Melvin from Piscataway, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since March of 2018. The 17 kW standby generator at the house was installed by another company in June of 2013, and Melvin moved its servicing to us nearly five years later. Four consecutive intervals followed — the four-year service, then the five, six and seven-year, the last completed in February of 2021 with 83.9 hours on the meter and the fuel plenum inspected and clear. Picking up a machine at the four-year mark means inheriting whatever the first four years did to it, which is why the first visit on any generator we did not install starts with an inspection rather than a service.
Project Facts
- Location
- Piscataway, NJ
- Service
- Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- March 2018
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 5885
- Rated output
- 17 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Transfer switch
- 65 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Standby generator questions from Piscataway homeowners
How far from the property line does a generator need to be in Piscataway?
There is no single statewide New Jersey property-line setback for a residential generator. Setbacks are set by the municipality's zoning ordinance, so the requirement is a Piscataway question rather than a general one. A generator can meet every manufacturer clearance and still breach a side-yard or rear-yard setback, which is why the zoning review happens before the location is fixed.
Can a standby generator run central air conditioning?
Yes, when it is sized for it. The design has to account for both the running demand and the starting surge of the air-conditioning equipment. Load-management equipment can be used where necessary so that demand does not all arrive at once.
What does remote monitoring actually tell you?
Depending on the generator and the connectivity, remote monitoring can report status, maintenance notifications, alarms, exercise information and operating history. Its real value is that a fault announces itself between service visits, instead of being discovered during the outage it was bought for.