Eliot from Farmingdale, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since April of 2024. The generator was commissioned in July: a Generac Guardian rated 19.5 kW on natural gas, on a 150-amp service-entrance switch with a smart management module and surge protection, sized against a 17 kW calculation for the 3,100 square foot house. One condition was agreed before the work: two sprinkler heads had to be redirected away from the generator’s position. It sounds like housekeeping and it is not – a sprinkler playing on an air-cooled enclosure several times a week will find its way into places water should not be, and the damage takes years to show rather than days. Annual maintenance, a seven-year extended parts-and-labor warranty and monitoring we manage all sit behind the machine.
Project Facts
- Location
- Farmingdale, NJ
- Services
- Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- April 2024
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7042-2
- Rated output
- 22 kW LP / 19.5 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 3,100 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 150 amp
- Transfer switch
- 150 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Farmingdale homeowners
Is an emergency shutdown required?
The 2023 National Electrical Code contains requirements addressing emergency shutdown of generator prime movers. Whether and how they apply is determined from the generator's rating, its location, the model and the installation, and the factory equipment is evaluated against them rather than presumed to comply.
Will a larger gas meter be needed?
Possibly. A generator can significantly increase a home's maximum gas demand. If the existing meter or service cannot hold the required pressure while supplying the generator and the other appliances together, the gas utility may require an upgrade.
Does a generator in Farmingdale have to sit twelve inches above the flood elevation?
That figure should not be treated as a universal rule without looking at the actual property. The required elevation can depend on the flood-zone designation, the municipal freeboard, the Design Flood Elevation, Coastal A or V Zone conditions, NJDEP requirements and the applicable building-code provisions. Each flood-zone installation is worked out individually.