Beth from Chatham, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since February of 2017. Her standby unit is a 16 kW Generac Centurion, a badge sold through retail rather than through dealers, which means a good many of them never end up on a service relationship at all. Hers did: the annual visit covers the spark plug and air filter, oil and filter, battery inspection, load testing and a full performance check. Chatham is in Morris County, at the northern edge of where we travel.
Project Facts
- Location
- Chatham, NJ
- Service
- Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- February 2017
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # G0058941
- Rated output
- 16 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Transfer switch
- 65 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Chatham homeowners
Does a permanently installed generator need a disconnect?
Yes. Permanently installed generators fall under the disconnecting-means requirements of the National Electrical Code's generator article, and the equipment and electrical design have to satisfy those requirements alongside the machine's own listing and instructions.
How often should a standby generator be serviced?
Maintenance follows the schedule for the exact model and its operating hours. For current air-cooled units that means an annual inspection plus scheduled work at hour-and-year intervals. Extended running during a long outage can bring the next service forward.
Can the existing natural-gas service in a Chatham 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.