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How much do you have to spend to get a generator that doesn't sound like a clapped out black cab and take up your entire load space?
Honda eu10 is the only one I've been stood next to that is truly quiet.
We have a sanli 2stroke. It's marketed as silent. It's shit and loud we don't use it. Got lots of solar on roof and 2*115ah batteries And we never worry about power.
Also borrowed a Clarke 4 stroke. Besides being huge it was also loud.
What you needing a generator to run
I've got the Honda eu20i which is very good - quiet and small, however they're about £1K new. Had to go with that instead of the eu10i because it needed to produce enough power so my wife could use her hairdryer when we're wildcamping in the motorhome!
I've had a 2Kw Kipor which is basically a Honda rip off. It was reasonably quiet whilst not under load. Nicely made and never gave any trouble. It was a wee bit big to lug around so I sold it and bought a Honda EU10. Smaller, lighter and quieter than the Kipor but obviously less power. As a backup power supply for the motorhome it's been great. I honestly can't fault the thing and if you're stood more than 10m away it almost can't be heard. Costco do its bigger 2Kw brother for around a £1000.
I had a side line hobby for awhile buying spares or repair generators off ebay to fix up.
Honda's Ex650 was the quietest suitcase generator ever made on a dB per W output basis, old school non invertors design so a bit 'noisey' for delicate electrical stuff plugged into it. Only produces 650w though. I've got a mint hardly used one for the zombie apocalypse.
Failing that - Honda's EU range are quiet as they are variable speed depending on load so will tick over on a light load keeping the noise down.
However running larger genny's with light load leads to bore glazing and increased wear - you are best loading up the engine and giving it some work to do if you are bothered about longevity.
Yamaha also make some small quiet suitcase models but price wise they are near to Honda so not much point choosing one.
The Kipors I bought always had inverters problems whereas Honda's where more often than not stale fuel/gummed carbs.
Love the engineering on older small metal cased Honda's.