Joe from Martinsville, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since September of 2013, when we installed a 20 kW Generac covering 3,000 square feet with two refrigerators, an electric oven, a dishwasher and the laundry. Seven years later, in the spring of 2020, we replaced that machine with a new one and put it on a PowerBase plan. A generator that reaches the end of its life having done its job is the ordinary outcome, and replacing it is the easy part. Martinsville is in Somerset County.
Project Facts
- Location
- Martinsville, NJ
- Services
- Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- September 2013
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7038-1
- Rated output
- 20 kW LP / 18 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 3,000 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Martinsville homeowners
What size standby generator does a Martinsville home need?
The correct size is decided by the electrical loads the generator is expected to run, not by the square footage of the house. Central air, heat pumps, electric heat, well and sump pumps, refrigerators and freezers, electric ranges and dryers, pool equipment and EV chargers all count. Where a load is connected automatically, the generator either has the capacity for it or an approved load-management system controls it.
Why does cold weather matter when sizing a propane tank?
Because propane's ability to vaporise falls as the outdoor temperature drops and as the liquid level in the tank falls. A supply that looks adequate in mild weather can struggle to support a large generator through a long winter outage if storage and vaporisation capacity were not designed for it.
Does a generator keep the well running during an outage in Martinsville?
Yes, when the well pump is included in the design. A private well pump is electric, so without power there is no running water at all -- a different order of problem from losing the lights. Homes on a well are among the clearest cases for standby power, and the pump belongs on the load list from the start.