stevekk wrote:
Thanks.... guess thats what I will try next, dues to its quietness.
The Honda eu3000is. A little over $2000.
Kind of heavy. Anyway to lighten it up?
It will mounted permanently on the rear bumper/ hitch.
Does everyone agree, this is the quietest Gen available?
I get the impression you're on the same journey that I started about 8 months ago. I was also looking for a generator that would power my 13,500 BTU a/c, quietly, at a reasonable cost.
From a value and reliability perspective, the Yamaha EF2400iSHC ($1350) and Champion 3100/2800 ($900) inverter generators were quickly on my radar. Yamaha says the EF2400iSHC can power "most" eco-friendly 13,500 BTU a/c's. The Champion 3100/2800 has a very good reputation for powering nearly all 13,500 and 15,000 BTU a/c's, regardless whether they have a hard-start kit or not. The Yamaha EF2400iSHC has a sound level rating of 53-60 db, whereas the Champion, by all accounts, is rated similar to the Honda "Handi" which has a db spread of 57-65 db. Sure, I'd prefer a quieter generator, but the $1350 chance the EF2400iSHC may not power my current or future 13,500 BTU a/c was too much of a risk. I purchased the Champion 3100.
I used the Champion 3100 a number of times in various RV parks and had a chance to compare it in the realworld next to the Hondas and Yamahas. Long story short I finally came to the conclusion 60 db is the magic threshold when most folks start sensing something is transitioning from "background" noise to more "in-your-face" noise.
Sold the Champion 3100. Relunctantly came to the conclusion I was gonna have to spend an extra $1000 to get exactly what I needed and wanted. So, I set my sights on the Honda EU2000i's (paralleled, $2100) and EU3000iS ($1999). My first priority was much the same as you--the need for quiet. The EU3000iS is rated at 58 db at full load (a mind boggling 49 db at 25% load). Two EU2000i's (rated individually at 59 db at full load) would probably be closer to 60-61 db at full load. It was a difficult choice. After asking for advice here on RV.NET and talking to my local Honda dealer, I decided to go for paralleling two EU2000i's vs. one EU3000iS for a number of reasons. One, according to my local Honda dealer who sells a number of these units every month, it wasn't uncommon to have a customer not be able to power their 13,500 BTU a/c with the EU3000iS. To their knowledge no one had ever had problems powering their 13,500 BTU a/c with paralleled EU2000i's (two EU2000i's have an extra 1000 watts of headroom vs. one EU3000iS). Two, was the portability issue. I can easily carry both EU2000i's at the same time. No way could I lift the EU3000iS into the bed of my truck by myself without potentially hurting myself. Three, redundancy--one EU2000i fails, you have a backup.
My two cents . . . YMMV . . . Good Luck!
