Ok to run a generator at night if no one is around?

[SlowBro]

Are there safety issues for running a genny at night, outside of CO concerns? In another thread, a member wrote this:

2oldman wrote:
On a windless night, your area will be blanketed in CO. I've known very few boondockers to run a/c on a generator, and nobody who does this at night.

As for CO, I am planning on extending it to the max length of my cable, 75 feet away, to cut down on noise. That'd have to be a lot of CO to be a problem. It'd be chained around a tree.

As for noise, I won't be a rude neighbor. Before going camping I'll see if there will be anyone close by. The first planned location is on a friend's property, so we'll know who will be there ahead of time. Based on what he's told me about the place, I don't believe anyone will be close enough to hear it. The genny is rated at 68 dB at 20 feet, thus at 75 feet it's about 55 dB, same as normal office noise or a quiet stream. And when our windows are closed, I doubt we'll hear it at all. If his neighbors are as far away has he says noise won't be a problem.

Are there safety issues? What do boondockers do if their wife won't go if they can't run an A/C at night? Leave her at home?

[SuzzeeeQ2012]

pnichols wrote:

SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
I like quiet at 3 am and if I can hear a hummmm it drives me nuts

Wait till tinnitus sets in ... you may always hear the same sound at 3 am, then. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be Honda tinnitus instead of contractor tinnitus. 😉
Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be Honda tinnitus instead of contractor tinnitus. 😉

(Both the DW and myself have it now.)

hehe

[mrw8i]

pnichols wrote:

SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
I like quiet at 3 am and if I can hear a hummmm it drives me nuts

Wait till tinnitus sets in ... you may always hear the same sound at 3 am, then. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be Honda tinnitus instead of contractor tinnitus. 😉

(Both the DW and myself have it now.)

And tinnitus gets louder with ear plugs, because you no longer have the white noise of the outside world masking it.

[pnichols]

SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
I like quiet at 3 am and if I can hear a hummmm it drives me nuts

Wait till tinnitus sets in ... you may always hear the same sound at 3 am, then. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be Honda tinnitus instead of contractor tinnitus. 😉

(Both the DW and myself have it now.)

[SuzzeeeQ2012]

Veebyes wrote:
Interesting that most of the responses have been concerned with the safety & noise comfort of the operator of the genny with not much concern about how far is far enough to the next camper?

On a quiet night genny noise is going to carry a long long way. The next camper, who happens to be running his own, won't hear it. The tenter, or other other not sound insulated camper, will.

We all know how far the sound of somebody mowing the grass somewhere in the neighbourhood travels on a quiet day.

True, distances will very depending on genny & RPM it is running but still the noise will travel & there will be those who will not appreciate hearing the drone of a genny at 3AM.

yes, yes, yes ^^^^^


I like quiet at 3 am and if I can hear a hummmm it drives me nuts 😛

[SuzzeeeQ2012]

pnichols wrote:
Sooo ... a contractor generator was LOUDER than the engines at a NASCAR race??

At the most recent races I attended, the combined straight-pipe un-muffled full race V8 sound from all the cars (it was pure vintage Cobra races in CA) was head and shoulders above any noise on Earth I had ever heard. I never could have heard any generator - contractor or otherwise - at that track.

Are NASCAR races becoming something less than they used to be. :h and :B

we were camped in the unreserved RV spots, not anywhere near the track lol

[riven1950]

Ok to run a generator at night if no one is around?

Absolutely not! Because if no one is around you would not need the generator and would be wasting gas! 🙂

[SlowBro]

Veebyes wrote:
Interesting that most of the responses have been concerned with the safety & noise comfort of the operator of the genny with not much concern about how far is far enough to the next camper?

It was mentioned. Neighbors are in houses, not tents.

[Veebyes]

Interesting that most of the responses have been concerned with the safety & noise comfort of the operator of the genny with not much concern about how far is far enough to the next camper?

On a quiet night genny noise is going to carry a long long way. The next camper, who happens to be running his own, won't hear it. The tenter, or other other not sound insulated camper, will.

We all know how far the sound of somebody mowing the grass somewhere in the neighbourhood travels on a quiet day.

True, distances will very depending on genny & RPM it is running but still the noise will travel & there will be those who will not appreciate hearing the drone of a genny at 3AM.

[_DJ_1]

pnichols wrote:

DJ wrote:
I camp/fish down on the Snake River in Hells Canyon. There is a reason it is called that. The afternoon heat can become unbearable and rarely cools off at night.

I run my genny and AC from early afternoon until my first bathroom break after going to bed. Like others have stated make sure your alarms are in good working order!!

If that generator in your photo is what I think it is - a Honda EU3000iS - then there's probably good reason to be able to use it in a whole bunch of camping situations where other generators might not be appropriate - including at night.

At a loudness level of only 49dB @ 1/4 of it's continuous rated power level of 2800 watts, I think that makes it just about the quietest small portable generator in the world:

http://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu3000is

I've "tried to hear" certain large trailered low RPM diesel generators at shows that were quieter, but I don't put them in the "portable" category.

(We use a small portable Honda generator for some things when camping that might be the world's quietest small portable generator in the world at it's full power (54dB), but it won't run a microwave or an air conditioner.)

Yes it is the Honda 3000. I compared generators for some time before deciding on this one. It is a very quiet generator. I believe even more so than my Honda 2000. A very close second is the Yamaha , forget which model but somewhere around 2800 - 3000. The Yamaha had a 500 watt booster which was nice for starting ACs. I would be happy with either one but I like my Honda Dealer better.

I belong to an ATV club which does weekend campouts. We will "circle the wagons" and have a fire in the middle. Always in the boondocks not campgrounds. When the conversation turns to generators and I tell them mine is running they have to walk over closer to my camper to see if it is.

[SlowBro]

It's all those greenie weenies making them more efficient, Lawl... I think they meant after the racing stopped, at night.

As for the noise, I have run it outside on our front porch. Indoors 15 feet away through single pane windows, it's a moderate hum but certainly not a racket, by far. I believe the user manual when it says 68 dB at 20 feet, and the calculator I posted earlier on that says 55 dB at 75 feet, and the engineering book that says to subtract 29 dB through a single pane window.

Amazon and Home Depot reviewers also commented on the noise, said it's not terribly bad. E.g. "The noise level was much quieter than I expected, nice surprise" and "This generator's motor is mounted on ruber doohickies that probably help keep noise down and bolts from shaking off" and "I didn't see it in the description, but the noise level is 67 or 68dB at ~20ft. The only way to go quieter is to get one of the little ~$1000 inverter generators!"

[pnichols]

Sooo ... a contractor generator was LOUDER than the engines at a NASCAR race??

At the most recent races I attended, the combined straight-pipe un-muffled full race V8 sound from all the cars (it was pure vintage Cobra races in CA) was head and shoulders above any noise on Earth I had ever heard. I never could have heard any generator - contractor or otherwise - at that track.

Are NASCAR races becoming something less than they used to be. :h and :B

[time2roll]

If no one hears the generator is it even running?

Otherwise with a CO detector or two let it rip if you prefer and no other campers in half mile.

[SuzzeeeQ2012]

4x4van wrote:

cdevidal wrote:
Haha!

By the way the three gennies I have access to are all loud. Two construction-style and one 2 stroke. But at 75 feet any of them are quiet enough, as calculated in the first posts, and at that distance are barely heard through even a single paned window. His closest neighbor is likely 200 feet away, or maybe more.

I don't antcipate any safety issues as long as it's downwind and my CO detector is fresh, which it is. The big concern at this point is the price of gas, even at $2.30/gal. But I'll just split that cost among friends. We are hoping to camp out on the new property my friend just bought 🙂

I have a hard time believing that a construction generator can barely be heard at 75'; just don't buy it. We camped once at the Colorado River, boondocking, and one of our group had a construction generator. Set it up 100' away; still easily heard in our camp. Ran it most of the day (summer, running the A/C). When he turned it off in the late afternoon, campers in the next campsite over (at least 75 YARDS away, yelled out "Thank You!!".

So if your neighbors are inside, perhaps it won't bother them, but if they go outside...I'd lay odds that they will indeed hear it, and that it will indeed be annoying. IMO, a construction type generator should never be used for camping, and certainly not all night long.

that happened at nascar at Phoenix last year lol The guy had run the things for 2 days. When it ran out of gas, the whole area cheered and clapped lol

[SlowBro]

It's a 30A cord with a 20A-rated adapter at the end. I was asking about the adapter in another thread, which prompted this thread.