The recent storms are providing yet more evidence that our electrical infrastructure is crumbling; we have multiple friends across the northeast who are without power for 3-4 days now, for some not for the first time this year. Others have gone without power for weeks at a time in recent years. This has me re-thinking adding a backup generator. I've resisted the notion largely because the ones that have been near to us are irritatingly loud, both in actual use and during their periodic "exercise" runs.
Are any of you aware of any particularly quiet units? This would be permanently installed with automatic switching, powered with natural gas. I need to do a load calculation, but I'd try to keep it on the small side. I wouldn't plan on running AC or the electric dryer, just the furnace, fridge, lights, computer, and perhaps a table saw . The specs I've looked at so far are short on noise information. I'm not sure why they should have to be louder than, say, an idling car.