Custom Sound Insulated Generator Shed Video
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- First off I apologize for the wind noise. Needless to say it was windy that day.
I spent a lot of time looking at other people's videos and getting ideas, so I want to give back some of that by showing my generator shed for my WEN GN875i inverter that I have setup for whole house backup. I designed it in Sketchup so that I could get the dimensions exactly as needed and maximize the use of materials.
The high cfm exhaust fan provides fantastic airflow, which allows me to run the generator with all doors closed even in summer. The Rockwool Safe and Sound along with the intake baffle drastically cut down on the noise level. Of course there are a lot of small details I left out of the video for time's sake, but hopefully these are enough to give you some ideas for your project.
I didn't build the shed for the sole purpose of sound insulation. I built it to provide a reasonably secure place out of the weather to store it where I can also run it from during all types of weather. Sound insulation is a by product and bonus.
Here is a list of specific materials I used:
My Generator - wenproducts.co...
US Carburetion Motor Snorkel Kit (tri-fuel) - motorsnorkel.c...
Natural Gas hose - www.amazon.com...
Additional Quick Disconnect - www.amazon.com...
Rockwool Safe and Sound - www.lowes.com/...
Foam Board Insulation - www.homedepot....
50amp Generator Power Inlet - www.amazon.com...
Exhaust Fan - www.amazon.com...
Exhaust Tubing - www.ebay.com/i...
2” Malleable Iron Pipe Flange - www.acehardwar...
2” Compression Coupler - www.lowes.com/...
Rubber Exhaust Gasket - www.amazon.com...
Fiberglass Exhaust Wrap - www.amazon.com...
🤯 I see now that the purchase of my generator is just the beginning
It all depends of course on what you want to do and what you want/need. Some people just buy an outside cover and build a simple roof or something. To really make full use though back-feeding your panel with an interlock device is the way to go.
I feel you 🤣 my neighbors just has his outside and it’s so loud. I’m wanting to buy one because we’ve been getting more power outages recently and I don’t want so much noise.
That's the most comprehensive and utterly impressive generator shed I've ever seen. Excellent work, Sir!
Your attention to every detail is spectacular!
I appreciate that. I got a lot of ideas from others on UA-cam and just want to give some back that will hopefully help give other people ideas they can use.
Putting the electrical and natural gas connections in the shed are without a doubt the best updates I've done. They make it so handy that I can just leave the gen connected. ua-cam.com/video/TIKqynd_0OE/v-deo.htmlsi=ohYRHB75FycYG_3u
I super appreciate what you did here. I love that you walk through the complete set up. I love that you started with the ambient audio reading. I loved that. I got to see the reading with you talking. This should end up getting saved big time.
Thank you. Giving ambient audio readings and the dB rating when talking is the only way I can think of to show the difference between running and not running. My little $20ish meter isn't going to be super accurate, but it gives you the idea. I built the shed to provide a secure place to store and be able to run my gen from. Sound insulation is a bonus of doing so.
Great Shed and explanation video. Lot of good features. For future reference GenExhaust has exhaust adapter fittings that bolt directly to the two bolt spark arrestor flange. They come with high temp gaskets and longer bolts. Great shed and video.
Thanks 👍
I did make the bent inlet with Rockwool in it which works very well. I thought about doing a bent outlet of some sort on the exhaust end, but there is about 1/2 acre between the back of the shed and the closest neighbor, so even though it is louder of course on the exhaust side, it's really no big deal, and being directed away from my house isn't a problem from in my house. I also didn't want to restrict the exhaust fan or gen exhaust in any way.
It wasn't much more to build the shed than a Suncast type shed would be, and hopefully I think I can expect this shed to outlast me. I even spray it when I perimeter treat my house every couple of months to keep out bugs and termites.
I’m a big time DYI’er but I’m not sure I’m with you on this one. The shed cost has to be triple that of the WEN generator. Wouldn’t you get similar noise results just buying a 3X higher quality generator that operates at lower noise levels?
Good question. I've got about $900ish in this shed, which is about the price of the generator. This is not including the cost of the back feeding wiring/hookup which to me would need to be done with any portable gen I got.
There is no such thing as a really quiet generator in this wattage range. You could maybe parallel 2 smaller Honda type gens, but the cost would be multiple times as much.
As I mentioned in my video comments, I didn't build this just for sound insulation. I built this to have a secure place to store and run my gen in any weather. Sound insulation is a by-product of this. If I really was motivated by trying to get the quietest possible sound, I could easily have spent 4 times this much.
2 things to consider . 1: Fan airflow switch and 2: over temp switch. with a bypass button for start mode (Engine starts while you hold the button once fan is running you can let go the button) put these switches in the automatic shutdown circuit (low oil) If th efan stops and or the enclosure gets too hot gen shuts down.
Someone else mentioned an over temp switch. I wouldn't wire a fan switch though because the fan is thermostatically controlled. If it is really cold out it won't run until around 60f. I need to look around and see if I can find an example to go by for the over temp switch.
@@HowToDoStuf So the only reason for the fan sensor is to deal with a circumstance where the fan motor fails. An over temp sensor would probably work just a bit later since the enclosure will get pretty hot without air flow. Set it for 140f and it will work even on the hottest days. Lack of Airflow may cause some fuel mix issues but that would be less of an issue than heat. I worked here for 15 years as an electrical specialist. ua-cam.com/video/FmmNRaKpBTI/v-deo.html
@@HowToDoStuf Thinking a little more, I would not run the fan on a thermostatic control I would have it run full time whenever the generator was running. (less to go wrong) and fan noise is a relatively minor concern.
@@enriquelaroche5370 It's not the fan noise that would be my concern. If it is cold out in the middle of winter, which is TN is like down in the upper 20s/lower 30s, I think it would be better for the generator to have the shed warm up a bit rather than run it in the cold.
@@enriquelaroche5370 I am looking into wiring in a temp sensor. It looks easy enough. According to the schematic my oil level sensor is a normally open switch. I'm going to order 50c/122f bimetal disks from Amazon.
This is perfect example how not to do sound supressing box for generator. The box does not suppress the sound very well. There s lots of improve, you should be able go down to 25-30 decybels if you correct same mistakes.
One, major one is the exchaust system. Way too noisy, use your imagination what you can replace it with . Many options on the market.
Given that ambient sound outside is around 45-50db, I'd like to know how you are going to get an open frame generator to run at 25-30db? That's simply nonsense. Could I do more to suppress sound? Of course I could, but there is the question of cost vs benefit. For an emergency generator it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot of money. If the goal is silence at all costs, it's going to get expensive.
As for the exhaust, I don't care if the exhaust pointing away from my house at my nearest neighbor 1/2 acre away is a bit louder. At that distance it isn't loud for them, and I don't get the noise from it inside my house.
I ran mine last week one day for about 5 hours because a car took out a power pole. My neighbor's incessantly barking whining dogs were outside 1/2 acre away and they were far louder.
I don't know about the purported db level achievable, but I tend to agree. Measuring the generator inside the box, even with a couple sides open, is almost certainly going to be louder than it would be in an open field. Without a direct A/B comparison, It is hard to say how much sound is being muffled. My guess, especially when the fan is running, is 5db or less.
However, if the primary goal is to have a pleasant looking place to conveniently store the generator ready to go when needed, I think this is a magnificent solution, even if it doesn't really silence it at all, as it at least protects it from the elements and theft, while having the means to supply it with sufficient fresh air.
Real nice build. We survived Irma in Florida. We bought the generator soon after purchasing our house. It worked great. The only downside was the noise level. I am planning my build and your video is very helpful.
Hurricanes are sure no joke. When my dad was alive he lived in SE Florida his area got creamed some years back. I hope my video does help you. That is what I made it for.
Nice job. Like the fact you used a large fan; most don't. As for sound proofing you can spend a ton of money doing it right. In your case you have a baffle/shroud over the air intake side of the compartment but nothing on the exhaust side. If however, inside temps do not get more than 10-15F above outside air don't worry about it. I built shrouds on both ends of the compartment. The open intake area of the inlet side should be the same area (min.) as the exh. vent area to maximize effectiveness. You might want to put a bend at the end of the eng. exhaust ,outside the compartment and put an auto muffler.
In my case I used a MLV high density sheet on the inside of the compartment as a sound barrier and overlayed that with a wool trype of insulation similar to what you used. The wool is a sound absorbent material. However I spent a lot of money doing it but for logistical reasons I had to locate it outside the main bedroom.
I don't understand why so many gen sheds have tiny little fans. I've seen that over and over also. I first had two 12" exhaust fans and they just didn't move enough air to keep the gen from cooking. With this fan, I only see about a 5 degree (f) difference even when it's hot outside.
I really haven't concerned myself too much with the exhaust side as there is 1/2 acre between me and the house behind me, and if I'm having to run one, they are probably going to have one running outside blaring away. I'm only seeing about a 3db increase in the exhaust side.
I don't want to get into a bunch of money or OCD about silencing the gen to the absolute max, especially given that our power is very stable, and so far in 1 1/2 yrs we haven't lost power for more than 15 min. We had a tornado go through a mile away before I built this which was the motivation to do so given that we were without power for 4 days.
I have started looking into motorcycle mufflers to see if they are worth doing. I also think I'm going to put inflatable wheels on it instead of solid to lessen vibration to ground.
Your project sounds neat. Any pics or video?
@@thevoigts651 Maybe put a hore mat under the genset to reduce vibration and hence transmitted noise. Another item to think about is an auto shutoff temperature control, in case of overheating. I like the magnetized flap for air intake, but what if it is forgotten by someone else starting the system? An auto shutoff may save your genset.
@@billpitts9802 I'll look into that horse mat. I looked at an antifatigue mat but nothing fit the space very well. I have a piece of rubber matting but it doesn't do much. I think I'm also going to put pneumatic tires under it to help with vibrations. I like the idea of an auto temp shutoff. I've seen where people built a shutoff that interrupts the low oil switch for a cutoff. I've got a remote temp sensor so I can keep an eye on temps in the shed from inside of the house.
WOW, Home run buddy!!!!💪🏻⚡
Thanks ✌
Man, this is a BUILD!
Thank you! 😁
I like the shed build. I didn't see the fan vents open during the test but I applaud how large of a fan you used. I'm using three fans total about 2700 CFM but in Texas it still gets incredibly hot in the gen shed.
Thank you. The fan I've got is rated at 3368cfm, and when I tested it last summer when it was about 93f out, the shed only rose about 3-4 degrees. It was maybe 50f out when I made this video so the fan wasn't turning on. I have the thermostat on it set to about 60f. TN however is no Texas to be sure!
@Joshua Kiser Do you have a pic of what you are referring to?
@@thevoigts651 Yes I do can email you pictures. I'm running a Generac 17500 and it can get 110 to 120 in the shed when the Gen is running. I have Rockwool batting as well and at first was worried about sound but now all my neighbors have standbys so not so concerned about sound as I am HEAT.
I ran my gen for about 5 hours straight a couple of weeks ago because someone creamed a power pole around the corner which knocked out the power. It was only about 70f outside, and my gen shed got up to and stayed at about 80f (doors closed of course). I've gotten a lot of comments from people that I think are a bit over zealous about sound and don't factor in the heat issue.
Fwiw the 2" flexible exhaust pipe functions as an uncapped muffler... expansion chamber style. The exit of the 2" can be reduced to the WEN exhaust size (looking like 3/4"?)... so, slide a 3/4" pipe into the 2" pipe after capping it. Try different lengths to dampen the pulses. Aim for a solid flow of air coming out with little to no pulses.
The reason I went from 3/4" to 2" is to minimize restriction on adding pipe. I see way too many builds where they are adding a lot of backpressure by merely lengthening the exhaust pipe
I suggest creating a labyrinth path ( full width and height of shed fan walls save for required air flow ) for for the inlet and exhaust air flow generated by the fans.
My guess is much sound is escaping thru the bare existing fan louvers.
Engine exhaust may be routed thru same labyrinthe path as shed exhaust fan flow.
That looks like it will still be there after the house blows away. Wonderful craftsmanship.
Edit: Another thought is that aluminum backed insulation is reflecting not absorbing the sound. Would "rock wool" be a superior absorber?
This is the best build I've seen thus far
Wow. I appreciate that.
Looks good, you could add a "hunting" muffler to the unit. They attach to ATVs to help quiet them down even more. It may drop your decibels even lower. However 66-72 is pretty good!
I don't have an ATV so I'm not familiar with that. I'll take a look at that. The decibel rating I'm reading with the shed is a drastic improvement over just the generator. I'n my bedroom on the back of our house where the gen shed is, I can barely hear the gen over the cicadas this time of year.
This video helps me decide that i wasn't going to completely build one. However i found a free dog house on craigslist that worked great for my build
Great video and nice setup.. so much nicerthan my hokey plastic sun shed a bunch of boom mat...
Thank you. I'm not a huge fan of the plastic sheds but if you don't have the time or tools/experience to build one, they can work just fine. The main problems I see with them are lack of sound absorption, not very sturdy, and most I've seen have way too small/low cfm exhaust fans. With the LP Smart side I used, a real shed should handily outlast plastic.
even without the "shed" my honda eu3000 is far quieter. i use just a simple dog house shed from tractor supply. no insulation, might look into it? i do not know what happened to my sound meter, but it does make it even less noticeable. my belief is why tell everybody what i have. i use only one fan, but did use a large air filter and sheet metal with all kinds of very small holes to jeep bugs and mice out. no problem getting air in or out of it. and yes the small cheap solar is worth tripple its weight in gold.
Thanx
Good job! You have everything covered! The only, minor thing, I would suggest, is not coiling the generator cord. I would suggest cutting it down in length or buying a shorter one.
Thank you. I did go back and shorten the cord. I also buried a natural gas line and put a riser into the shed so now my natural gas hookup and power hookups are both in the shed. I plan on doing a follow up video of this.
Wow! I'm impressed. Good job!@@HowToDoStuf
Thanks for the positive feedback. I appreciate it. 😁
How much air is needed for a specific engine under load? (Nice presentation)
I ran 10-kW (SF-10) air cooled generators's in the Army, military manuals are excellent and my generators manual specify the number of cubic feet of air flow needed to keep the generator operating properly factoring in ambient temperature. I saw artillery outfits bunkering the generators In a hillside and sandbagging up the entrances leaving minimum airflow and causing the engines to fail prematurely due to overheating.
Conclusion recommendation:
1. Engineer for safety and proper electrical and cooling of your generator before you plan a generator enclosure.
2. Consider installing remote censoring for your enclosures such as high temperature alarm, and if you generator has alarms work out a way of reloading them to your living area.
3. For insurance purposes and liability check pull a permit
All very valid points. I initially had tried using 2 - 12" exhaust fans, but they simply didn't pull enough air. That is why I switched to the higher cfm 20" fan. It seems to do the job well. I see a lot of enclosures with very tiny fans that I no way are going to adequately ventilate.
I do have a therm-pro remote temp sensor in the shed so I can see the shed temp from inside our house. Per another person's recommendation, I am going to install a temp disc into the low oil cutoff as a failsafe should I be running it and the exhaust fan fail.
This is how its done. Great DIY Job! Might wanna clean up the excess concrete in the back to make this project really shine.
Thank you very much. I just left the concrete pieces there for now to keep down the weeds. I need to extend the mulch around that side. Note I said weeds, not grass.
Ticks all the boxes for me. Also the first Tri-fuel I've ever seen. You are either an electrical engineer or an electrician - the way you picked up on NEC, transfer switch and two inch Teck aluminum connectors MacGyvered onto the custom exhaust, brilliant. What if you elbowed the exhaust down - would that attenuate at all? Congrats on your 7-9kW package of independence.
Thank you very much. Tri-fuel is nice for its flexibility. I work in building maintenance for a federal dept, so I have to be aware of NEC codes, plumbing, computers, etc. I am no electrician or plumber per se, but I have to be somewhat of a jack of many trades/master of none, and I've been working with my hands building and fixing stuff since I was a teenager (way too long ago at this point). What I don't know I research and try to learn. I sure don't do everything perfectly by any means, but I do try to go according to codes so things are done right. I did plenty of research, Youtubing, reading, etc. for this project. I watched a slew of videos to get ideas before I dove into this project and while I was working on it. I like designing things out things like this in Sketchup to scale so I can know what I plan to do before I cut a single board. I made several changes to that plan, but having a plan makes the entire process much more efficient.
As for the exhaust pipe, I can't bend it down anymore because it won't bend any further. I've got it bent on the inside downward to make the exit, and its about as bent as its going to go as a result.
Now that's a well thought out generator setup.
Thank you. I actually designed my shed in Sketchup before I built it so that I could get it just the way I want. I haven't posted it yet but I now have both the electrical backfeed and the natural gas hookups inside of the shed so I don't even have to run a cord or hose to the house. This makes it very convenient.
I got Down to 56 db with My Home Made Muffler Silencer only with Ply-wood 😅
Want some proof just ask me the Way
Awesome shed. Did you float the neutral in the generator so that you only have one neutral ground bond located in your main service panel? Great value with that WEN inverter gen set putting out clean power.
Thank you. Good question and important point. My WEN comes already with a floating neutral. From what I read many of the inverter gens do. This gen is rated at like 2% thd or less, and I've read where this was independently verified with an oscilloscope.
@@thevoigts651😊😊😊😊
wish man camped next to me had this
That's too funny...
Thank you Sir! That is exactly the design I need.
You're welcome.
Great Job got a lot of ideas from your video Thanks
I hope you did. That's why I posted the video - to try to help others with ideas just like I got ideas from others
Nice professional build...good job.
Thanks for the nice comment. Especially given that this happens to be my very knowledgeable sarcastic co-worker!
The best well thought out permanent Sound Box I've ever seen. Super Nice job, Thumbs Up! Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
Well thank you very much. I'm not sure it's the "best", but it really works great for me and does what I built it to do.
Nice setup. I have to ask, have you ever had to use the generator for a week straight or more? If so how much was you gas bill for that time?
I own a new duromax 13000 dual fuel but only run rec gas. It's got 8.5 gallon tank, 30 amp cord, almost everything in the house is electric. I lost power for 6 days. My wife works from home so we had to run it from 7am until around midnight only shutting off a few hours in between. We spent about $55 per day at $3.99 per gallon. Hope it helps.
I just built out my generator shed for my Champion 12/10kW Tri-Fuel. I did a similar exhaust system as yours, including the compression coupler. After about 6 hours, the coupler actually melted! Have you used your generator for such a prolonged period (I had mine going for over 48 hours straight!0 Anyone else in the comments section? Zinc has such a low melting point, that I wonder if this could be part of the issue.
I have recently seen advertising for new generators that are sound rated at only 74db. I would like to see how low the decibels would go with it running in your great shed.
The hard part about those decibels rating is the ones I see differ on how they are taken. Most I've seen rate them at 20' or more away so the ratings can be deceitful. The ratings also don't reflect the quality of the noise as the pitch and rumblings also effect perceived noise. Then there is closed VS open frame. Mine is an open frame which of course is louder than closed frame, but costed a lot less.
Excellent set-up.... Can you set-up this generator with propane ? and if so does WEN have one... THANKS for all the great ideas !
Thank you. I hope the ideas help. I installed a US Carbeuration Tri-fuel kit (as I have linked to in the description) for the purpose of being able to run on NG. They make a WEN DF875iX that is gas/propane with CO shutdown.
Nice work.
Thank you 😁
Great job. I’m envisioning building something very similar except my thought was to use metal studs & cement siding for combustibility concerns. Not sure how that will translate with sounds though.
Combustibility isn't an issue given that wood combusts at around 540-570 degrees f. Cement board is going to deflect sound not absorb it, plus cement board has very little flexibility if any.
Oh my, that is strange. The coupler is only going to be zinc plated for rust resistantance. I haven't had an issue, but I also haven't had to run it that long continuously. What part of the world do you live in? (wondering how hot out)
Awesome setup and Generator Shed!
Thanks 😁
Great design. Best I have seen and I’ve watched way too many of these videos!
Why do you have the generator ground with the copper wire?
I see so many videos that show this same set-up with grounding.
However, everything I have read and other videos I have seen on the topic, say there is no reason to ground the generator if you have it hooked up to the house through an interlock kit like you do.
Thanks for the video and great ideas.
Thank you very much. The electrical connection of course is grounded through the house ground as the neutral and ground are not bonded at the gen per NEC. My generator also has a grounding bolt on the front and recommends grounding there also. Although I don't think it is strictly necessary, you can never ground too much. In the event of a lightning strike nearby it just gives another path much closer to the gen for energy to dissipate. Not to mention for the $25 in wire and rod, why not?
also another cover for vent output will reduce dBs
Beautiful work. I applaud your effort 👏
Thank you 😁
Nice work man! 👍
Thanks! 👍
with that hard wired into your breaker box you really need to remove the ground wire. you can only have one ground wire per code. your breaker box is grounded.
That is incorrect. You can have as many ground rods as you want as long as the neutral and ground are not bonded past the main panel. You can never ground too much. You say it's against code but I am unaware of anything in NEC that says that.
From just listening, not too much improvement but I suspect there is auto-gain on the camera mic. What actually is letting you down is that exhaust. Regardless of the camera nd mic, the pulse noise is still there. You need a much larger eaxpanmsion chamber muffler inside the shed to take the pulse out.
I've thought about looking into a motorcycle muffler. The camera mic doesn't really do justice which is why I used the DB meter to give a better comparison of noise levels.
@@HowToDoStuf The pulse is still there regardless of camera, need to test a few larger chamber mufflers and stay away from "Straight-Through" designs. This why many don't like Diesels because the exhaust on a non-turbo is quite hard to deal with.
Very nice build. Good job!
Thanks!
Super nice job!
Thank you!
I saw another design that put a baffle over exhaust vent as well.
In order to use a high cfm exhaust fan with a baffle, it would have to be a big baffle as the exhaust fan I have is 20". Surprisingly I still don't get that much more sound from the exhaust fan side. I also am about 1/2 acre from the house behind me, so a little louder on that side really doesn't matter. If I had a house close behind me I may have looked at doing an exhaust baffle also.
This is a very good start almost there i do see a way to reach maximum potential, the intakneeds to add another layer out intakefeom the top line with foam and curve the air in for maximum noise control, exhaust as well, design takin from blackbox bitcoin miner, i had cushions from old couch duct taped together is shape of box intake and out take from bottom tho s shape to ingenerator shaped the noise to 30db
The diagram of the design drive.google.com/file/d/1l6cVFaS25-sYfZJzDvJsKJl0E582BdZV/view?usp=drivesdk
I'm afraid I'm not quite understanding your suggestions. I don't understand the couch cushions part either. There is no way to get 30db when ambient noise is over 40db. That simply isn't possible. I'm using a cheap sound meter so I can't really verify the db numbers. The numbers make more sense when you compare them to ambient sound level, un-muffled generator sound level, etc which is what I tried to do in the video.
Well done!
Thank you
SUPER JOB👍
Thank you! I was very glad I set this up when yesterday a car creamed a power pole by us and our power was out for about 5 hours. Cranked up the gen on NG and kept the food cold 👍
I noticed your fan louvers were not open when it was running.
The louvers on these fans don't open up all the way horizontally. The louvers spread apart maybe an inch or so when the fan is running which works fine.
Great job one question do you have a label on panel and label on the face of your meter Box basically stating that there is temporary power generator on premises so power company knows and fire department is aware
No I don't, and I'm not aware of any code requirement to do so. The interlock on my main panel however of course is a code requirement. I just honestly don't know why this would be needed. The chance of having a fire while I would be actually running on Gen power would be very slim.
Impressive!
Thank you!
I am extremely impressed. I do have one question: Based on your exhaust set-up, won't it be hard to access the spark arrestor?
I have heard on "most" generators the spark arrestor needs fairly frequent cleaning.
Thank you very much. The interval for the spark arrestor on my Gen says every 6 months or 100 hours which isn't that often. I however removed the stock spark arrestor which is basically just mesh. I put a mesh screen on the end of my exhaust outside of the shed, and on top of that the exhaust is blowing down now on my concrete paver patio. For my setup it just made sense to get rid of the thing so I don't have to remember to clean it.
Looks cool but is there an alternate air intake if you get a foot or more of snow and the one with the magnetically open-able bottom could be buried in snow?
You may be able to EMP-proof it too possibly by lining the inside of the shed with chicken-wire mesh for solar-flare and N. Korea/China/Russia/Iran/terrorism EMP threat protection?
The last and ONLY time we got anywhere near that much snow in TN was in 1993! That much snow is an apocalyptic event down here.
@@HowToDoStuf Perfect. My family lived in Alabama when I was a kid growing up and I remember them having the Blizzard of 1978 up in the NorthEast where I live now and in Alabama we just had a dusting of snow while they had drifts over 5 feet high and weeks-long power outages back up in New England. Your generator shed should do a great job anchoring your generator if any tornado alley twisters pass through the area too. Great job. :)
Nice video. How and where did you run the wires to connect them to circuit breaker panel? Thanks!
Thanks. Good question. I ran #6 Romex from the back feed breaker through the wall below my panel into the crawl space. The Romex is attached under the floor joists and run through a hole I drilled in the brick and cinderblock foundation (lined with pvc pipe to prevent chafing) into a large junction box. Romex is not rated for wet underground use. The box is the brown one mounted to the side of the house. This is wire nutted to four #8 thhn wires in 3/4“ conduit run straight down 18" below grade (per NEC). The conduit comes back up right next to the shed and through the shed siding into the SS2-50P inlet box. Does this answer your question? I tried to be as specific as possible.
@@HowToDoStuf Great!. Thanks!
Any chance of recovering some of that heat and use it on the outdoor coil of a heat pump to increase your efficiency ?
💡
The heat strips that run on aux heat or defrost mode on my heat pump are 10k volts, which is way too much for my generator to pull. I have to use our gas direct-vent fireplace to heat if the power is off. Apart from my generator being on the other side of my house from my heat pump, this wouldn't be a practical idea. Remember also that I am only set up for short term emergency use, not the zombie apocalypse. 💀
Hi there, thanks for making this video. My son is helping me with my generator in a small generator shed and he’s using the same parts you show in your video, the 2” coupler, the 2” exhaust flex tubing, the 2” flange and a 2” x 3” long pipe nipple. Everything fits perfect with one exception. The 2” x 3” long nipple does not fit into the 2” coupler. I noticed you didn’t add the 2” nipple to your recommended parts list. Did you use a different type of 2” nipple from flange to coupler? Please help. Thank you
I ground out the threads on the inside of the pipe flange a bit, and used a scrap short piece of 2" emt conduit and shoved it into the floor flange and welded it in place. If you have welding equipment, I would think you could take a 2" compression/threaded emt coupler and weld it onto the floor flange. Or grind /file/Dremel out the floor flange enough to fit the threaded end of the coupler in there and then weld or Jb high temp weld
I bet my predator 3500 would be almost silent in a box like that!
I haven't heard one of those run.
Can you give us information on the intake fan that you are using? Is it hooked to the 12V output of the generator? same for the exhaust fan? Where do the intake fan and exhaust fan get their power from?
I'm guessing though that the intake fan is not as critical as the exhaust fan?
Great build and appreciate you sharing this. Quite a bit of skills involved here.
Thank you. I have a link to the exhaust fan. Both fans are simply plugged into 120v outlets on the gen. The exhaust fan is obviously crucial as without it the gen is likely to become a melted pile of goo. The intake fan is just a high velocity 20" floor fan that I put there for kicks and grins. It's not necessary but I like the idea of active intake airflow. I probably should test running it without the intake fan to see if it makes any difference as the exhaust fan is way more powerful than the intake fan.
@@HowToDoStufthanks for the information. I wonder why you need insulation foam board. You intend to prevent the generator from getting too cold or too hot? I would think just the Rockwood sound deafening would be enough?
In the winter the generator would generate heat itself keep the shed warm. In the summer you want the shed to be cool don't want the heat to be trapped inside the shed?
@@HeartCannotFawn I needed something to keep the Rockwool in place, and given that lumber was priced stupidly high when I built the shed, foam board was a much cheaper alternative to 1/4" plywood. Plus, the foam board isn't going to hurt sound absorption and may be helping a bit. Rockwool is insulation. My house built in the 1960s has Rockwool insulation in the walls. You can buy sound absorbing mats and foam that are not insulation, but they cost a whole lot more. Rockwool is simply insulation that is also good at sound absorption, is readily available, and isn't very expensive. The issue isn't heat or cold. If you put a generator in a plain enclosure you would still need a lot of airflow to remove heat.
about how often do you lose power, and for how long?
I installed this after we had a very rare tornado nearby and lost power for 4 days. In the 2 1/2 years since we've only had our power out once for about 5 hours. We get brown-outs once or twice a month, but they are short lived the longest having lasted no more than about 45 min. So for me this has ended up being more of an insurance type item. But that's OK with me as I know it's there if I need it. Funny part is when I did this I told my wife I was ensuring that our neighborhood would have hardly any outages.
my generator is in a brick shed with a pipe going through the wall into a 25 litre tub of water. the water cuts the exhaust sound to almost nothing
Interesting idea. I'm wondering if the water causes back pressure on the exhaust. Brick ought to be sturdy enough to be sure. Do you have some kind of sound absorption material in it?
was watching videos about sound isolation generoators for last couple months and i m wondering, if someone was capable to making it under ore arround 50 decibels...
I think that shooting for an arbitrary decibel number just doesn't make much sense. Also when you say 50db, how far away from the unit are you talking? It's a big difference if you are talking 5ft or 50ft. A backup gen is just for the rare occasions when you lose power. It's not something you are running everyday.
Normal speaking is about 70db. I found that just ambient bird/outside noises were about 45-50db or so as I showed in the video. In order to get very quiet gen operation, it's going to cost a lot of money. You have to factor in how much money it is worth it to you to spend.
I just had to run my gen for 5 hours a few days ago because a car took out a power pole. My neighbor's annoying nonstop barking/baying dogs 1/2 acre away were far louder than my gen.
I've been looking at the little plastic mower sheds for around $300. I haven't thought about just building one, and I'm sure wood is a better insulator than plastic! I'll have to calculate again!
I'm wondering if audio foam would work better? I know it's expensive but the only placement for mine is next to my bedroom.
I honestly don't know about audio foam. It might do better seeing as it is designed for sound absorption, but it's not something readily available for me, and I have no idea what it would cost.
A lot of people use the plastic sheds, and if that works for you, then great. I however just am not a fan of them and wanted something that to me is going to be more durable. My understanding is that it is normally required to keep a minimum 15' clearance to any opening (windows, doors) for carbon monoxide safety purposes. Wood is not really a great sound insulator, and without the Rockwool, probably wouldn't do that much to quiet the gen down.
@@thevoigts651 that is a really nice build you did!
One more question, where is it stated about the 15 ft.?
The standalone gens that companies install are mostly put as close as the a/c unit! But I never paid attention to the openings.
@@brentharris5344 I actually got told that from a buddy who does heat and air and is a licensed natural gas line installer. I asked him if my gen shed placement was going to be ok. I don't know about a source for that online.
I think steel studs would be plenty good to use, and with the rockwool insulation, then you would have virtually nothing flammable in the parts list other then the roofing abd shingles.
@@msamour LPS Smartside is a wood based product. I don't see flammability as an issue. If the generator catches on fire for some reason there are going to be serious problems regardless!
What's your internal running temperature of that thing?
The 3300cfm fan keeps the shed temp with the doors closed within about 12 degrees F from the ambient air temp. I am wondering if your shed has enough airflow so that the problem could be the gen is getting cooked? I first tried two 12" exhaust fans, and they couldn't keep the gen from cooking. Also, did you size up the exhaust immediately as it comes out of the gen to help prevent back pressure?
@@HowToDoStuf I’m still in the research phase! Just got blasted by Beryl so making my plans now. Within 12° of ambient air temp is amazing.
I’ll definitely make sure to have a huge fan on whatever I end up going with. Down in Houston our air temps get crazy so I might also look into adding a swamp cooler to the mix to get the air cooler.
I see a lot of sheds with small exhaust fans and wonder how they don't cook their gens. Ive only tested my shed with doors closed up to an ambient outside temp of about 90f. At some point there would be no choice but to open the shed up and put a barrel fan on it. A swamp cooler of some kind might be a have to in high outside heat conditions to be able to run it in a shed. In TN we normally only see bad storms in the spring or winter when it's not that hot out.
Where did you get the insulation.
Home Depot here carries the Rockwool Safe and Sound
@@HowToDoStuf thanks
👍
The rockwool it is not doing fantastic job. Use insted a 15cm styroform sheets,the close cell bubbles supress sound much better.
Appreciate all your work but seems like a lot to only drop 20 dBs.
In my comments I mentioned that I built this shed primarily to provide a secure place to store and run my gen in any type of weather (I now even have both my electrical backfeed and my natural gas hookup inside of the shed which is extremely convenient). Sound insulation is a by-product of that. If my goal was the absolute quietest, I would have spent a whole lot more money, easily 5-6 times more which given that this is for emergency use doesn't make sense to me.
Dropping 20dbs is actually a large drop. Remember that the dB scale is logarithmic. Going from over 90dbs to speaking level just by closing the doors is a very big difference. Moving 10 ft away makes even more of a difference. I had to run my gen last week for 5 hours due to a car creaming a nearby power pole, and my neighbor's dogs that he let outside 1/2 acre away were far louder and more annoying than my gen.
Bike muffler will drop dBs a bit
I just used Ply-wood and Woods Only to build My Muffler Silencer DOWN to 56 db....... Want Proof just ask me how 😅
You said you had used rock wool for insulation, but when you open up the shed, I saw extended polystyrene.
Did I miss something?
I put the polystyrene on top of the rock wool mainly just to help hold it in place. The foam is cheap and maybe helps a bit also.
Need to start selling these!
Thank you, but I'm not sure other people locally are crazy enough to spend the money like me.
@@HowToDoStuf I'm not sure How much you spent...... but for me around $2,500 including the generator.... My wife not happy 😁
@@Honestandtruth007 With the cost of my gen, house wiring, natural gas lines, NG hose, shed, voltage meters, etc. I've spent probably closer to $3k. Consider however that even a smaller standby gen is going to cost 3-4 times that much.
@@Honestandtruth007 Style and appearance really are secondary to whether it does what you need it to do. Having said that however, if mine didn't look nice, I would be in trouble with my better half, and I wouldn't blame her. The agreement we have when it comes to projects is that I can do whatever I want "as long as it looks nice." Really though this shed is just basic carpentry - nothing fancy.
My gerbil on the treadmill is so much quieter and more efficient 😅
Sigh...
wouldnd it be MUCH better to dig a hole as big as that shed you built and put all the equipment underground? the sound insulation would be better thousandfold and the sound that escapes woul go to the sky and not sideways.
Underground would provide great sound insulation to be sure, but I'm not sure about the cost and logistics of doing so and being able to run it in all weather types much less keep it dry in storage. That to me is an extreme and impractical idea to try to make happen. A hole is going to be a swimming hole every time it rains, especially with the clay soil here.
@@HowToDoStuf thanks. didnt think about the waterproblem
@@johnmachter40 It is a major factor that utilities spend many thousands of dollars in engineering and construction to address when electrical equipment needs to be in vaults.
@@kcgunesq WHAT is a major factor?
dealing with water in underground vaults or keeping water out, depending upon design.
those are lousy numbers for that much work
1. I'm using a $25 sound meter, so I'm can't guarantee how accurate it is 2. Open frame generators are not super quiet. 3. If you really want silence during a power outage, the quietest solution is to just leave the power off 4. As I mentioned in my comments, I built this shed first to have a secure place to store it and be able to run it in any weather that is also convenient. Trying to quiet it down is a by-product. If silence at all costs is the goal, it's going to cost a whole lot more than what I spent.
Two days ago I ran my gen during a 5 hr power outage caused by a car creaking a power pole, and my neighbor's dogs 1/2 acre away were way louder and more annoying as they howl and bay every time they let them outside. The gen was quiet by comparison.
Thats noisey
Not nearly as noisy as my neighbor's annoying dogs about 1/2 acre away that bay and bark incessantly whenever they are out. Yesterday a car creamed a power pole and took out our power for 5 hours, so I ran my gen. I could easily, clearly, and overwhelmingly hear those dogs they let outside over my gen.
YOU SHOULD HAVE TURNED ON THE FANS IN THE TEST I NOW HATE YOU DISLIKE!
I'm not quite sure what you mean. The exhaust fan was running as it is on a thermostat.
@@HowToDoStuf oh ok sorry
It's not very quiet mate. 👎🏻 There's really not that much of a difference is there ? 🤔Time for a Solar Generator replacement. Solar Gennies don't require any gas, oil, servicing, nor require noise baffling. 👍
Can a Solar generator Supply enough power during Rain Storms and Freezing rain plus Snow ❄️🌨️ ❓❓
.....I don't know much about Solar generator and How much it cost
Or Run a Heating Furnace Or A/C system ❓❓
From 91 db to high 60s dB from 10 ft away is a massive difference. Sound decibels is not a linear measurement. A person talking normally is about 60 to 70 dB, if you think that is too loud……
@@jcn115 I can only go by what my ears are telling me, and that Gas Genny is making a hell of a racket ! Even at 60 db that piston popping and slashing, grinding noise just wears on you. The big noise tells all the bad guys when the SHTF scenario to come rob your house - You've got a gas Generator !
@@jcn115 My Project of Noise Reduction Method is Almost Complete.... The Generator Shed bring Down to 64 dbs from 88 dbs at 13 ft. But I'm not Enough.....
still trying to get 55 dbs So I can Sleep during Power outage..... More efforts and more Money to Spend
Nice work . The sound is OBNOXIOUS. SORRY. JUST MY OPINION SIR
It is what it is. Realize though that we are talking about using a gen for emergency power loss, and the alternative is no power and just hearing my neighbors' generators.
@@Honestandtruth007 👍
I brought Down sound level To 56 db..... Only made with Ply-wood
That is annoyingly loud. You neighbors will hate you. You must make it much much more quite. An F150 hybrid can start up and charge its lithium power and turn off and you can't hear it if you are standing beside the pickup truck. Such a quiet engine. No idea why this thing sounds so awful.
When we had a 4 day power outage before I got this, my neighbors all had generators just sitting out in their yards screaming away. With this setup mine would be silent by comparison.
Generators are loud. The only quieter portable ones are a lot smaller than mine and cost a lot more. It's hard to compare a F150 hybrid, or 2 small Honda inverters in parallel at about $6-7k, or a Generac type whole house backup for $10-$20k with a $900 generator.
And remember that this is just for emergency use. It's not like I am running this daily. The sound level is just fine for me to have power once-in-a-blue-moon when I need it.
@@HowToDoStuf ..fair enough. I wonder if putting it underground would make it silent but that would probably be way more hassle than it is worth and the problem is the opening for the exhaust and air flow.
@@michaeltca3103 The biggest problems I see also about underground are water and accessibility. You have to be able to access the gen to do oil changes and servicing.
Still very loud
There are probably some other things I could do to quiet it down further (for ex. I am considering inflated rubber tires instead of solid), but there is also cost vs benefit to consider. Getting it quiet on a dB level with regular talking is very good to me. It is much quieter from inside our house.
As I mentioned in my comments, sound insulation was a secondary purpose or by-product of building this shed. The insulation is so that if I have to run it all night for days, I can still sleep. I'm not too worried about the neighbors around me as they probably will be running their generators outside.
you know putting a car muffler on a generator quiets it by half without a shed, just saying because I've seen 3 of these vids and none of you added a muffler to really really quiet it down...
I watched a number of videos where people tried that and the results I saw were very limited (much of the sound comes through the engine itself and not just the exhaust with it being open frame). I didn't see anyone with results anywhere near that good. I wanted a locked place to store my gen, so if I'm going to build a shed, it only made sense to me to make it so that I can run the gen in it. I would have built a shed even if I saw that a muffler really works that well.
A car muffler won't help
@@MrLinkiscute it doesn't work for you because you say so, yet in reality it does work and your lying is probably because your a troll sooooooooooooo
@@FLY2KO WOW 😳.... Man
WHy you called people name for ❓❓..... trying to learn must be troll like Why are here also 😂👍😂
@@FLY2KO My Generator Shed is very SIMILAR TO his.... Even An Open Generator by Champion inverter 100520.... model. In Natural Gas Conversion and Connection is very Similar..... I do a Step Further. ONE more week I will finish and Testing it and do a Short video and Some photos.....I guarantee my will be Better for at least at 56-58 db
Hi there, thanks for making this video. My son is helping me my generator in a small generator shed and he’s using the same parts you show in your video, the 2” coupler, the 2” exhaust flex tubing, the 2” flange and a 2” x 3” long pipe nipple. Everything fits perfect with one exception. The 2” x 3” long nipple does not fit into the 2” coupler. I noticed you didn’t add it to your recommended parts list. Did you use a different type of short nipple? Please help. Thank you
I'm glad it's helping. I used a 2" short piece of electrical emt conduit shoved into and welded into the 2" floor flange (we have scraps of conduit at work so it was easy for me to come by), which then goes to the 2" coupler and exhaust flex tubing. I just didn't put 2" emt pipe on my list.
@@HowToDoStuf, that makes sense. Thank you for responding. I appreciate your videos
@@ResistNFlee You're welcome. Let me know how it goes.