Paul from Somerset, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since May of 2022. The generator was commissioned that July: a Generac Guardian rated 19.5 kW on natural gas, on a 100-amp service-entrance switch with surge protection. The house is only 1,200 square feet and the load calculation still came to 19 kW – one of the highest ratios of demand to floor area on the site. A well pump, two sump pumps, an electric dryer, two refrigerators, a separate freezer and a dishwasher explain it: three pumps and electric laundry ask far more of a generator than the floor plan suggests, and the well means no water at all once the power stops. Annual maintenance and a ten-year extended parts-and-labor warranty both sit behind the machine.
Project Facts
- Location
- Somerset, NJ
- Services
- Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- May 2022
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7042-2
- Rated output
- 22 kW LP / 19.5 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 1,200 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 100 amp
- Transfer switch
- 100 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Somerset homeowners
How close to the house can a generator sit in Somerset?
For the air-cooled models covered by the manufacturer's listed installation guidance, the rear of the generator can be as close as eighteen inches to a qualifying structure when every condition of that listing is met. That eighteen inches is a tested installation dimension, not a zoning setback, and a municipality can require more.
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 is the gas pipe size worked out?
From the generator's demand, the available pressure, the pipe length, the allowable pressure drop, the fittings, the pipe material and every other appliance connected to the system. The adopted fuel-gas code carries the sizing requirements and tables, and the model's published fuel consumption goes into the calculation.