Cindy from Middletown, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since September of 2020. The generator was commissioned in May of 2021: 16 kW on natural gas, on a 200-amp service-entrance switch with a smart management module, sized against a 15 kW calculation for the 1,900 square foot house. The module was specified for a particular job: a 240-volt wall air conditioner, the sort of unit that draws hard the moment its compressor starts and is easy to forget when a house is being surveyed. Naming the load the module is there to manage is worth doing at the survey – it is the difference between a generator that copes and one that trips at the worst possible moment. The five-year maintenance plan ran its full term and has since expired.
Project Facts
- Location
- Middletown, NJ
- Services
- Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- September 2020
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7178
- Rated output
- 16 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Middletown homeowners
Why do outages last longer on some Middletown streets than others?
Mature tree cover over overhead lines is the usual reason. Limbs coming down in wind, snow or ice take the lines with them, so heavily treed streets tend to see both more frequent outages and longer restoration times than open ones. It is one of the honest arguments for standby power rather than a portable generator.
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.
Does new gas piping have to be pressure tested in Middletown?
Yes. Gas piping subject to the adopted fuel-gas code must be inspected and tested before it is accepted. New Jersey adopts the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code, which governs the inspection, the test pressure and how long the test has to hold.