I am contemplating a generator but fear the noise factor. I'm thinking 10k - 12k watts. Can mufflers be attached to drop the db level? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I've been running an 8,000 watt portable generator to supplement my electricity for the last few months. I built a small shed 8 foot by 6 foot, and went to the nearest thrift store and picked up a bunch of old mattresses to line the walls of my room.
I cut a hole in the roof and installed a 1500 CFM power vent to get the exhaust out of the room, and cut three 4 inch holes in the bottom of the wall closest to where the intake was going to be on the generator.
When the door is closed, it's pretty quiet. When you're standing 10 feet from it, it sounds about as loud as a pressure washer that someone is running a block or two away, fairly quiet. If you have a decent sized backyard, this is effective enough to not hear on the other side of a fence in the neighbor's yard. I don't have a DB meter, but I would say it's maybe 10db with the mattresses and door shut. It's about 90-100db without insulation.
I just purchased a 15KW Onan residential standby generator last week, and am in the process of installing it. It's HUGE, weighs over 1000 lbs, is powered by either natural gas or propane on an inline 4-cylinder engine, and is about 60db with just the exhaust system. I'm hoping that when it's installed and running where the old generator was, that it will be completely inaudiable with the insulation in place.
At the very least, it will be EXTREMELY quiet. I should have it in place this week... gotta take the door out to fit it in the shed first. (I should have planned better when I built it... but I didn't anticipate ever putting in a massive generator!)
Hope this helps
T8r