Light Industrial Generator Solutions

Three-phase standby power for facilities that cannot afford to stop

Standby power for facilities, not just houses

Most of what we install goes beside a family home. But a growing share of our work is light industrial: the standby systems that keep a production line, a cold store, a pump house or a communications site running when the utility drops.

Kohler has recently approved American Generator Solutions as a light industrial dealer. That approval is not automatic - it follows the residential track record, and it is what lets us specify, install and service the larger end of the Kohler line rather than stopping at home standby units.

Where the requirements differ from a house

A home standby generator has one job: carry the house until the power comes back. A light industrial system usually has a harder brief.

Three-phase power

Most commercial and industrial services are three-phase, which changes the generator, the transfer switch and the whole approach to sizing. It is not a bigger version of the residential job.

Motor starting loads

Compressors, pumps and large HVAC draw far more current starting than running. Size the set on running load alone and it will stall the first time a big motor kicks in. Sizing has to account for the starting profile and the order things come back on.

What must never go down

On most sites, some loads are critical and the rest can wait. Refrigeration, process control, safety systems and data usually cannot lose power; comfort lighting and office HVAC often can. Splitting those deliberately can mean a smaller, cheaper set that still protects what matters.

Run time and fuel

A house needs a few hours. A facility may need to run for days, which puts the fuel supply - line pressure for natural gas, tank sizing for propane or diesel - into the design rather than treating it as an afterthought.

The kinds of sites we work with

Gemmer Electric has done commercial and industrial electrical work since 2005, in production and manufacturing plants and warehouses. That side of the business is where the light industrial generator work comes from - we already understand three-phase distribution, motor circuits and the constraints of working inside a facility that cannot simply shut down for a day.

We work with Indiana University's light industrial program, and communications infrastructure such as cell sites is an area we are actively pursuing.

How a light industrial project runs

• Site visit and load study. We walk the facility, review your single-line diagram and service, and identify which loads are critical, which are deferrable, and what the starting profile looks like.
• Specification. Generator sizing, transfer switch selection, fuel supply and placement, worked against your real loads rather than a nameplate estimate.
• Quote and lead time. A written quote with the equipment lead time stated honestly. Larger sets are ordered rather than stocked, and we will tell you what that means for your schedule.
• Installation. Pad or base, fuel connection, primary electrical work and transfer switch, scheduled around your operations. We are electricians first, so the switchgear side is our own work rather than a subcontract.
• Commissioning. Tested under load, not just started. Your team gets walked through operation, the exercise schedule and what the fault indications mean.
• Ongoing service. Scheduled maintenance on a contract, because a standby set nobody exercises is a set nobody can rely on.

Kohler and Briggs & Stratton only

The same rule applies here as everywhere else on this site: we install and service Kohler, where we are a Platinum Dealer and now a light industrial dealer, and Briggs & Stratton. We do not service Generac equipment, and we will say so at the first conversation rather than take work we are not the right people for.

Talk to us about your facility

Light industrial projects start with a conversation about what your site actually does and what it cannot afford to lose. Call (574) 252-0660 or get in touch and we will arrange a site visit.

We cover northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, roughly ninety minutes from our shop in Mishawaka: St. Joseph, Marshall, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Starke and Fulton counties, plus New Buffalo, Stevensville, Cassopolis, Edwardsburg and Three Rivers.