I was reading a thread on the various merits of Quartzite, AZ boondocking locals, and one person wrote that the only thing he hears at night was a Honda generator 150 to 200 yards from him.That's up to two football fields. I've been closer than that, and couldn't hear my Yamaha IF2000iS at all. Are those Hondas louder?The Yamaha has this scrunched-up bunch of wires in a disk shape that clamps on the end of the exhaust pipe, which I think acts as a muffler as well as a spark arrestor. Does the Honda have anything like that?The disk has to be cleaned about every oil change, but If you can hear Hondas two football fields away, it's worth it.

Red and blue are about the same when it comes to noise. Even yellow isn't that much louder.It all depends on a noise threshold. At night when in the woods and the wind is still, my Yamaha can carry quite a ways. However, in the daytime with the rush of traffic noise that can make a generator inaudible from 50-100 feet away. There are a lot of variable.I'd look at other differences first. The biggest reason why I'd recommend Honda is that they have parts available -everywhere-. Yamaha parts are harder to find, and service... well, get the service book and DIY, or expect a few weeks as it gets shipped to a depot to be worked on.

Rmack1 wrote:.. one person wrote that the only thing he hears at night was a Honda generator 150 to 200 yards from him.That's up to two football fields. I've been closer than that, and couldn't hear my Yamaha IF2000iS at all. Are those Hondas louder?It's difficult to know the circumstances the Q person was in. It's also hard to know if that's an offhand remark, or if he really went over and looked at what was actually running. It may have been an old honda, non-inverter style. It may have been an eu2000i with a load on it. It can be so quiet in the desert, at night, that you can hear all kinds of noises from a long distance, especially if there are no obstructions between you and the source. Ambient noise covers that up during daylight hours. Frankly, I don't see that many Yamaha's, so it hard to say. I would imagine is about a toss-up.

I have done a lot of parking in mall parking lots, and the noise not only travels across the tarmack, but bounces off the buildings for a double whammy. Not good when trying to be inconspicuous. :(I bought the eu2000i for the low noise, pure sine wave, compact size, etc., and most definitely for the access to service across North America. Much less expensive than the Yamaha, as well.Noise ratings:Honda 53 - 59 dBYamaha 51.5 - 61 dB(assuming same distances)

Thanks, guys.How about that wire disk thing? What does the Hondas have for a muffler/spark arrestor?

Rmack1 wrote:That's up to two football fields. I've been closer than that, and couldn't hear my Yamaha IF2000iS at all. Are those Hondas louder?You have just learned to ignore it.Ask someone to turn it off while your back is turned in the quiet of the evening. You will hear the change.For the price of either you can self install some solar and small inverter.

Honda or Yamaha Generators; which is quietest? | Good Sam Community

2oldman
Explorer II
Feb 05, 2015
Rmack1 wrote:
.. one person wrote that the only thing he hears at night was a Honda generator 150 to 200 yards from him.

That's up to two football fields. I've been closer than that, and couldn't hear my Yamaha IF2000iS at all. Are those Hondas louder?
It's difficult to know the circumstances the Q person was in. It's also hard to know if that's an offhand remark, or if he really went over and looked at what was actually running. It may have been an old honda, non-inverter style. It may have been an eu2000i with a load on it.

It can be so quiet in the desert, at night, that you can hear all kinds of noises from a long distance, especially if there are no obstructions between you and the source. Ambient noise covers that up during daylight hours.

Frankly, I don't see that many Yamaha's, so it hard to say. I would imagine is about a toss-up.
mlts22
Explorer
Feb 05, 2015
Red and blue are about the same when it comes to noise. Even yellow isn't that much louder.

It all depends on a noise threshold. At night when in the woods and the wind is still, my Yamaha can carry quite a ways. However, in the daytime with the rush of traffic noise that can make a generator inaudible from 50-100 feet away. There are a lot of variable.

I'd look at other differences first. The biggest reason why I'd recommend Honda is that they have parts available -everywhere-. Yamaha parts are harder to find, and service... well, get the service book and DIY, or expect a few weeks as it gets shipped to a depot to be worked on.

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Honda or Yamaha Generators; which is quietest?

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