Temporary Power FAQs

In Los Angeles the temporary service is tied to your active building permit rather than a fixed calendar limit. As long as the permit is open and inspections are current, the temp pole can stay. Most run three to eighteen months. If a project stalls and the building permit expires, the utility can disconnect, so keep the permit alive or call us before it lapses.

Yes. The service needs a main disconnect rated for the service size, mounted where it is readily accessible and clearly marked. Every pole we build ships with the main breaker, a bonded neutral, driven ground rods and GFCI protection on the receptacles, because an inspector will fail all four if any one is missing.

Two ground rods is the practical answer on nearly every Los Angeles job. Code allows a single rod if it tests at 25 ohms or less, but proving that requires a resistance test, so installing a second rod at least six feet from the first is faster and cheaper than testing. We drive two by default and bond them properly.

The price depends on amperage, distance to the utility drop, the permit fees in your jurisdiction, and how long the service stays up. A 100A residential install sits well below a 400A commercial one. We give every job a flat written quote after a site walk, and removal is included rather than added later.

A 4×6 or 6×6 pressure-treated post is standard for 100A and 200A residential services, set deep enough to stay rigid with the panel and conductors loaded on it. Larger commercial services and 400A assemblies usually go on a steel pedestal or a skid instead of a wooden post.

Yes, and it is the main reason people call us. We submit the service request, coordinate the meter location, respond to the utility engineer, and push the application until a release date is set. You get one point of contact instead of a case number.

That is common when the queue runs long. We drop a generator on site to keep the crew working and take it off rent the day the meter is released. Sizing and rates are on the generator rentals page, and we coordinate both jobs under the same project manager.

For short-duration work a permitted temp service rarely pencils out, and a generator plus distribution is usually faster and cheaper. If the location will be used repeatedly over a long period, a temp service can make sense. Tell us the dates and we will tell you honestly which way to go.

Yes, and for a construction project renting is almost always the better call. You get the hardware, the SIMs, the data plan and the support as one monthly fee, and it all goes back when the job closes out. Buying makes sense only if you will move the same kit between sites for years.

It depends on carrier bonding, access point count, data tier and how long you need it. A single-carrier router for a trailer is a modest monthly fee. A bonded multi-carrier network with outdoor coverage and camera addressing costs more. Call (818) 463-2446 for a free estimate on your site.

That is exactly what this is. There is no wired line, no installation appointment and no account with a local ISP. The router pulls its connection from cellular networks, so the only requirement is usable signal at your address, which we verify during the survey.

Across Los Angeles we typically see 50 to 500 Mbps down depending on the address, the towers in range and the time of day. That is enough for video calls, large drawing downloads and a camera system running at once. We test at your specific location before quoting, so the number you get is measured rather than promised.

Whatever you need it to cover. A single router covers a trailer and the area right around it. Adding outdoor mesh access points extends usable coverage across a slab, a yard or several buildings. We design the layout from your site plan.

Yes, and it usually should. We put cameras on their own segment with static addresses so a phone streaming music cannot interfere with a recording. Many customers deploy both together and we coordinate the two installs on the same visit.

We monitor every network we deploy, so a fault typically raises an alert on our side first. Most issues resolve remotely. If hardware needs replacing, we carry spares and swap the unit rather than starting a warranty claim while your crew waits.

For an open lot with no utilities, a solar-powered mobile surveillance trailer is the right answer nearly every time, because it needs nothing from the site and its visible presence deters people before they commit. Once a site has power and a network, fixed high-resolution cameras placed on structures give better image quality for less money.

Yes. Everything we deploy carries its own cellular connection, so no site network is needed. If you already run portable WiFi on the trailer, we can put the cameras on it instead and keep the data cost down, but that is an option rather than a requirement.

Monthly rental depends on the unit, the number of cameras and whether you add live monitoring. Short weekly terms are available and multi-month builds get a better rate. We quote the whole site rather than a per-camera number, so you can see what full coverage actually costs.

Yes. With monitoring added, a trained operator reviews motion events during the hours you specify, issues a speaker warning to anyone on your lot, triggers the strobe, and escalates to police or your emergency contact. Most customers monitor nights, weekends and holidays and leave working hours unmonitored.

Solar panels charge an onboard battery bank sized to carry the unit through several days without sun. We size for winter conditions in Los Angeles rather than summer, which is the difference between a system that runs all year and one that goes dark in February.

Recorded video is retained in the cloud for a set window, typically several weeks, and you can view, clip and download it from a browser or a phone. If you need footage for a claim or a police report, we can pull and export it for you.

They should. A trailer parked where the building is about to go up is useless. We relocate units as phases shift, and we plan the first placement with the sequence in mind so it does not need moving in week two.

For anything project-based, renting wins clearly. Buying means capital up front plus service, exercise runs, fuel treatment, storage and depreciation between jobs, and you are locked into one size forever. Buying only makes sense when a unit will run most of the year, every year, at a size you can predict.

It depends on running load and starting load, and the second one is what catches people out. Motors draw several times their running amps for a moment at startup, so a site that draws 30kW steady may need a 60kW unit to start a compressor and a lift together. Send us the equipment list and we will size it properly.

A typical Los Angeles home covering essentials, meaning refrigeration, lighting, outlets, internet and a furnace fan, runs comfortably on 8kW to 12kW. Adding central air conditioning pushes that to 18kW to 22kW. A large home running everything at once needs 25kW or more. For a remodel where the service is disconnected, a 20kW towable is usually the right rental.

Never backfeed a generator into a wall outlet or a panel without a transfer switch, because that energizes the utility line and can kill a lineman. Beyond that, avoid running sensitive electronics off a non-inverter unit without conditioning, do not exceed the rated load, and keep the exhaust well away from any enclosed space.

Daily rates run from modest for a small towable to substantial for a 500kW industrial unit, plus fuel. Because daily pricing is the worst value, we almost always recommend a weekly or monthly rate if the job runs more than a few days. Call (818) 463-2446 for a free estimate.

Most LA County deliveries go out next day. Same-day is often possible for emergencies if the size you need is sitting in the yard, so it is always worth calling to ask rather than assuming.

Yes, the whole fleet. Tier 4 Final is required on most public works projects, LA County contracts and any site carrying air quality conditions, and a non-compliant unit gets turned away at the gate.

Yes. Fuel delivery runs on a schedule, and remote monitoring on most units reports fuel level, run hours and fault codes, so we dispatch a truck before you run dry rather than after.

Light towers rent by the day, week or month, and the weekly and monthly rates are far better value per day. Solar units sit above diesel on the rental line but remove fuel cost and refuelling visits, so on anything longer than a few weeks they often come out even or cheaper. Call (818) 463-2446 for a free estimate.

A diesel LED tower typically runs between 50 and 100 hours on a full tank, which is one to two working weeks of night shifts. Older metal halide units burn through fuel considerably faster. Solar towers run all night on stored charge and recharge during the day with no fuel at all.

OSHA sets minimum illumination by area type. General construction areas need at least five foot-candles, indoor corridors and warehouses three, and shops, offices and first-aid stations ten or more. Excavation and tunnel work has its own minimums. Tell us the area type and we will specify to the number.

The trailer-mounted ones with a tall mast are light towers or mobile light towers. The strings of bulbs running along a ceiling are temporary construction lighting or festoon lighting. The glowing spheres used on road jobs are balloon lights. We rent all three.

Yes. They are worth asking for on residential-adjacent sites, long-duration road and infrastructure jobs, and anywhere a fuel truck cannot easily reach. No engine noise, no exhaust and no refuelling schedule to manage.

That is what LED string lighting is for. Sealed fixtures on a single cord run along the ceiling line and light the whole deck evenly off site power. It beats tripod lights on cost, coverage and the number of times someone knocks one over.

As a rough guide one tower covers five to seven acres of general area lighting, but obstructions, structures and required light levels change that quickly. Send the site dimensions and what your crew is doing and we will give you a real number instead of a rule of thumb.

When the need is temporary, yes. Renting means the right capacity for this specific problem, delivery and setup by someone who does it daily, service for the whole term, and nothing to store afterwards. Buying a consumer unit for a commercial-sized problem usually ends with an underpowered box in a corner and a room that is still hot.

A rough starting point is one ton per 400 square feet, but that only holds for an ordinary room. Server equipment, western sun, high ceilings, a crowd of people or an uninsulated tent can double the requirement. Give us the dimensions and what is in the space and we will size it properly the first time.

It tracks capacity and duration. A small spot cooler for a trailer on a monthly rate is inexpensive. A ducted twenty-five-ton unit for a warehouse on emergency delivery is not. We quote flat rates including delivery, ducting and setup. Call (818) 463-2446 for a free estimate.

Small spot coolers up to about two tons run on standard 115V circuits. Above that you are into 208V single-phase or three-phase depending on capacity. We check the available circuit before delivery, and as a licensed electrical contractor we can install what is missing or feed it from a generator.

Out of the space, which is the part people miss. Every portable air conditioner produces hot exhaust that has to be discharged through a window kit, a ceiling plenum or a duct run to outside. Exhausting into the same room does nothing. We plan the discharge path as part of the setup.

Yes. Electric and indirect-fired portable heaters for winter jobsites, slab curing, drying a building after rain, and holding temperature for paint and drywall. Same delivery and service arrangement as the cooling equipment.

Same-day is frequently possible in Los Angeles County when the size you need is in the yard, and we treat server rooms, labs and cold storage as priority calls. During a citywide heat wave availability tightens, so call early rather than late.