Diane in Red Bank has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since March of 2017. The generator here is not one we installed, and in June 2026 we washed the house as well.
A 2013 machine, still on cycle
The Generac on this property is a 20 kW, model 6250, commissioned by another company in August 2013. It is still the machine doing the work.
That is worth saying plainly, because the question people actually have about a standby generator is not how well it performs in its first year. It is whether the thing will still start in its second decade, long after the company that sold it has moved on and the household has stopped thinking about it at all.
What decides that is unglamorous. Oil and filters on a schedule rather than when someone remembers. A battery replaced on age rather than after it fails, because a battery that cannot turn the engine over makes every other part of the machine irrelevant. Valve clearances checked at the interval the manufacturer sets. Rodents kept out of the enclosure. None of it is difficult and all of it is easy to skip, which is exactly why a maintained generator and a neglected one look nothing alike by the time either is a decade old.
This one went onto a PowerBase Silver plan in March 2017 and has been on a fixed service cycle since. It was last serviced on 25 March 2026.
5,280 square feet washed in June
On 16 June 2026 we soft washed 5,280 square feet of the exterior. Soft washing works chemically rather than mechanically: a sodium hypochlorite and surfactant solution is applied at low pressure, left to kill the algae and mildew growing on the surface, and then rinsed away.
Pressure alone would strip the staining and leave the growth rooted where it is, so the house is green again the following season — and on siding and trim, water driven hard enough to clean is also driven hard enough to get behind things.
Project Facts
- Location
- Red Bank, NJ
- Services
- Softwash Service, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- March 2017
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 6250
- Rated output
- 20 kW LP / 18 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Transfer switch
- 90 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Exterior cleaning
- Surface cleaned
- 5,280 sq ft
Questions from Red Bank homeowners
Standby generatorWhat gas pressure does a generator need?
It is model-specific and has to be read off the specification sheet rather than assumed. A current 22 kW model, for instance, specifies a minimum natural-gas pressure of 3.5 inches water column. Different models carry different requirements.
Soft washingDoes the crew scrub the house?
Most soft-wash cleaning does not require aggressive scrubbing. Where buildup is unusually stubborn, gentle agitation or spot treatment may be appropriate if the material permits it. Asphalt roofing is different: manufacturers and ARMA specifically warn against aggressive brushing of shingles.
Soft washingWhy does algae grow on houses in Red Bank?
Moisture, humidity, shade, tree cover and seasonal pollen all favour biological growth on an exterior, and properties nearer the water also collect salt film and wind-driven dirt. Surfaces that stay damp longest show it first, which is why the shaded side of a house is usually the side that goes green.