What Size Generator Does a Restaurant Need in Florida?

Ask three generator dealers what size your restaurant needs and you might get three numbers before anyone has opened your panel. Our answer is different. The right size depends on one decision: what has to keep running when the power goes out. A cafe that only needs to protect refrigeration and keep the lights on is a much smaller job than a full-service kitchen that plans to keep cooking through an outage. Once you make that call, a load calculation turns it into a number. Here is how we walk restaurant owners through it, and what to watch for before you sign a contract.

Start with what has to stay on

Backing up the entire building is one option, but it is rarely the cheapest one, and plenty of restaurants do fine with less. We ask owners to sort their equipment into three buckets:

• Cannot lose it. Walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-ins, and anything holding inventory. A multi-day outage after a hurricane can cost a restaurant its entire stock, and that loss usually dwarfs the price difference between generator sizes.
• Need it to operate. If the plan is to stay open, that means part of the cook line, the hood and exhaust fans that code requires to run with the cooking equipment, POS and payment systems, and enough lighting for the dining room and kitchen to be safe and legal.
• Can wait. Decorative lighting, some HVAC zones, signage. Shedding these loads shrinks the generator considerably.

A generator sized to protect product looks nothing like one sized to keep serving dinner. Neither answer is wrong. The mistake is buying a unit without deciding which restaurant you want to be during an outage.

Single-phase or three-phase changes the whole conversation

Most standalone restaurants in older buildings run on single-phase service, while larger buildings and newer plazas often have three-phase. This matters because the generator has to match the building's service, and three-phase commercial units are a different class of equipment with different transfer switch requirements. It is one of the biggest cost drivers on any quote, along with service size, fuel type, utility coordination, and whether the install needs after-hours work to avoid closing your kitchen.

Fuel is the other early fork in the road. Where natural gas is available, a standby unit can run indefinitely without refueling, which is a real advantage in the week after a storm when propane and diesel deliveries get scarce. Where gas lines do not reach, propane with adequate tank capacity is the usual answer. We see both across our service areas, from downtown Delray Beach and the Glades Road corridor in Boca Raton to restaurants in Melbourne and Cocoa on the Space Coast.

What a real sizing visit looks like

Be wary of any contractor who quotes a generator size over the phone. A proper visit includes:

• Reading nameplate data off your actual equipment, not guessing from a menu.
• A load calculation that accounts for motor startup loads. Compressors on walk-ins and RTUs draw far more at startup than while running, and undersizing for that is how generators stall under load.
• A look at your electrical service, panel condition, and where the transfer switch will land.
• A plan for placement that satisfies clearance rules, flood elevation where required, and your landlord or plaza owner if you lease.

The paperwork matters as much as the hardware. In Palm Beach County and Brevard alike, a commercial generator install needs an electrical permit, inspection, and usually mechanical and gas permits too. A legitimate quote spells out who pulls the permits, who coordinates with the utility and the gas company, and how much downtime to expect. For most installs, the only planned shutdown is the transfer switch tie-in, and we schedule that around your operating hours so a lunch service does not pay for it.

Questions to ask before you sign

• What exactly is on the backed-up load list, in writing?
• Is the transfer switch automatic, and is it rated for my service?
• Who handles permits, inspections, and utility coordination?
• What does the maintenance plan look like after install? A commercial generator that is not exercised and serviced is a machine you find out about during the storm, which is the worst possible time.
• Are you licensed and insured for commercial electrical work in Florida?

That last one is not a formality. Generator installs touch your service equipment, your gas line, and your life-safety systems, and this is exactly the kind of project where our restaurant electrical experience earns its keep. As an authorized Generac dealer and licensed Florida electrical contractor (EC 13005020), we handle the whole chain, sizing, permits, install, inspection, and ongoing service.

If you run a restaurant anywhere in Palm Beach County or on the Space Coast and want a real number instead of a guess, we will come out, do the load calculation, and give you a free, no-obligation quote as part of our commercial electrical services. Call (844) 432-2262 and we will get back to you within one business day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a restaurant standby generator run on natural gas?

Yes. Where natural gas service is available, most commercial standby units run on it and can operate indefinitely without refueling. Where it is not, propane with properly sized tank capacity is the standard alternative.

Do I need a permit to install a generator at my restaurant in Florida?

Yes. Commercial generator installations require an electrical permit and inspection through your city or county building department, and typically gas and mechanical permits as well. A licensed contractor should handle all of it as part of the job.

Will my restaurant have to close during installation?

Most of the work happens without interrupting your power. The main planned shutdown is the transfer switch connection, and we schedule that around your operating hours so you can keep serving.