ONAN VRS INVERTER GEN

^^^ 5500 is a real machine. Twin cyl 1800 RPM. Microquiet is single 3600 RPM.
We have a 4KY series 4KW Microquiet. Anything but! That said, runs faultlessly off stabilized unleaded from the road tank. I'm glad we have it.

Depends on which ONAN, how well installed and which Honad

I have a Onan Emerald Gold 5500 (At least that's what it says it is)

Standing next to it under load I can clearly hear the blowers on teh A/C's. I can talk to others without raising my voice (I do have a Gen-Turi which "Modifies" the sound a bit.. I have a hard time hearing it from INSIDE the RV.

The following observations were made at Quartsite some years ago..
Kipor Inverter Generator some distance away. Easily heard. annoying little brat too.

Honda's Outside "The big tent" lots of crowd noise

EU-1000i.. no load. I could not hear it. I could feel the exhaust against my leg but I could nto hear it

EU-2000i. No load. I could hear it, my companion could not and the sales guy SAID he could not either

EU-2000 1/2 we all could hear it. Normal speaking voices however
EU-2000 at full load.> We had to "Speak up" louder

So that's subjective.. But it gives you and idea

I do hear my Onan when the A/C's engage. but only when they are engaging. and there is not a lot of other sound about.. Since the dash light is not flashing I have to open the window to hear it start when I want roof air while driving.

I assume you're asking about Onans in the 3kW to 4kW ballpark. The bigger ones make less noise. The Onan noise depends a lot on the installation in a particular RV. My "Microquiet" is unreasonably loud inside the RV. Others with the same generator in other RVs have reported it to be pretty quiet. As already pointed out the issue is not so much exhaust noise, but rather mechanical noise. When boondocking, I carry an inverter generator to charge the battery and run the Onan for only short intervals. Opinion-wise, I doubt than any Microquiet installation would be as quiet as an eu3000i.

moved from Technology Corner

Which Onan?
My Onan 4000 is louder but not exhaust. Seems compartment makes it louder. Newer Onan gensets are quieter then mine.