Vancouver Island’s grid takes a beating from coastal storms. Power is rarely down for long, but it’s down often enough that anyone who’s worked from home, lost a freezer full of food, or watched a hot water tank go cold has thought about backup power. Here’s how to think about it.
The three options
There are essentially three categories of alternative power for residences:
Standby generators — natural gas, propane, or diesel-fuelled units that automatically take over when grid power fails. Pros: proven reliability, can run indefinitely on fuel. Cons: noisy (though enclosures help), require maintenance, fuel cost during extended outages.
Battery storage — Tesla Powerwall, Generac PWRcell, and similar systems. Pros: silent, no maintenance, no fuel. Cons: limited runtime (hours, not days), expensive per-kWh.
Solar — paired with batteries or grid-tied with net metering. Pros: ongoing energy generation, sustainability story, eventually pays back. Cons: high upfront cost, generation drops in winter when you need power most.
Which fits your house
For most Vancouver Island homes, the practical answer is a standby generator — typically a 20kW–26kW Kohler unit covering the whole house. They start automatically, run on natural gas (or propane in rural areas), and just work when the grid goes out.
For homes with sustainability goals or rates above $0.15/kWh, solar + batteries start to make sense. The combination gives you grid-outage backup and day-to-day energy savings.
For estates and complex properties, the right answer is often all three — solar for daily generation, battery for short outages and rate optimisation, generator for extended winter outages.
What we install
Wenner has been installing backup power systems on Vancouver Island since 1945. Read our generator cost guide for typical pricing, or visit our Solar & Generators page for the full service overview.
The right configuration depends on your property, your loads, and your tolerance for downtime. Discuss your project — we’ll quote on a free site visit.