Super quiet 3500 watt inverter generator

[gastan]

All of the requests for "list a couple" remind me of the TV commercial where two neighbors are talking. One asks the other if he knows of a good contractor. When his neighbor says yes, he says, "Great. Call him and make an appointment, show him my house, give him my plans, get an estimate, have him bring some referrals and color swatches, yada, yada, yada ..."

[Mike134]

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[treatcg]

I like my cheap little Champion 3100 Inverter. Had it since 2016 and has never let me down. Starts my 15K AC with no issues.

58 dBA at 25% load.

Equivalent Honda advertises 52-58 dBA
https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/super-quiet

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by gastan

All of the requests for "list a couple" remind me of the TV commercial where two neighbors are talking. One asks the other if he knows of a good contractor. When his neighbor says yes, he says, "Great. Call him and make an appointment, show him my house, give him my plans, get an estimate, have him bring some referrals and color swatches, yada, yada, yada ..."

A generator @50DB at 1/4 load out of the box does not exist to my knowledge. Hoping to get educated as to which model.

[Steveg]

Mike...seriously, look at the Westinghouse or the Cummins 4500. You'll be impressed.

[Doppleganger]

I gotta find my dB meter and see how loud our 3200w Firman is. Didn't seem that bad, especially for the $550 price.

[waybeck2018]

Originally Posted by rfifer

As a point of reference, easy conversational speech is about 60 dB to 65 dB. Perceptually, a 10 dB difference is either half as loud or twice as loud depending on the direction you are going. From this audiologist's perspective, you are starting to split hairs. 57 dB is very quiet for a generator and, yes, 49 dB is quieter. But sound really starts to interfere with your ability to converse as it goes above 70 dB and is really bothersome at 75 dB+. The scale is logarithmic and not linear. So, 65 dB to 70 dB is a much greater change in sound force energy than 50 dB to 55 dB. Both values (49 dB and 57 dB) discussed here are quiet, just different degrees of quiet.

Finally, a real life statement of fact from a professional "sound person". My money is on the aidiologist and his facts.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by Steveg

Mike...seriously, look at the Westinghouse or the Cummins 4500. You'll be impressed.

https://mart.cummins.com/imagelibrar...es/0059500.pdf


52db for the cummins and Westinghouse which is very quiet and I'm impressed BUT



Seriously Steve, 50db generators don't exist which is what I was challenging.

[Steveg]

Mike...you may be right about the db value but I can tell you that this unit is very quiet. It sits in the back of my RAM 2500 bed halfway out on the tailgate when I'm parked and not disconnected. That means it is under my 5th wheel overhang. It runs all night to power my auto-pap and residential fridge yet only hums at a comfortable low level as we sleep; our bedroom is up front. So take that as one guy's experience with the real thing. Forget the decimeter!

Safe Travels
SteveG

[bigmurph]

I have the Power Horse 3500 inverter generator. It is a great little generator. I know that numbers have been posted but I would like to give some real world ear testing. My neighbor has a Honda2000. Great generator. It is quieter than mine when they are unloaded running in eco mode. However when the load is increase his generator sounds different because of the frequency and sound type. It sounds like it is running much higher rpms. I'm not sure that it is but it sounds that way. My neighbor agrees. We go to NASCAR races and I see a lot of generators. I have had people with the Hondas which are the Cadillac of generators tell me that they wouldn't buy them again after hearing and seeing mine in person. The price vs slight difference in noise isn't worth the cost for most of them because they say the noise level isn't that noticeable. I'm not taking anything away from the Honda owners but I would feel comfortable advising the OP to purchase a Power Horse. One thing I forgot to mention is that my generator is way quieter than the smaller 3500/4000 built in Onans in some of the MHs.

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by bigmurph

I have the Power Horse 3500 inverter generator. It is a great little generator. I know that numbers have been posted but I would like to give some real world ear testing. My neighbor has a Honda2000. Great generator. It is quieter than mine when they are unloaded running in eco mode. However when the load is increase his generator sounds different because of the frequency and sound type. It sounds like it is running much higher rpms. I'm not sure that it is but it sounds that way. My neighbor agrees. We go to NASCAR races and I see a lot of generators. I have had people with the Hondas which are the Cadillac of generators tell me that they wouldn't buy them again after hearing and seeing mine in person. The price vs slight difference in noise isn't worth the cost for most of them because they say the noise level isn't that noticeable. I'm not taking anything away from the Honda owners but I would feel comfortable advising the OP to purchase a Power Horse. One thing I forgot to mention is that my generator is way quieter than the smaller 3500/4000 built in Onans in some of the MHs.

Thats a good point. Sound quality is as important as sound level. Fingernails on a chalkboard at 49db is torture. The basso-profundo of an idling big block chevy at 90db is wonderful.

Tim

[TowPro]

I like my $100 "no questions asked" warantee on my harborfreight. You can just exchange it and buy another $100 warantee on the new one.

[Steveg]

Cowracer...well said. BTW, when you hook up two of the Honda 2000 the combined sound when putting out 4000 watts is way louder than my Westinghouse 4500 at max. And, my unit with one motor to maintain will run all night without a fuel refill.

[Mr. Dan]

I wish I had a generator so I could join in on the “my dog’s faster than your dog” debate/contest/argument.

I do understand the big block Chevy comparison!

[Steveg]

Mr. Dan I thought your "my dog vs your dog" comment was cute. But then I saw your chevy notation. Know wonder you're confused. If you owned a real truck (RAM) all the comparison issues would disappear. Just saying.

[acadianbob]

Originally Posted by Mike134

Please list a couple otherwise I'm starting to believe the "advise" on a forum is as good as the "advise" I get from my local saloon.

The posts above mentioned Honda and there is also Yamaha.

The Db scale isn't linear; it is logarithmic. Every 3 Db increase approximately DOUBLES the noise level. 10 Db difference? Nearly 8 times as loud.

[5picker]

I'm not going to get into the my dog... your dog debate... but I will say this... one thing a lot of folks don't take into consideration when purchasing a smaller (2000w) generator and then wanting to compare it to the sound level of a larger (3500w) is that many larger watt generators will continue to run in Eco mode (quieter) under certain loading conditions than a smaller generator that ramps up and runs full tilt.

Under those conditions (and I'm using made up round numbers) a larger generator will continue to run in Eco mode at 58DB where the smaller generator will ramp up and run wide open at 75DB.

Case in point... I have a 3500w generator and my brother has two 2000w units. He seldom uses both unless air conditioning is needed. In the morning, I can fire up the coffee maker or toaster and never come off Eco. He cannot do the same when using one. It ramps up and runs full tilt drowning out the sound of mine idling along.

Smaller generators seldom run in Eco mode under any kind of substantial load.

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by 5picker

one thing a lot of folks don't take into consideration when purchasing a smaller (2000w) generator and then wanting to compare it to the sound level of a larger (3500w) is that many larger watt generators will continue to run in Eco mode (quieter) under certain loading conditions than a smaller generator that ramps up and runs full tilt.

I will agree with this. My HF3500 running my 9.6K AC on my truck camper is a good bit quieter than my honda 2000 running that same load.


in fact I think my HF3500 is quieter running my 15K AC on my motor home than my 2000 is running the 9.6K on my ex Truck camper.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by 5picker

one thing a lot of folks don't take into consideration when purchasing a smaller (2000w) generator and then wanting to compare it to the sound level of a larger (3500w) is that many larger watt generators will continue to run in Eco mode (quieter) under certain loading conditions than a smaller generator that ramps up and runs full tilt.

Under those conditions (and I'm using made up round numbers) a larger generator will continue to run in Eco mode at 58DB where the smaller generator will ramp up and run wide open at 75DB.

Case in point... I have a 3500w generator and my brother has two 2000w units. He seldom uses both unless air conditioning is needed. In the morning, I can fire up the coffee maker or toaster and never come off Eco. He cannot do the same when using one. It ramps up and runs full tilt drowning out the sound of mine idling along.

Smaller generators seldom run in Eco mode under any kind of substantial load.

Very good point. You just sold me on spending a few more dollars for a 3500W

[boondocking]

Originally Posted by acadianbob

The posts above mentioned Honda and there is also Yamaha.

The Db scale isn't linear; it is logarithmic. Every 3 Db increase approximately DOUBLES the noise level. 10 Db difference? Nearly 8 times as loud.

An increase of 3dB doubles the sound intensity, but a 10dB increase is required before a sound is perceived to be twice as loud.