RV FEATURE
MYTH
3
ANY LEVEL OF NOISE WILL SOUND
THE SAME TO ALL PEOPLE
Noise is ‘unwanted sound’. Its intensity can be
measured but is largely assessed by whoever is
subjected to it.
Most generator makers quote noise levels (that
they invariably refer to as ‘sound’) at seven metres
from the running unit. They do so, however, using
units on the so-called decibels (dB) scale. This
may confuse because that’s a logarithmic scale
– every increase of 10 dB is equivalent to a
seemingly doubling of perceived sound. One or
two dB difference in sound level may be only
barely perceptible to most people, but ten most
certainly would.
As a rough guide, a Yamaha 2.4 kVA inverter-
generator that has a noise level of 59 dB is much
the same as a few people conversing. Whether
or not this offends depends on the normal
background sound level. That 59 dB might be
only a minor disturbance during the day, but it
may offend in remote campsites at night.
A further issue is that the dB scale is a measure
of pressure. How it is perceived by the human ear
26 \
uses a weighted scale, such as dBA. Because of
this, (say) 60 dB from one generator may sound
quite different from another. That level depends
also on the load, and that too is rarely disclosed.
MYTH
4
OUR GENERATOR IS
ENVIRONMENTALLY CLEAN
Portable
generators
produce
carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter,
sulphuric oxides and various organic gasses.
The environmental protection California Air
Resources Board has brought attention to small
electric generators. It lists those that meet air
quality standards, and some US states now
require such compliance.
Australia has yet to address this, but it is (globally)
inevitable.
Hint: never locate your noisy generator well away
from your RV. You might find that the next time
you attempt to use it, it will not start…