Originally Posted By: itguy08
I don't have a dB meter but I can say this as I've used 3 at our house (2 on loan from friends/family):
1. It's louder than a Honda eu2000i.
2. Quieter than a Porter Cable 5500w with a Briggs 10HP OHV
3. About the same as a lawnmower or snowblower.
I run ours in our carport with the exhaust pointed away from the house. I think some of that may cause lots of echo and make it sound louder than it is.
With the Porter Cable any conversation near it was impossible and even 10-20 ft away was hard. That sucker was loud.
With the HF you have to speak loud near and at 10-20 ft away you can speak in an elevated manner.
I think they claim about 79dB or so. I'm happy with it so far - it saved our butts during the storm.
When you look at the spec and they have db listed, its needs to be listed at xx feet or meters. Some list "0" oddly enough. There is no industry guideline as to how to test the db rating. And if one manufacturer tests at 20 feet and another at 2 meters how to compare. Generac tech rep said they do not list it as there is no industry guidelines as to how to test. But theirs are quiet. But they also have several lines of generators, good/better/best and one would assume the noise level goes down as you go from good to better to best.
