Is there a quiet NON inverter generator?

pnichols wrote:
IMHO, there's one or two 800 lb. gorillas in Honda's inverter generator sound room: They're only super-quiet (53dB) when idling or otherwise delivering in the low power ends of their power bands. Under full power they're considerably louder (59dB) than the EX650 is all the time (54dB). On top of that, Honda designed their inverter generators rev up to over 4000 RPM when delivering their full power ... which then makes them louder than they would need to be. The EX650 of course runs at a constant 3600 RPM (because it has to for electrical reasons) ... which also helps with noise control on the EX650. I wish Honda would have capped their inverter generators' maximum RPM at something closer to 3600 RPM, because in the EX650 they've proved that they can design small gasoline engines to deliver maximum horsepower at only 3600 RPM.

Not to diss your clear love of the Honda EX650 but it seems to me to be a bit disingenuous to compare it's rated noise level of 54 dbA running at a constant (and maximum) speed to an inverter model such as the EU2000i also running at full speed simply because the 2000 at that higher speed is producing ~ 2.5 times more power (550 watts rated vs 1600 watts rated). I recall one time seeing a speed vs power output chart for the EU2000i and although I don't remember now what speed it would running when outputting the same 550 watts as the EX650 it certainly wasn't anywhere near maximum speed so logically it's noise level wouldn't be anywhere near it's maximum rating either but in fact much closer to the EX650's rating. A good friend of mine regrets deeply selling his own EX650, in my case I've owned two different EU2000i models, each chosen over the EU1000i because the 2K not only handles any battery charging task but also easily powers any appliance we use in the camper, especially my wife's hair dryer (on HIGH - most important I'm told ;) ) whereas the 1K won't. According to the EX650 article you linked to an EX650 actually weighs 57 lbs, probably close to 60 lbs with oil and gas compared to my EU2000i which runs ~ 50 lbs fully loaded. I've added an hour meter to mine, perhaps I should have added a rev counter as well, then I could have directly compared engine speed to power output ... regardless, the fact remains that an EU2000i outputting 550 watts won't be running much off it's ECO speed anyway and therefore will have a rated noise level not much different to an EX650 running it's one and only maximum speed. Apples to apples. :W