• Largest cities
• Local notes
• Models & pricing
• Which model
• FAQs
• Get a quote

Largest cities we serve in Boone County, IL

The table lists the ten largest communities that are wholly or partly in Boone County, ranked by population. The population figures are 2020 U.S. Census counts (sources are listed at the end of the page); three of the ten are census-designated places rather than incorporated villages, and three extend into Winnebago County, so the notes say which count covers the whole place. Distances are driving miles by road from our Woodstock headquarters, which is the nearest GSHA office to every community in the table. Each one was measured from 1257 Cobblestone Way to the community’s center with OpenStreetMap routing and rounded to a tenth of a mile; the trip to your own address will differ a little, and we confirm it when you book.

Installing a KOHLER generator in Boone County, IL

Natural gas: Nicor Gas, with a gas-load check before we size the unit

Nicor Gas is the natural gas utility for Boone County. Nicor’s own service-area listing names Belvidere, Caledonia Township, Capron, Garden Prairie, Herbert, Poplar Grove and Timberlane, and the Belvidere Chamber of Commerce utilities page lists Nicor Gas as the natural gas provider; neither source names any other gas utility for the county. Nicor’s ZIP-code lookup carries the caution that areas within a ZIP code may vary, which matters on rural parcels, so we confirm that a gas main actually reaches the property before quoting a natural-gas install. Once that is settled, our gas technician checks the existing meter and piping against the generator’s full-load demand, which runs from 179,000 BTU/hr for the 10RESV to 290,000 BTU/hr for the 26RCA on top of the furnace, water heater and range already on the line. A meter upgrade by Nicor is sometimes needed, and we coordinate it. For homes beyond the mains, the Chamber’s utilities page lists Hicksgas in Belvidere as a propane supplier; all five KOHLER models we install run on propane and are field-convertible, and each unit’s propane rating is slightly higher than its natural-gas rating (10 kW versus 9 kW on the 10RESV, 26 kW versus 24 kW on the 26RCA).

Electricity: ComEd delivery and the automatic transfer switch

ComEd delivers electricity in Boone County. The City of Belvidere runs an electric aggregation program with MC Squared Energy Services as supplier, but the city’s own page notes that ComEd still delivers the power and continues to bill for supply, delivery and taxes. A standby generator responds to a loss of ComEd delivery, so the supplier you chose under aggregation makes no difference to how the system operates. The automatic transfer switch is the part that senses the outage, and Boone County’s local amendments to the 2020 National Electrical Code shape how we install it. Revised Section 230.11 says that when any part of the service entrance equipment, branch circuit panel or service conductors is replaced or modified, the service in its entirety must be brought up to current code and the main panel must have at least 16 spaces, and revised Section 230.70(A)(1) requires the service disconnecting means to be outside the building or inside within 5 feet of the meter enclosure. A service-entrance-rated transfer switch for a whole-house 200 A service touches exactly that equipment, so on an older service we look at the existing panel and meter during the estimate and tell you up front whether the county’s rule pulls a service upgrade into the job. Our transfer switch page covers the RXT (with load management) and RDT switches we install.

Permits: Boone County Building and Zoning outside the municipalities

The Boone County Building and Zoning Department at 1212 Logan Avenue in Belvidere issues permits for unincorporated Boone County, and its page says all permits must be submitted through the county’s online system. The county’s electrical amendments require an electrical permit application for wiring work and exempt “ordinary repairs” only when they involve no addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation of electrical wiring; a generator and transfer switch add both, so we treat every unincorporated install as a permitted electrical and fuel-gas job even though the county’s amendments do not mention generators by name, and the department has its own electrical inspector on staff. The department page also notes that most structures need a Health Department site-plan approval before a permit is released; where that applies to a generator pad, we build it into the schedule. The codes the county lists are the 2021 International Building, Residential, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes, the 2020 National Electrical Code and the 2014 Illinois Plumbing Code, each with local amendments, plus the 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code with state amendments. Inside the municipalities, permits go through the local building department: the City of Belvidere and the Villages of Poplar Grove, Capron, Caledonia and Timberlane each have their own, and the county’s list also shows a separate Candlewick Building Department for Candlewick Lake. GSHA pulls the permit, schedules the inspections and handles the paperwork whichever office has jurisdiction; you do not need to visit any of them.

Wells, septic systems, sump pumps and the Kishwaukee River

Homes outside municipal water and sewer in Boone County rely on private wells and septic systems permitted by the Boone County Health Department, whose pages say the septic plan and well application must be approved before a county building permit is issued and that permits to construct, seal, deepen or modify a well come from the Health Department. Well pumps and septic pumps run on household electricity, so they stop in an outage unless the generator carries those circuits; on a well-and-septic parcel we size the unit for the well pump’s starting load and plan the pad location around the well and the septic field. Basements are part of the picture too: the county’s electrical amendments specifically allow single outlets for sump pumps and sewer ejectors in basements without GFCI protection, a sign that these pumps are a recognized part of the local housing stock, and a sump pump is one of the first circuits we put on the generator. Belvidere developed on both sides of the Kishwaukee River, and the Illinois State Water Survey’s flood-mapping site lists Boone County in an ongoing Kishwaukee River watershed study, currently in its data-development phase, and links to FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center for the county’s current flood maps. If your lot is near the river or one of its tributaries, that map is worth checking before we pick a pad location.

Candlewick Lake, gated-community approvals and storm planning

Candlewick Lake is an unincorporated, gated community of 5,115 residents (2020 Census), and the county’s list of local building departments shows a separate Candlewick Building Department, so a generator install there can involve the community’s own building approval in addition to county requirements; we handle both submissions. County-wide, the Boone County Emergency Management Agency describes its role as protecting lives and property before a disaster strikes and lists floods, tornados and other natural disasters among the hazards it plans for, directing residents to the National Weather Service for local weather. That is the outage profile a Boone County standby generator is planned around: the KOHLER units we install are rated for 181 mph winds, can sit 18 inches from the house under NFPA guidelines where local code allows, and we recommend the cold-weather kit for reliable starts below 32 F.

KOHLER models and installed pricing

About “installed from” prices. Every KOHLER generator is a custom installation. The “installed from” price is our starting package for that model (generator, standard automatic transfer switch, standard gas and electrical connections, permit handling and start-up). Your final price depends on generator placement, gas line size and length, electrical panel condition and local permit fees, so we confirm it with a free on-site estimate before any work begins. KOHLER’s published MSRP for the generator alone runs from $3,946 (10RESV) to $7,546 (26RCA).

Which KOHLER model fits homes in Boone County

Which KOHLER generator fits a Boone County home

Boone County mixes city and village lots with rural parcels on wells and septic, gated lots at Candlewick Lake, and basements with sump pumps and sewer ejectors, so the right size depends on what has to keep running rather than on square footage alone. All five air-cooled KOHLER models we install run on Nicor natural gas or propane (field-convertible), include the RDC2 controller with the KOHLER Energy Management app, and carry a 5-year/2,000-hour limited warranty covering parts, labor and travel, with 7- and 10-year extended coverage available. Full specifications and installed pricing are on each product page.

• KOHLER 10RESV (9 kW natural gas / 10 kW propane, installed from $8,000): essentials only, meaning furnace, refrigerator, sump pump, well pump and lights. Its 30.6 x 28 in. steel enclosure suits a tight side yard.
• KOHLER 12RESV (11 / 12 kW, installed from $8,500): essentials plus one air conditioner with load management, in the same narrow-lot footprint as the 10RESV.
• KOHLER 14RCA (12 / 14 kW, installed from $9,000): entry whole-house for small and mid-size homes; KOHLER rates it to start and run a 5-ton AC, and it is off-grid rated.
• KOHLER 20RCA (18 / 20 kW, installed from $10,500): whole-house for most 2,500 to 4,500 sq ft homes with one central AC, with 41 kVA of motor-starting capacity.
• KOHLER 26RCA (24 / 26 kW, installed from $12,000): the largest air-cooled KOHLER, for large homes with two ACs under load management, a well pump, an electric range or an EV charger.

If you are between two sizes, the free on-site estimate settles it: we tally the circuits you want carried, check the Nicor meter and the ComEd service, and quote the unit and transfer switch that fit. Once the system is in, our KOHLER service and maintenance team covers Boone County from the same Woodstock office. Call (224) 220-3660 or book online.

Boone County KOHLER FAQs

Who installs KOHLER generators in Boone County?

GSHA Services, LTD, an authorized KOHLER dealer, installs and services them from our Woodstock headquarters, about 24 driving miles from Belvidere, the county seat. Our own licensed electricians and gas-line technicians do the work, and most installs take 1 to 2 days on site once the permit is issued.

Do I need a permit for a standby generator in unincorporated Boone County?

In practice, yes. The county’s electrical amendments exempt only ordinary repairs that add or alter no wiring, and a generator and transfer switch add both, so we pull an electrical permit for every unincorporated install and file it through the Building and Zoning Department’s online system. Homes inside Belvidere, inside a village with its own building department, or at Candlewick Lake go through that office instead. GSHA pulls the permit and schedules the inspections in every case.

Which gas utility do you coordinate with in Boone County?

Nicor Gas. Its service-area listing names Belvidere along with villages and unincorporated communities across the county, and neither Nicor nor the Belvidere Chamber of Commerce names any other natural gas utility for Boone County. We verify that a main reaches your parcel, check the meter against the generator’s full-load demand and arrange a Nicor meter upgrade when one is needed; homes on propane can run any of the five KOHLER models, and the Chamber lists Hicksgas as a local propane supplier.

Are Caledonia and Loves Park inside your service area?

Yes. Caledonia is about 30 driving miles from our Woodstock office and Loves Park about 39, both inside our standard 50-mile radius, and both are much farther from our Lake Bluff office, so Woodstock dispatches. Only a small eastern sliver of Loves Park is in Boone County, but the distance to our office, not the county line, is what sets the service area.

How much does a KOHLER generator cost installed in Boone County?

Installed prices start at $8,000 for the 10 kW KOHLER 10RESV; the 26 kW 26RCA is installed from $12,000. The starting package covers the generator, a standard automatic transfer switch, standard gas and electrical connections, permits and start-up. Every installation is custom, so we confirm the final price with a free on-site estimate, which is also where we flag items outside the package such as a Nicor meter upgrade or a service upgrade required by the county’s Section 230.11 amendment.

Other county pages: McHenry County · DuPage County · Kane County · Will County · Cook County · Lake County · full KOHLER service area

More: how installation works and what is included · service and maintenance · transfer switches and accessories · why KOHLER

Sources: Boone County, Illinois (Wikipedia): county population, area, municipality table with 2020 Census counts · Belvidere, Illinois (Wikipedia): 2020 Census population, Kishwaukee River · Loves Park, Illinois (Wikipedia): 2020 Census population, Boone County sliver · Candlewick Lake, Illinois (Wikipedia): 2020 Census population, unincorporated gated community · Cherry Valley, Illinois (Wikipedia): 2020 Census population, share in Boone County · Argyle, Illinois (Wikipedia): 2020 Census population, census-designated place · Garden Prairie, Illinois (Wikipedia): 2020 Census population, dissolved village · U.S. Census Bureau geocoder: coordinates of the Woodstock office, 1257 Cobblestone Way, used as the routing origin · Wikipedia API: place-center coordinates of the ten communities used as routing destinations · OSRM (OpenStreetMap) driving-distance table from the Woodstock office and Lake Bluff 60044 to the ten communities, measured 2026-09-10 · Nicor Gas, Where We Are: Boone County community list · Nicor Gas, Our Service Area: ZIP-code lookup caution · Belvidere Chamber of Commerce, Utilities Info: Nicor Gas and Hicksgas propane · City of Belvidere, Electric Aggregation: ComEd delivery and billing · Boone County Building and Zoning Department: permits, online system, adopted codes · Boone County Electrical Amendments to the 2020 NEC (PDF): Sections 104.1, 105.1, 230.11, 230.70(A)(1), basement sump and ejector outlets · Boone County, Other Local Building Departments: municipal and Candlewick building departments · Boone County Health Department, Private Sewage Disposal: septic and well approval before building permit · Boone County Health Department, Potable Water/Wells: well permits · Illinois State Water Survey flood maps, Boone County: Kishwaukee River watershed study and FEMA map link · Boone County Emergency Management Agency: hazards planned for, National Weather Service referral · GSHA Services KOHLER dealer site. Distances are approximate driving miles from the nearest GSHA office, rounded to the mile.

About GSHA Services, LTD

GSHA Services, LTD is a licensed and insured electrical, heating, cooling, plumbing and generator contractor and an authorized KOHLER generator dealer (listed on KOHLER’s dealer site). Offices: 1257 Cobblestone Way, Suite A, Woodstock, IL 60098 and 11 N Skokie Hwy, Suite G18A, Lake Bluff, IL 60044. Phone (224) 220-3660. Email info@gshaservices.com. We sell, install, service and repair KOHLER home standby generators across the northern Chicago suburbs and southeastern Wisconsin. Contact us · All service areas · Financing

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