An extended power outage can be quite the hassle — melting food in the freezer, no lights for hours, no air conditioning and no TV — but a backup generator can help maintain all those comforts. Ambrose Electric can help give homeowners that peace of mind.
Ambrose Electric is a fully licensed electrical contractor that does residential and commercial work. The 15 employees are certified and insured to work in New York state.
When Bob Desormeau heard that former owner Peter Will was putting Ambrose Electric in Latham up for sale in July 2013, he jumped at the chance to buy it. Ambrose Electric had been in business since 1980, and Desormeau knew of the company’s impeccable reputation.
“I grew up in Loudonville so I was very familiar with Ambrose and had used them in the past and knew they had a great reputation,” said Desormeau.
That reputation is one of the reasons Ambrose Electric is an authorized Generac generator dealer.
Generac standby generators come in different sizes and can be used commercially or residentially. The electricians at Ambrose are all factory-trained technicians that are qualified to do warranty work, which is not something all electricians are capable of.
“Not everybody that sells generators does that. You can be somebody that just sells generators and you don’t install them. We do everything: We sell them, we install them and we service them, so that makes us unique because most retailers just sell them,” said Desormeau.
The generator sits outside of your home, similar to a central-air unit, and is connected to a transfer switch that is connected to your circuit breaker. When the power goes out, the transfer switch detects the loss of power and turns the generator on automatically. The generators run on natural gas or liquid propane, and when the power returns, the transfer switch shuts the generator off.
The generator offers homeowners a piece of mind, knowing that if they are away, their home will be safe in the event of a power outage. The smaller generators, which have 10 circuits, will power all the essential needs of a home.
“It’s to make sure the essentials are running,” said Desormeau.
Generators cost about $5,000 to $6,000 on average to purchase and install, but one of the most important financial benefits is that repairing damages from losing power to a sump pump or furnace will usually cost more than the purchase of the generator.
When Ambrose isn’t installing generators, the company’s technicians are doing everything from replacing light fixtures in a home to rewiring panels to installing energy-efficient parking lot lights and saving a car dealership $15,000 a year in energy costs. In an effort to give back to the community, the company has also donated time and electricians to help install generators at the Ronald McDonald house.
More information can be found at ambroselec.com.