Seeking Portable Generator recommendation/opinions

[Stormbringer]

In the market for a 5000-7000 watt unit.

Unless anybody can make other suggestions, I've narrowed it down to these two:

Makita 5,800-Watt 11 HP Portable Power Generator #G6100R (Found locally for $1700) Has the very well regarded Robins Subaru engine. 74db

DEWALT 7,000-Watt 13 HP Portable Generator #DG7000 (Currently on sale at Amazon $1500) Honda engine 76db.

Right behind reliabilty, my uttmost concern is noise. I'm in a reasonably congested residential area (40 X 100 lots) and, out of concern for my neighbors, want to buy the quitest unit out there. The consensus seems to be that Briggs and Strattons are not the motors they once were and are the loudest of the bunch.

These sized portable units meet my needs (actually exceed them) but I don't want to go lower in terms of output. They both have automatic idle adjusters to lower rpm when load demand is low, neither have electric start nor do I want to pay the $300 extra for that feature. The number of outlets are fine. The wheel kit on the DeWalt is a plus but not a deal breaker as I can either buy the kit or make an assembly for the Makita.

These are 74 and 76 db respectively. I would hope that's considerably quiter than say....a lawnmower at full throttle?

This unit will serve primarily as an emergency unit with occasional jobsite use (maybe three times a year)

Any opinions on these or other models that meet my concerns? Personal experience a plus

Thanks much,
Greg

[mpc]

Browse some of the recreational vehicle forums. Folks with smaller RVs/trailers often have to buy these things and there will be lots of feedback and recommendations. If you have a Camping World store nearby, talk to them as well. Usually they are anything but the cheapest in town (unless you join their club for extra discounts) but generally they do carry decent stuff. And most stores have the ability to set up/run generators, RV refrigerators, etc.

Many RV units have diesel motors running the generators - and some are amazingly quiet. Compare gas to diesel for run time vs. fuel load, etc. If fuel will sit in the tank for months on end you might find diesel a safer bet too - old gas often turns to varnish.

mpc

[Scottydont]

I have been the whole house route and have had a portable Coleman/Honda 3500W that ran all my critical stuff. What stuff are you planning to run? The reason I asked was that I spent $3000 doing the whole house automatic start gig hard-wired into my electrical panel which was convenient but after selling and moving, I opted to to down size to the Coleman/Honda portable for about $600 and it ran all of my critical stuff. The difference was the convenience = high dollar vs. the mid sized inexpensive portable route that ran my "minimum critical gotta have stuff" in a power outage which I have been very happy with. The two features that seem to impact the price is the wattage output, fuel source, noise rating/design . There are some Natural Gas/Propane units that are pretty cool. You don't have to worry about running out of traditional gas if you have a fitting to your Natural gas line but there are a little spendy. Some of Hondas run as quiet as 60DB. I can tell you that the Coleman/Honda one I had was not one the quiet variety. There are lots of articles on the internet but it boils down to fairly accurately calculating your wattage needs and work from there.

[Uncle Cracker]

One of the big keys to quiet are the throttle speeds required of the generator. A generator of larger capacity than what you need that has an automatic throttle control will run the motor only as fast as needed for the load, and this can result in much reduced sound levels. Many cheaper gas types have what they call throttle controls, but these are usually just devised to run either at fast idle, which is not much help, or wide open. It's really not the same as a truly automatic throttle. Diesel machines are usually quieter than gas, and those made for RV or marine use are quieter as well. Kohler and Onan both market gensets that are about as quiet as it gets, but these are very pricey. Best advice I can give is to pay attention to the noise level (db) specs to a point, but then go where a dealer can demo those units you are interested in, because the noise levels published in the ads are often embellished to make the product more attractive by comparison to its competition.