subject to lender approval, and it is not automatic, which is why we would rather raise it during the estimate than at signature. Businesses, churches, ranches, offices and commercial property owners have all financed work through the lenders we work with.
We do not quote rates or terms, because those come from the lender and depend on your application. What we can do is give you a firm project number to apply against. See financing options for the lenders involved and how the process runs.
It is also worth looking at whether backup should include storage. Battery storage covers the transition instantly and silently, which matters for point-of-sale, networking and refrigeration, while the generator handles the long tail of an extended outage.
Common questions
Commercial generator questions
Project scope, three-phase service, financing, and what installation does to your trading day.
What size of commercial generator projects do you take on?
We work on small to mid-sized commercial properties: offices, retail units, clinics, churches, shops, ranches and agricultural buildings. We are a local licensed electrical contractor rather than a national engineering firm, and we would rather tell you that up front. Larger and three-phase projects are engineered individually, and if a project is genuinely outside what we should be doing, we will say so.
How is commercial generator sizing different from residential?
Residential sizing works mostly from an equipment inventory and worst-case motor starts. Commercial sizing adds how the building actually behaves: demand over the operating day, which loads coincide, what runtime you need, and which equipment is genuinely critical versus merely inconvenient to lose. Three-phase service and larger motor loads also change the equipment selection.
Do you install three-phase generators?
Three-phase projects are assessed and engineered individually rather than quoted from a standard package. The first step is confirming your service configuration and demand profile, because that decides both feasibility and equipment. Tell us the service details when you make contact and we can give you a straight answer early.
Is commercial financing available?
Commercial financing may be available depending on the project, the property and the qualification of the business. It is subject to lender approval and it is not automatic, so it is worth raising early rather than at signature. Businesses, churches, ranches, offices and commercial property owners have all financed work this way.
How much of my business needs to be on backup power?
Usually less than people first assume, and the answer is worth spending time on because it controls the budget. Refrigeration, safety systems, networking and payment processing are almost always in. Full HVAC across an entire building is the load that most often forces a larger unit, and load management can sometimes cover it without paying for the next size up.
Will installation shut down my business?
There is a planned outage while the transfer switch is landed and the service is worked on. The duration depends on the switchgear and the existing service, and we schedule it around your operating hours. You will know the window before the work starts rather than on the day.
Do you service commercial generators you did not install?
Yes. We service Generac, Kohler/Rehlko, Briggs & Stratton, Cummins, Champion and Honeywell equipment, including units installed by companies that are no longer around. The first visit on an unfamiliar unit is a full diagnostic so both of us know its actual condition.
Related
Keep reading
- Generator SizingLoad calculations, starting current and load management.
- Automatic Transfer SwitchesService-rated switches and essential-circuit configurations.
- Generator MaintenanceScheduled service that keeps a commercial asset ready and documented.
- Home Battery & Energy StorageInstant, silent coverage for loads that cannot wait for a start cycle.
- Financing OptionsThe lenders we work with, for residential and commercial projects.
- Service AreasWhere we work across Parker, Palo Pinto and Erath counties.
Two ways to start
Which one are you?
Need a generator
We start with what has to keep running at your property — the well, the AC, the freezer, the shop — and size the system around it. You get a written proposal with the equipment, the electrical work and the site prep all in one number.
Already own one
Repair, diagnostics and scheduled maintenance for Generac, Kohler and Briggs & Stratton systems — including units another company installed. Tell us the brand and what it is doing and we will bring the right parts.