Andrew from Farmingdale, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since April of 2020. The generator was commissioned that June: 16 kW on natural gas, on a 150-amp service-entrance switch, sized against a 16 kW calculation for the 4,000 square foot house. Three refrigerators and a separate freezer make up most of that figure, alongside a sump pump, a washer, a gas dryer and a dishwasher. Four pieces of cold storage is the quiet argument for backup power – the cost of a long outage is not measured in inconvenience but in what has to be thrown away afterwards, and it lands whether anyone is home or not. The machine matches the calculation exactly rather than exceeding it, which is the decision that depends most on the survey being right.
Project Facts
- Location
- Farmingdale, NJ
- Service
- Standby Generator Installation
- Client since
- April 2020
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7176
- Rated output
- 16 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 4,000 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 150 amp
- Transfer switch
- 150 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Farmingdale homeowners
Can Farmingdale require a generator to sit farther from the house than the manufacturer does?
Yes. Another applicable requirement can result in greater separation than the manufacturer's listed minimum -- equipment may be permitted eighteen inches from a qualifying wall while the local ordinance requires several feet from a property line. Both requirements have to be satisfied; neither cancels the other.
Can a standby generator backfeed the utility lines?
A properly installed and functioning automatic transfer system is designed to prevent it. That is the point of the transfer switch: it stops generator power reaching the utility supply, where it could endanger line workers and damage equipment. Backfeeding is a risk of improvised connections, not of a correctly installed system.
How can a whole house be carried on a smaller electrical service?
Through load management. One or more large loads are controlled so they do not start at the same moment, or shut down briefly if generator demand climbs too high. That is what allows whole-house coverage where the raw sum of every connected load would otherwise exceed the machine.