Generator Changeover for Hinterland Homes: What It Costs and What Actually Stays On
Category: Power · By Alex, Ultralec
Every storm season the same thing happens. A line comes down somewhere between Cooroy and Kin Kin, Energex works the big feeders first, and the acreage properties at the end of the line wait. Twelve hours, twenty-four, sometimes longer. The fridge warms up, the rainwater pump stops, and if you're on a heat-pump hot water system, so does the hot water.
A generator sorts most of that out. But the way it's connected to your house matters more than the generator itself, and it's the part people get wrong.
The Extension Lead Through the Window Is Not a Plan
You can run a lead from a portable generator to your fridge. Nobody's going to stop you. What you cannot do, legally or safely, is plug a generator into a power point to "backfeed" the house. That lead has a live male plug on both ends, it energises your house wiring, and it can push power back out through the meter onto the Energex network. Linesmen have been killed by exactly that. It's illegal in Queensland and it voids your insurance.
The proper way is a changeover switch, and it's not expensive.
What a Generator Changeover Actually Is
Three parts:
- A 32-amp inlet mounted outside, near the switchboard or wherever you'll park the generator. The generator plugs into this, not into a power point.
- A manual changeover switch at the switchboard. It has three positions: mains, off, generator. It is physically impossible to have both mains and generator connected at the same time, which is the whole point.
- A heavy-duty lead from the generator to the inlet. We supply a 15-metre lead as standard so the generator can sit well away from the house and the exhaust.
When the power goes out, you wheel the generator out, plug the lead in, start it, and flick the switch to generator. When Energex restores supply, you flick it back. That's it.
The Bit Nobody Tells You About Portable Generators
A portable generator straight out of the box is set up to run tools on a job site. Its neutral and earth aren't tied together the way your house's are. If you connect it to your house as-is, your safety switches may not work properly on generator power.
Part of every changeover install we do is going into the generator and modifying it (the MEN link) so it works correctly with your house's earthing system and your safety switches keep protecting you. If a quote doesn't mention this, ask why.
What Stays On, and What Doesn't
A changeover switch can be wired to back up the whole house or just a group of essential circuits. For most hinterland homes on a mid-sized portable generator, the sensible split is:
On the generator: lights, power points (fridge, freezer, modem, phone chargers), rainwater or bore pump, gate motor, and usually the hot water if it's a heat pump.
Left on mains only: the electric oven, the spa or pool pump, big ducted air con, and anything else that would flatten the generator the moment it started. Those come back when the grid does.
We work this out with you at the quote. The generator size decides it as much as anything.
How Big a Generator Do You Need?
This is the question we get most, and the honest answer is "smaller than you think, if you're sensible about what's on it." A 5–8kVA unit covers the essential circuits on most hinterland homes. A few things to weigh up:
- Pumps start hard. A pressure pump might draw 700 watts running but two or three times that for a second on start-up. Size for the start, not the run.
- Rated vs peak. Generators are advertised at their peak output. Run them at roughly 75–80% of that continuously.
- Inverter generators produce clean power that's kind to modems, TVs and anything with a circuit board. They're quieter too, which your neighbours will appreciate at 2am.
- Fuel. Petrol keeps for a few months at best. If you're buying a generator for storm season, rotate the fuel or use a stabiliser.
What It Costs
For a single-phase home with a reasonably modern switchboard, a full generator changeover from Ultralec is typically around $1,200 including GST. That covers the 32A inlet, the manual changeover switch, the plug and a 15-metre lead, the generator modification, testing, and your Certificate of Testing and Compliance.
The generator itself is not included. You buy it, we make it work with your house.
Things that push the price up:
- An old switchboard with ceramic fuses or no spare space. Often the changeover is the moment to upgrade the board anyway.
- Three-phase supply.
- Splitting the board into essential and non-essential circuits when they're currently mixed.
- A long run from where the generator lives to the switchboard.
We'll tell you which of these applies before you commit to anything.
Generator or Battery?
Fair question in 2026. A home battery with backup will pick up the essentials the instant the grid drops, silently, with no fuel and no wheeling anything out of the shed. The federal battery discount is still applied at the point of sale and steps down on 1 January 2027.
The trade-off is cost and duration. A battery is a bigger upfront spend and it runs out. A generator is a smaller spend and runs as long as you have fuel. Plenty of hinterland properties end up with both: the battery covers the short outages and the overnight, the generator covers day three of a cyclone clean-up.
If you're weighing it up, we install both and we'll give you a straight answer on which suits your place. See Battery Storage & Rebate.
Book It Before the First Storm
Every year we get the calls the day after the power's gone out. By then we're flat out reconnecting people. If you want a changeover in before summer, September and October are the months to book. We cover Pomona, Cooroy, Cooran, Kin Kin, Boreen Point, Verrierdale, Eumundi and out to Gympie.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I install a changeover switch myself?
No. It's fixed wiring at the switchboard and must be done by a licensed electrician in Queensland. You'll receive a Certificate of Testing and Compliance on completion.
Will my safety switches still work on generator power?
Yes, provided the generator has been modified to suit your house's earthing (the MEN link work described above). We do this as part of every install.
Can the changeover be automatic?
Yes, and we install them, but an automatic transfer switch is built for a permanently installed standby generator with electric start, and the whole setup is in a different price bracket. For a portable generator, manual is the right choice.
Do I need a switchboard upgrade to get a changeover?
Not always. If your board is modern with spare space, no. If it's an older board, we'll tell you at the quote and you can decide whether to do both at once.