Marty from Oceanport, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since April of 2020. The generator was commissioned that August, on a managed whole-house switch, sized against a 14 kW calculation for the 2,932 square foot house. One condition was set out precisely in the contract: the household would trench eighteen inches deep from the gas meter to the base of the generator platform, and would back-fill it once the installation was finished and the trench had passed inspection. Eighteen inches is not an arbitrary number – it is the depth the gas line has to sit at – and the inspection is why the back-filling waits: once a trench is closed, nobody can see what is in it. Annual maintenance, an extended parts-and-labor warranty and monitoring we manage all sit behind the machine.
Project Facts
- Location
- Oceanport, NJ
- Services
- Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- April 2020
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7178
- Rated output
- 16 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 2,932 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Oceanport homeowners
Can the platform height be read off the FEMA flood map?
Not necessarily. The map matters, but it may not carry every elevation the platform design needs. An Elevation Certificate, a surveyed ground elevation, the Base Flood Elevation, the Design Flood Elevation, the local freeboard and the municipal flood ordinance can all bear on it, so the height is calculated for the specific property.
Does a generator produce less on natural gas than on propane?
Some models do have a lower rated maximum output on natural gas than on propane -- a current 22 kW machine is rated 22 kW on LP and 21 kW on natural gas. Other models carry their own ratings, so the model-specific specification sheet is what settles it rather than a general rule.
How much propane does a generator use?
It depends on the model and on the electrical load. For a current 22 kW machine the published figures are roughly 2.45 gallons of LP an hour at half load, and about 135 cubic feet of LP vapour an hour at full load. Real consumption moves with what the house is actually drawing.