Vancelectric, LLC

They were excellent. I would give them an A rating. They came on-time, performed the work they said they would do, cleaned up after themselves, and were very respectful of my garden. It was a very good experience.

Actual work was excellent. Problem is with follow through. Took very long time to get copy of receipt and information on generator maintenance program. Called with questions on the program. Left message but they have never called back. Been too busy to call them back again, but do have concern that if I did sign up for their program whether there would be prompt action to get generator working.

Great service! Generator problem fixed. Will definitely use Vancelectric in the future.

Left 3 voice mails before Vance returned my call. Would have been helpful if voice mail indicated he was out of town for the week, but it didn't. Called several times as saw very high ratings and recommendations, so valued his opinion. Also sent him a message. Vance was out of town skiing and he indicated communications was poor/non-existent, so when he got back to me he said he was interested and asked me to send him an email. Sent him an email 5 days ago with specific information re our home and needs and he did not respond or even acknowledge receipt. Time to move on as I would not trust him to be reliable. The courtesy of a follow up response would have been nice.

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I reached the owner, Vance and he offered to come to my home within a half hour, but I opted for an hour. Vance showed up promptly and when I thanked him for being able to come so quickly. He noted that I just happened to call when he had an opening. He analyzed the issue quickly and explained to me along the way what he was doing and why. He showed me how he tested the circuits and what the good readings should be. Since my house is over 30 years old, I addressed how to ensure that the electrical systems are in good shape. He provided me with an estimate for testing, but in no way pushed for another sale. I will hire Vancelectric to do this work in the future, and for any other electric issues that might arise. He was prompt, friendly, efficient and professional. The only drawback was that payment by check was strongly preferred. I typically pay everything by debit card and use my bank's Billpay system for everything else. However, it's a small complaint and would not stop me from using this contractor again, but would prompt me to plan ahead.

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Vancelectric Summary: excellent service, quality and value; generator has worked perfectly!
Details: although perhaps something of a luxury, we?ve thought about a back-up generator every time our power has gone out.  So, once we decided to get a generator we, like everyone else, scoured on-line rating services for the best generator brand and
the best installer in terms of quality and value.  We wanted a generator powered by natural gas (like our furnace) to avoid the need to refill fuel tanks and monitor fuel levels, and we wanted a generator that could fully power our two-story home with
upstairs and downstairs HVAC units to eliminate the need to balance loads during an outage and eliminate worries when we?re away from home during a storm.
After a suitable search, we settled upon the Generac generator brand because of strong reviews and because it appeared to be the most widely used.  In our minds, avoiding more exotic brands helps assure ready availability of parts and service plus speaks of a well-demonstrated track record ? both ways to mitigate risk.  For installation, we are delighted to have found Vancelectric. Vancelectric received terrific reviews that, in our experience, are more than justified.  ?The? Vance did much of the installation.  He and others on his team were completely professional, considerate, efficient and truly hard workers.  The installation took place during February winter conditions and included a trench to the back of our home to hide the gas pipe and electric cables.  The transfer switch was mounted neatly next to the breaker box in our basement.   An important note: proper transfer switch installation is crucial.  A key reason for the switch is to be sure electric utility workers are not injured or killed by generator power that is accidentally ?back fed? to downed power lines.  Use a pro to install the system and get permits so that local inspectors can double check the job.  Lives truly are at stake.
Since completion in February, 2015 we?ve had four (4) multi-hour outages and the system has worked flawlessly each time. There?s a delay of few seconds of after an outage to be sure it?s a true outage and not just flickering lights.  Then the generator automatically starts and gets up to speed which requires a few more seconds, and then power?s back on.  HDTV and WiFi and HiFi and PCs work great on the clean generator power, refrigerators, garage doors and HVAC systems work normally, and our home is comfortable and well lit.  When utility power is restored, power transfers back with no apparent blip, and - happily - our gas bill is not noticeably higher after a several hour generator run.  Another perk: installation required a higher capacity gas meter which, in turn, resulted in the installation of a ?Excess Flow Valve? as required by current code to help ?reduce the consequences of a natural gas leak? ? another safeguard.  The cost for the higher capacity connection and EFV was around $350, well under the $500-$1000 quoted by our gas company?s newsletter for just an EFV.
Vancelectric made the entire process simple and seamless; they can provide routine maintenance services as well.

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They were efficient. I highly recommend them. They were extremely accommodating under the urgent circumstances, as the sump pump needs to be working 24/7 and the electric was not functioning at the time. They really saved the day and the price was extremely fair. I would recommend them to anyone that has a generator because this guy is awesome.

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My wife and I live in a ten year old neighborhood where all our utilities are underground. Unfortunately the transmission feeder lines are above ground and can be affected by severe weather or other calamity. After experiencing a six-day power outage in Northern Virginia after the June 2012 Derecho and another 12 hour outage in May 2014, where in both cases we lost our refrigerator and garage freezer contents, we had had enough. We needed an automatic generator system so that when we were not at home—like the during the May 2014 incident—we would not have to worry about our refrigerator/freezer, sump pump not operating or comfort of our pet. In June 2014 we had a 20KW Generac generator installed by Vancelectric LLC, Annadale, VA. The installation required a week after they started—excluding the time for Washington Gas to increase the meter size (completed within two weeks from request—it was summer).

Vance Cowper’s crew was polite and professional. As an example, during the few times that they needed access to the interior of the house or power needed to be off, they gave my wife advance notification, a time that she could expect, and kept to the schedule. They put down mats to protect the basement carpet during rewiring of the panel boxes. The crew was very nice. Once the job was complete and given final inspected by the county, Vance demonstrated the operation by simulating a power outage. This evaluation has been in the draft stage for months. I have delayed in posting this write up until my system was exercised during a real power outage. As it happened, October 16, 2014, at 3:19am I experienced my first ‘real world’ operational test. When I woke at 6:00am to get ready for work, I noticed my entire neighborhood was dark except for my house. After seven hours, power was restored and the generator went back to standby mode. I probably turned on a few more lights than I needed that morning just to show off! I purchased and would recommend the wireless monitoring device that sends messages to my email and smart phone application for any change in the generator status. I was at work when I received a status update that the generator went back to standby mode. Everything worked at advertised. I am very pleased.

How did I choose? First, I wanted a U.S. made generator and it would take too long to explain why Generac; I am convinced they are the best. I considered two independent installers and a leading hardware chain. I was looking for a company that would install as well as service and maintain my generator. I read some Generac installers will only do warranty service on those generators they installed—caused in part on the level of Generac’s remuneration for warranty work. I was confident that Vance Cowper was giving me the best priced solution for my situation: he was a certified Generac Generator installer; took time to adequately answer all of my detailed questions; would provide service and maintenance; had generators in stock; and his company’s on-line posted past performance was excellent. I eliminated the hardware chain as an option since they use a subcontractor for my area to install their Generac Generators. Based on comments gleaned from on-line forums concerning servicing, it seemed to me the subcontractor had a history of getting overwhelmed during major environmental events that would affect their emergency response time. The other independent contractor was approximately three thousand dollars more in price and did not demonstrate the breadth of knowledge that Vance had.

The details. My house’s space and water heating, stove are natural gas, our double oven is electric (max with both ovens on is 40 amps/240V), and we have three external air conditioning compressor units (40, 30 and 20 max surge amps/ 240V) (the smallest unit is a heat pump as well during winter). The house has a total of 66 branch circuits that are mostly lighting. The house originally came with two side by side individual 200 amp/240V service entry panels in my basement fed by two individual cables from the outside meter panel. The generator installation site is situated five feet from the side of the house near the power meter, within 10’ from the natural gas meter and 6’ and 12’ to the two larger air conditioner compressor units. This location is probably ideal for this kind of installation since all utilities were fairly close at hand and load shedding wiring of the air conditioners was minimal. The gas meter was changed by the gas company to support the generator two weeks prior—Vance took care of the details to make this happen. While I do not specialize in power systems, I have two degrees (BS and MS) in Electrical Engineering and have a ‘fundamental’ understanding when it comes to power transmission and home electrical systems. When I started my technical discussions with Vance, I explained my background, told him I am smart enough to be ‘dangerous’ (I know my limitations) and had several questions. He smiled and proceeded to field all my questions and remarks with the greatest of patience (e.g. permitting and inspection process, size of cables, wiring of the current panel boxes to sub panel configuration, depth of buried wires, wire gauge, and gas pipes, schedule, etc. . . .). I do admit engineers have to know everything! I concluded Vance knows what he is doing. During my research I even suggested to him my own design of using a Generac 20kW Air-Cooled Generator with one 400 amp Generac Smart Switch, Service Rated switch box to interface between the generator, the meter panel and my existing two 200 amp panels. My logic was I had two 200 amp panels so the switch had handle a least the 400 amp load. Yes, he agreed it would probably be compliant. Vance said he could easily use the 400 amp switch, if I wanted. However, Vance countered, it would be less expensive by approximately $1000 (he actually gave me two proposals), if I agreed to two 200 amp Generac Smart Switch, Service Rated switch boxes, connected to the generator through a 12”x12” junction box situated right below the two switches. He explained that one of the switch boxes could still be wired to ‘load shed’ the two air conditioners, if by remote chance the two compressors turned on simultaneously and the motor start up current caused an excessive draw with the remaining house load. He stated his team had done this type of installation several times, and it met code. The result is all of my house branch circuits are active during a power outage. The likelihood of exceeding the 20KW rated 90 amps/240V during an outage is minimal under this configuration. I selected Vance’s suggested two switch box design with the generator sitting on a GenPad 3” pre-made pad. I opted for the Mobile Link Standby Generator Wireless Remote Monitor device that used cellular telephone system for communicating status to your email or smart phone application. So much for my expertise—at least I ultimately selected the generator kW size correctly!

I should mention during installation, I would come home from work at lunch and early some days just to watch them work. The crew was very gracious and answered every one of my “how come” questions. I took pictures and it was fun to watch them work. I must have been a pest.

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.He did an excellent job and I would use him again.

My wife and I were looking to have a 20 kW back up generator installed for our home. One of my friends had recommended Vancelectric. Vance was very professional, offered an excellent price and was very clear about the process. We had to have our main gas line and meter upgraded through Washington Gas before Vance and his team could completely install the generator which caused a significant delay (Vance had warned us that Washington Gas was painfully slow when it came to completing these upgrades). Once the upgrade was out of the way Vance completed the job quickly and cleanly. My wife and I were thrilled when the generator turned on a few weeks ago when we lost power for about 2 hours. I highly recommend Vancelectric.

I emailed them asking them to come out and they put it off for a week. Then, I emailed them several times and they didn’t respond. We have found another provider for the job. For all I know, he could have an emergency, but the responsiveness in this particular situation hasn’t been good.

I was impressed with Vance Cowper when he first came out to do the estimate for the installation of a 20kW Generac Guardian generator and Nexus whole house smart switch. After some haggling, we agreed on exactly how much, where and what to install. I paid half up front. After approximately 1 week to have the generator and switch received, Vance personally delivered the generator and switch. Within an hour, he had assembled a 2-wheeled dolly around the generator and single handedly rolled the ~500lb generator to the slab I had poured. His gas contractor was out the following week to extend my existing 2 psi NG line to the generator. Inspection of the gas line was done the next day and the gas installer was out one day later to finish that part of the install. The following week the electrical subcontractor arrived at 7:30, installed the whole house switch, pulled utility power at 11:00, finished the electrical connections and reinstalled utility power by 13:00. Power was out only 2 hrs! Vance then came back that evening, installed the generator battery and some fuses in the switch and fired it up. We tested the generator under whole house load, including power cycling the A/C. He took the time to make sure that I knew how to operate and maintain the unit. The final inspection was the next day. Vance is one of the good guys! We had 2 outages this past month and the generator performed perfectly. Thanks Vance and Generac for a job well done.

When the derecheo struck our area our generator which had been installed 6 months previously did not work.  I called the guy who installed it and he couldn't get it to work.  I contacted Generac and they recommended VanceElectric.  He came out the next week and found that a pipe had been blocked by a bug.  He removed the bug and recommended that we change the piece of equipment that had caused the failure.  We got that replaced the next week by a plumber recommended by Vance.  When we lost power recently our generator kicked in and ran until the power came back on - just like it's supposed to.

After reading the positive reviews on this site, I scheduled an evaluation with Vance to install a backup generator. We agreed on the following Saturday. Vance called Saturday morning and said that he was backed up and would not be able to get to my house. This was not a big problem as I know that sometimes this happens. We rescheduled for the following Wednesday. I took off work to be home, but Vance never showed. After two no shows and not so much as a call the second time, I have switched to another provider.

When Vance first came to our home to discuss our plan to install a generator, he had all of the information with him to help us make an educated decision. Once the generator we ordered arrived, he proceeded quickly with the installation.

Vance did a superb job with this installation. The only issue we had that was unexpected was that Verizon did not accurately mark the underground lines to the house and they were cut when the electrical line from the generator to the house was trenched. Luckily, Verizon responded quickly to restore our service.

We are extremely happy with Vance's work and his ability to think and quot;outside the boxand quot; when necessary. We recommend him highly for any electrical work or generator installation.

Vance has done work for us in the past and we have alwys been extremely pleased. His work is top notch and he is extrmely pleasent and a pleasure to work with. This particular job involved removal and disposal of 4 large hanging flourescent lights and installation of 13 cannister lights, to include installation of two dimmer switches. His work was flawless and he cleaned up the mess and disposed of the old light fixtures following completion of the job. He has my highest recommendation and he is the only electrician we will use.

He is very honest and straightforward. He will be there when he says he would be. His estimates are good and he is very flexible.

Vance was responsive, available to perform the work after hours, and was able to determine and correct the issue! Highly recommended.