Horry County families know how quickly a summer storm, tropical system, or winter ice event can leave homes without power for hours — or even days. When the lights go out, refrigerators stop, air conditioning fails, medical devices go silent, and daily life grinds to a halt. The Cooper name has served Horry County for 35+ years, and Cooper Electrical Services carries that legacy forward as the trusted local expert for residential standby generators. As the only family owned unlimited license electrical contractor in Myrtle Beach, we deliver expert sales, professional turn-key installation, ongoing service, maintenance, and 24/7 emergency repair — all handled by our own in-house team with no subcontractors.
Why Horry County Homeowners Choose Residential Standby Generators
Coastal living brings beautiful beaches and vibrant communities, but it also means frequent power outages from hurricanes, strong winds, fallen trees, and summer thunderstorms. A properly installed residential standby generator activates automatically within seconds, keeping your essential systems running safely and quietly.
With a whole-home or critical-circuit system, you maintain:
- Refrigeration for food and medications
- Air conditioning and heating for comfort and safety
- Lights, security systems, Wi-Fi, and home offices
- Medical equipment such as CPAP machines, oxygen concentrators, or refrigerated medicines
- Sump pumps and well pumps in flood-prone or rural areas
Unlike noisy, manual portable generators that require constant refueling and pose carbon monoxide risks, standby generators run on cleaner propane or natural gas, operate automatically, and deliver far more power with lower long-term costs.
Our Residential Generator Services
We provide a complete, one-stop solution tailored to homes throughout Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Conway, Little River, Loris, Carolina Forest, Pawleys Island, Surfside Beach, Socastee, and all of Horry County.
- Residential Generator Sales & Consultation We assess your home’s square footage, appliance loads, lifestyle needs, and budget to recommend the right size and features. Popular options include quiet, efficient models from Generac and Kohler.
- Professional Residential Generator Installation Our licensed in-house electricians manage every step: accurate load calculations, permitting, concrete pad preparation, electrical integration with your panel, automatic transfer switch installation, and full system testing. Code-compliant, turn-key installations you can trust.
- Residential Generator Service & Maintenance Preventive maintenance plans keep your system reliable year-round. We perform scheduled inspections, oil changes, filter replacements, battery testing, and load checks to extend equipment life and maintain warranty coverage.
- 24/7 Emergency Generator Repair When storms hit and power fails, our local technicians respond quickly. We service all makes and models with genuine parts and factory-trained expertise.
Fuel Types for Residential Standby Generators
Natural Gas Often connected directly to your utility line for unlimited runtime and clean, quiet operation — ideal for homes with existing gas service.
Propane Excellent for properties without natural gas access. Propane stores safely on-site in above- or below-ground tanks and performs reliably in coastal conditions.
Diesel (less common for homes) Offers high power output and long runtimes for larger estates or properties with heavy loads.
Benefits of Partnering with Cooper Electrical Services
- Unlimited Electrical License — Myrtle Beach's only family owned unlimited-license electrical contractor specializing in standby generators.
- Single Team Responsibility — Work with the same experienced professionals from initial consultation through installation, service, and any future repairs.
- Local Expertise — Over 35 years understanding Grand Strand weather patterns, coastal building codes, salt air challenges, and Horry County permitting processes.
- Remote Monitoring — Check your generator’s status, receive alerts, and monitor performance 24/7 from your phone.
- Financing Options — Flexible promotional financing to make quality standby power more affordable.
- All Makes & Models — We service and repair Generac, Cummins, Kohler, and other major brands.
Serving All Horry County Communities
From oceanfront homes in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach to inland neighborhoods in Conway and Loris, master-planned communities in Carolina Forest, and coastal properties in Pawleys Island and Surfside Beach — we proudly protect families across the entire Grand Strand and Horry County.
Protect Your Home and Family Before the Next Outage
Don’t leave your family’s comfort and safety to chance during the next storm. Cooper Electrical Services delivers dependable residential standby generator solutions backed by decades of local experience.
Certified Technicians
Emergency Service
Common Questions About Residential Standby Generators
Most residential installations take four to eight weeks from first assessment to startup. That timeline covers the site assessment, permitting through your local jurisdiction, coordinating the fuel connection, and scheduling the installation itself. Demand rises sharply once hurricane season begins on June 1, which extends the timeline further. If you want a system running before the peak of the season, starting in late winter or early spring gives you the most room.
It depends on what you want to keep running. A whole-home system powers everything on your panel. A critical circuit system covers the loads you designate — typically HVAC, refrigeration, well pump, and select outlets and lighting. Homes with multiple HVAC units, a pool pump, or a well generally need more capacity than the square footage alone suggests. We size the system during the assessment by measuring your actual load rather than estimating from home size.
Yes, when the system is sized for it. Central air draws a large surge at startup, which is the load that most often determines generator size. Kohler PowerBoost™ technology handles those starting surges without requiring a larger unit, which can keep the system size — and the cost — down on homes with heavy motor loads like AC and well pumps.
Natural gas runs off your utility line, so there's no tank to monitor and no refueling. Propane requires a tank but works anywhere, including areas of Horry County without natural gas service. Both burn clean and both start automatically. The right answer usually comes down to what's already available at your property, which we confirm during the assessment.
The transfer switch detects the outage and starts the generator automatically, usually within seconds. You don't need to be home, and nothing needs to be switched on manually. When utility power returns, the system transfers back and shuts the generator down on its own.
Twice a year for most residential systems. Our semi-annual service agreement is $495 per year and includes remote monitoring on applicable systems, so problems surface before you need the generator rather than during an outage. One-time service visits are $299.
It's a permanent addition tied into your electrical panel and fuel supply, and it transfers with the property. In coastal markets where extended outages are a known factor, buyers tend to recognize the value. We can't speak to what any individual home will appraise for, but the system stays with the house. We covered this in more detail in what a home generator is worth at resale.
Yes, and we handle it. Standby generator installation requires electrical and often mechanical permits through your local jurisdiction, plus inspection. Permitting is part of the installation timeline and part of what we manage on your behalf — it's one of the reasons an unlimited electrical license matters on a job like this.
