Philip in Lincroft has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since August of 2020. The standby generator went in that November and we came back to wash the house five years later.
A 16 kW machine on a 150-amp service
Most of the houses we back up run on a 200-amp service. This one is 2,800 square feet on 150 amps, which changes what the answer has to look like.
The electrical calculation comes to 20,896 watts. The machine is a Generac Guardian 16 kW home standby, model 7176, rated 16 kW on natural gas and on propane alike, and this house is on natural gas. Sixteen thousand against nearly twenty-one thousand does not work on its own, and a bigger machine was not the fix, because the service feeding the house is the smaller number.
Two smart management modules do the work instead. The house has two three-ton air conditioners, six thousand watts between them, and they are the loads that stand down when the generator is running. That brings what the machine carries to 14,896 watts, inside its rating with room left. The two refrigerators, the sump pump, the electric cooktop, the dishwasher, the microwave, the washer and both garage door openers are never in question, and the two gas furnaces keep the house warm on a fraction of the power an electric system would have wanted.
The transfer switch is service-rated at 150 amps, matched to the service rather than to the machine, and sits indoors in the garage.
Two things had to happen before we arrived, and they are worth mentioning because they are the sort of thing a quote does not always spell out. Eighteen inches of sheetrock had to come out of the basement ceiling, left to right, so the wiring could be run. A large bush in front of the electric meter had to go. Both were the household’s to arrange, both were done, and the installation was finished on 18 November 2020.
The generator was last serviced in September 2025.
Washing the outside in 2025
In July 2025 we washed 2,714 square feet of the exterior. Soft washing does the work with a sodium hypochlorite and surfactant solution at low pressure rather than with force: it is applied, left to kill the algae and mildew growing on the surface, and rinsed. Pressure alone strips the green off and leaves what is rooted in the surface behind, which is why a pressure-washed house looks clean for one season and a soft-washed one keeps looking clean.
Project Facts
- Location
- Lincroft, NJ
- Services
- Softwash Service, Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- August 2020
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7176
- Rated output
- 16 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 2,800 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 150 amp
- Transfer switch
- 150 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Exterior cleaning
- Surface cleaned
- 2,714 sq ft
Questions from Lincroft homeowners
Standby generatorCan the existing natural-gas service in a Lincroft home supply a generator?
Often yes, but the gas system has to be evaluated first. The review covers the generator's BTU demand, meter capacity, available pressure, regulator capacity, pipe diameter and length, and every other gas appliance in the house -- furnace, boiler, water heater, range and fireplace among them.
Soft washingCan cleaning solution discolor vinyl siding?
Improper chemical strength, incompatible cleaners or excessive dwell time can potentially affect surfaces. That is why a professional should identify the siding material and condition before treatment. The Vinyl Siding Institute specifically advises following cleaner precautions and protecting surrounding vegetation.
Standby generatorCan a generator sit next to the air-conditioning condenser?
Potentially, provided the installation preserves the clearances required by both machines. The generator's hot exhaust should not be directed at the condenser, and neither unit should obstruct the other's airflow or service access. In practice that often means about three feet or more of separation, but the manufacturers' actual requirements decide it.