How Do You Know If You Have A Quiet Portable Generator?
If you have a portable generator running outside your home or at a campground, and your neighbors make a point of it being too loud, then you most likely have a noisy generator. Many cities and campgrounds have noise ordinances. If your portable generator makes too much noise, then law enforcement officials or the ranger will make their presence known, depending of course on where you are. So how is a quiet portable generator defined? There is no exact definition, but an arbitrary decibel level is around 60 decibels or so.
Decibels Explained
Since a logarithmic scale is used to measure decibels, a certain decibel level is compared with known everyday life sound levels. For instance, a portable gas generator operating at 60 decibels is approximately the sound level of a person having a conversation with another about three feet away. Therefore, if you are unable to hear a person from only several feet away, then the portable generator is too loud.
Zero decibels is the lowest possible sound level that humans can detect. A passenger car going 10 mph about forty feet away produces a sound that falls in the range of 60-80 decibels. When exposed to levels above 78 decibels for prolonged periods of time, hearing damage can result. This is the case even if the sound is not continuous.
You can find many quality and quiet portable generators available. While buying a quiet portable generator should be considered, you shouldn’t overlook the overall quality and one that is suited for your needs. Therefore, you want to look for the portable generator that provides the power you are looking for as well as one that is not louder than the advised noise levels.
Before buying a quiet portable generator, look at as many as possible to see which one is best for you. You can draw comparisons among the ones you are considering in terms of how much wattage they offer. The best way to compare is how loud the portable generators are at mid throttle, primarily because you will not operate it at full throttle for a long period of time.
