Quiet Generators: 10 Whisper Silent Portable Gas and Battery Picks for 2023 Contact online >>
Quiet Generators: 10 Whisper Silent Portable Gas and Battery Picks for 2023
Let’s face it: Power generators can be very loud. Even when operating at 25% load, bigger 10,000W+ generators can produce more than 75 dB of noise (measured at 23 ft distance). Today, we will look at generators that produce the least amount of noise, and check out the 5 quietest generators currently on the market.
Why would you want a super quiet generator? Well, nobody likes loud generators. A quiet home generator won’t disturb your sleep or your neighbors. A quiet generator for camping or RV is preferred to loud units.
Generally, generators that produce more than 80 dB of noise are considered to be ‘loud’. Generators that produce less than 60 dB noise levels are considered to be ‘quiet generators’.
On top of that, you have to be aware of decibel restrictions for noise generation. These include:
That’s pretty easy in theory. Check 100 of the best selling-generators, crack open the specification sheets, and write down the noise levels (measured in dB) of all the generators. You can easily figure out which generators produce the least amount of noise.
That’s exactly what we did to create a list of the 5 most quiet generators currently on the market (in the 50 dB range). You can find the list of the quietest generators, complete with spec-by-spec (dB-by-dB) comparison and reviews further on.
Note: There is no doubt which is the quietest generator by far, and has been for years now. It’s the Honda inverter generator. You can skip to this list right here:
In practice, however, you have to account for several other specifications. Example: A small 2,500W generator will always be quieter than a big 10,000W generator. That’s why we introduced a special parameter – Watts Per dB – to find the best compromise between the generator’s noise levels and power output.
Furthermore, you have to check for the starting wattages, running wattages, tank capacity, and max. running time of a quiet generator. Of course, you also have to take the price of a quiet generator, the brand of a generator, and user reviews into the equation.
In the list of the whisper-quiet generators below, you will see a comparison of all these specifications for silent generators. To figure out what you’re actually comparing, we will go through these key parameters.
First of all, however, it’s important for everybody who is looking to buy a quiet generator, to understand how we measure which generators are quiet and which ones are loud. Here’s how we do that:
Before we check how loud 50-95 dB generators are, we need to look at how we test the generator’s noise levels. There’s a significant detail that refers to all, even the extremely quiet, generators.
The first-decibel level (lower sound limit) refers to the amount of noise a generator makes when operating at 1/4 (25%) load. In this case, a 3,000W generator would be producing 750W of power. A big 10,000W would be producing a 2,500W load.
Usually, you operate a generator at above 1/4 load. The second-decibel level (higher sound limit) refers to the amount of noise the generator is making when operating at full load (100% output). For example, that’s when a 2,500W is actually generating a full 2,500W of power output.
Here’s the significant detail you need to be aware of:
We measure the noise levels of generators from 23 feet away. That’s right. A generator with 74 dB maximum noise level output will produce 74 dB only when it’s 23 feet (or 7 meters) away. If you stand right next to a 74 dB generator, your ears will likely suffer from 80+ dB noise.
Because human ears can tolerate noise levels above 85 dB for only so long, the very idea of the quiet below 60 dB generator is so appealing.
To illustrate how loud generators actually are, let’s look at some decibel equivalent:
We use decibels (dB) to measure how loud or quiet generators are. Here’s a bit complex definition of decibels from Wikipedia: ‘Decibel is a relative unit of measurement equal to one-tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a power ratio of 101/10 (approximately 1.26) or a root-power ratio of 101⁄20 (approximately 1.12).’
To simplify that, let’s look at some real-life examples. We can barely hear 0 dB. 10 dB is the noise breathing makes. Whispering is at about 30 dB and refrigerators mostly run at 50 noise levels. Here’s a nice representation of different dB sounds:
As you can see, quiet generators are on the same sound levels as the fridge (50 dB) or a conversation (60 dB). Louder generators can produce as much noise as a truck (80 dB) or even more than a hairdryer (90 dB).
When trying to figure out, for example, how loud is a 74 dB generator, you can check this illustration. A 74 dB generator is as loud as a car or a bus (somewhere in between).
Here are the sound ranges and consequently categorization of generators based on the amount of noise they generate:
In the event of a power outage or for camping, you will need an adequately sized generator. For power outages, whole-house generators with 10,000W+ running wattages are used. For camping and RVs, you need about 2,000-3,000W running wattage quiet generators.
Obviously, the small generators for camping will be quieter than the big whole-house generator for power outages. However, they are capable of generating 3-10x less power output.
How do we account for different power generation when comparing which generators are the quietest?
Example: #1 Honda EU2200i generates 1,800W running wattage and has a 25% load noise levels of 48 dB (Honda generator is an incredibly amazingly quiet generator). #3 DuroMax XP13000EH generates 10,500W running wattages and has a 25% load noise levels of 74 dB. Which one is quieter?
Obviously, the #1 Honda EU2200i is the quieter generator (48 dB vs 74 dB). That’s not surprising; Honda is a brand that produces the quietest generators and the EU2200i model is the quietest of them all.
However, we need to take power generation into the account as well. #3 DuroMax XP13000EH generates 10,500W vs 2,800W running watts that the whisper-quiet Honda generates. Big generators produce more noise than small generators; how to put the sound-power compromise on the same common denominator?
The best sound-power compromise rating is the ‘Watts Per dB’ ratio. This ratio simply tells you how many running watts does a generator produce per 1 dB. Here is how it’s calculated:
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