DIY Generator Shed 

The 2500 is for surge Watts. This machine puts out 1800 watts on gasoline, and 1600 Watts on propane ru-vid.comUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y . I purchased this and a manual generator transfer switch at the same time. On propane, I ran a window AC, refrigerator, and opened and closed my garage door at the same time without a hiccup. I ran the furnace and the refrigerator and garage door at the same time also without any problems. However, I had to run the microwave on medium in order to keep the generator from tripping. I have no idea what my wattage is on the microwave, so I would stick to something that's less than 1,000 watts. A week after I installed this setup, there was a power outage in my neighborhood. We have several houses with solar panels here, but I was the only person that was able to open and close their garage door and have morning coffee - oh yeah it ran a big Keurig with no problem. Also, the manual says it will run 34 hours on a 20 lb propane canister. My canister was still pretty heavy after leaving it running for 10 hours. This thing is not whisper quiet, so if you want to be stealthy about using something like this plan on building or buying a quiet box of some type.

Piece of advice on your generator friend, When you want to shut it off, dont use the kill switch. Simply turn off the gas line valve, that way the generator will use all the gas in the carb. bowl assy, and you will not have to worry about the carb. getting all "varnished" up. Causing the needle and seat to stick. Causing you a hell of a time starting it up, next time you might need it. Thank you for making this video for all of us to see, and you did a fantastic job with your generator shed. Ill be doing that for my generator as well.

I used this video to enclose my generator. A Walker flexible exhaust pipe from Amazon is the only difference. It turned out perfect! The sound dropped drastically!! Thanks so much for posting!!!

I think I found the idea for having a freezer outside in this type of Freezer shed, to help keep it dry and vent cool air in. Thanks

After viewing dozens of shed videos, yours was the best!!! Thanks so much for the details. After building a platform for my shed, I fashioned my shed after yours making some changes. To keep the rain from coming through the vents, I used the magnetic floor vent covers which does a nice job keeping the shed floor dry. Thanks for a great video...

I know this video is several years old but thank you for sharing how you store and protect your outdoor generator. Researching after hurricane Berly…

Hello, just need to appreciate for your wonderful woodwork ideas ru-vid.comUgkxe81Bz076USDt6sYU1rDcNa2LwCIKADgB Previously, I was looking for a few unique and most cases I get puzzled on what to do! This is the least demanding and most straightforward plans ever.

Nice, thanks for taking the time to share. Nice job putting it all together. Your list is a bonus.

Great thought processes, lots of thinking here. I love these type videos for sharing info. Your work helps countless people improve their generator enclosures. Thank you.

After watching your video it finally motivated me to do the same thing. For years I always had to roll my generator out of the shed and hook up everything to my house. Plus every time my power went out it was snowing or some kind of heavy rain from storms or hurricanes. I would always have to wait till the next day to hook up everything. So this past Saturday I purchased everything from Lowe's you used...the shed, attic fan, same air vents, power cord inlet cover for shed and a few small parts for my exhaust like the duct work and hardy backer board since my Champion generator muffler is on the side. Got it all built and ran some temperature test for 30 min 2 different times with a wireless thermometer in the shed and everything closed up. So far everything works excellent!!! No over heating in the shed and our outside temp was 90F. My Inside only got to 100F and it held it there but again it was 90F outside. If it's a hot day I'll just open the doors and roof and run it and if it's a rainy day most likely the outside temp will not be in the 90s as cold fronts from rain usually mean temps are in the low 80s or 70s or lower. If it's a snowstorm then I know the inside will be cooler than that lol That attic fan pulls a lot of air too. Thanks again for a great video. I'll do the solar panel project you did next to keep my battery charged.

I have a similar set up with a different generator. I lined the shed with Hardie backer board, about 12 bucks a sheet. It does a good job with both sound and heat control. I also used an auto opening shutter exhaust coupled with the attic fan. My engine exhaust goes out the back and has a magnet to hold the flapper open when running. I take it off when not running to keep critters out. These Suncast sheds are about the right size for most home generators.

I was thinking of doing something like this myself, but you gave me some additional ideas and things to consider...... GREAT JOB!!

That's a lot of work and still sounds loud. I surrounded mine ( baffled) with sheet rock, plenty of air flow and it is very quiet. The cheaper way around it all. Works for me.

Great idea here as it definitely got the gears turning in my head now! Have my eyes on the Champion dual/fuel 9375/7500 - 8400/6750 generator... I will eventually go with a manual transfer switch inside my b/ment next to my mains. I don't think the unit has 50 amp. but will install a 30 amp power inlet box on the outside of basement wall. The beauty of this arrangement is the cost factor as in pennies on the dollar compared to the ALL-HOUSE units. I simply will turn off the breakers I don't need at any given time so as not to over-load the generator... The shed I have in mind I will build from scratch beginning with a pressure treated 4x4 floor frame sitting on pea stone topped with 1/2" plywood. I will build it large enough to accommodate a portable LPG tank, i.e. 20 or 30 Lb. tank... The interior walls will have a minimum air space 1 to 1.5' away from the unit & the LPG tank. The roof can be built with a two pitch or a single pitch, depends on my ambition or lack thereof! :) I will build two swing out doors with a padlock. When running the generator, I will simply leave the doors open. If necessary I will install vents at the roof peaks... The key here is keeping it simple & cost effective as I do admire your approach to this as well... Thanks for sharing... Bill Farr...

Great video. I added a light switch to the fan so as to not having to plug and unplug everytime I run it. Also insulated the doors, top hatch and backwall Reduces the noise quite down.

Good job. I will use larger flex pipe and heat wrap it. FYI: The dents in the base at the 4 corners are for anchors but the base should stick out more to anchor this way. I have this shed sitting on 2x12x12 blocks with a layer of the same inside. Might consider window screen at the vents to reduce small bugs getting into things. The fan is large and will use significant amount of gas. Maybe use a smaller watt one? Maybe swing open panels with sides for venting? My likely use is during storms with high wind and rain. Possibly a dog door would work for sides? My gen is the Honda eu type so noise is not at issue.

Awesome job! You've taken a lot of the guess work out of the project, thanks for the idea.

Great project, Will be doing the same soon. Love the Idea

I Just finished putting together my set up. I would like to thank you for your post and some great tips. Looking forward to ERCOT dropping the ball again this winter. 👍😜

I have 4 of those large Suncast storage boxes and they work great and hold up well.

Great video. I'm in the process of finishing my basement and adding a whole house generator with transfer switch. This gave me a great idea on how to store, protect and run the generator all from one place. Thank you.

Also on the exhaust I would go to 2 or 3 inch, no more than 3 inches from the exit on the motor To do away with the back pressure which you should be concerned with.

Nice job. One thing you may consider to reduce the sound further is by gluing acoustic tiles to the inside of the shed, and wrap the exhaust pipe.

Great ideas and implementation. I suggest buying a dual fuel generator, and never put gas in it, as it is in standby for many months at a time. Buy a large propane cylinder (100lb), set it beside the enclosure, and make up a hose that will run into the enclosure. Run it on propane only, because gasoline may go bad after many months, and you are not likely to be taking the generator out. With propane, you would never have the chance of the gas going bad, carb gumming up, etc. Thank you for taking the time to make the video and share it with us! :)

After coming thru Irma. This is on my to do list.

i did get some ideas, the fan and the plug opening i will use. but mine is wood 4x6 x8, almost complete.

Thank you for the fast reply. I have built the same setup just a couple modifications but I noticed how close the wheels sit to the edge of the shed. My plug kit is coming in today just was a little concerned. Thanks again you really made my job easy. I did order a stick on insulation to see if that helps with sound . Also on the exhaust Walker makes a stainless flex exhaust pipe comes in 25’ length and ID comes from 1” up also made life easy plus I wrapped it with high temp exhaust wrap.

We finally bought a generator this year. We have several uses for it to include backing up our house a little. Last year when Irma hit us, we were out for several days in my little town. Half way through day four, a friend called me to come pick up his jobsite welder to use. It got it us through the last couple days. If there is anything loud, its that welder... and it sat right beside the wall to our bedroom outside. Didn't care. Music to our ears to have warm water to shower in, cold sweet tea and food to eat. Our new generator doesn't carry as much power, but enough that it will do about the same as we did with the welder/generator we were loaned the last few days till power was restored. I'm thinking of getting a little shelter like yours to keep ours in when NOT in use, though.

Great video! Thanks for sharing. I would have loved to know what the decibel level was before and after. If anyone wants to tweak your design please do so but do share your findings with the community. We all have the same goal in mind.

If I had one comment to make, move the gen closer to the exhaust wall so you have less "hot" pipe radiating inside the compartment. Consider wrapping the exhaust pipe with exhaust wrap.

Just an idea to help quiet the gen set just a bit more you could take the black iron fitting at the end of the exhaust and turn it upward and mount a muffler that fits a small tractor for an additional benefit of exhaust gas control and a marginally more quieting capability. Great set up though.

Excellent ideas & choice of large Costco generator, fan, vents, anchoring etc.! 👍

Great idea. Would recommend you add twenty more bucks and put a remote temp sensor in the shed with the display in the house in the event of fan failure. Northern sells one with an alarm you adjust the temp on.

Sound proofing mine a bit more works great. Great idea bro!!!!

Great job, simpler than others I’ve viewed, thanks much.

Nice system Pete!! Very professional. I'm from Puerto Rico and after hurricane Maria this definitely be on my wishlist.

Got some ideas. Thanks. But I think I will make my enclosure out of masonry for sound deadening. I am a little concerned that vibration will eventually break the exhaust pipe, since that seems to be the only thing keeping your generator held in one place. Too much stress on that one anchor point.

I put my generator, same model Firman, in a 8x10 metal shed and there’s something I need to point out. The heat generated by the generator is huge! I had 2, 6” vents on one side & a 300cfm shutter fan on the other. It wasn’t enough. So I ave a 2000cfm fan coming in to add more air flow. While running, some nearby plastic and foam curled from the heat. So plenty of air flow is a must. I just thought that you might want to have the generator shut off if the temp reaches a determined temperature, due to the fan failing. it will melt that little plastic shed in a heartbeat!

Awesome idea, well done! If the walls and top are hollow you can drill holes and shoot Great Stuff in , this might help with the noise. I've seen videos of that being done to cheap coolers for more insulation.

Nicely done, sir. I think that's as nice a DIY generator shed as you are gonna find. Impressed.

nice clean residential look.

Love this idea, Pete. I bought a shed and all the parts (except exhaust pipe) after seeing your video. I think I will position the exhaust fan low enough to take care of the exhaust. Everyone adding comments don't take into consideration this is for emergency power only and must be monitored at all times. Mine will be set up far enough away from my home that should anything go wrong the house would be safe. And no, it will not be operated at night. Day operation only! Thanks for posting!

that looks cool, i do recommend using at least 8inch thick blocks if you live in a flood zone

Awesome! I'm probanly going to do this too, now that you've walked us through it! Thanks so much!

Pete: If you want to increase your sound attenuation. Here are a couple idea's: 1. Glue a 1" high density Rock Sil board to the plastic wall for mass and high frequency absorption. 2. Glue regular R15 RocSil insulation from the paper side to the board; low frequency absorption. 3. Add an external plywood air inlet duct 12" x the width of the enclosure x the height of the enclosure. With a inlet grill at the top 1/2 the area of the lower one. ( this will increase the air velocity through the higher inlet and develop two 90 degree bends in the air flow). Line the duct with the 1" RocSil. 4. Do the same on the exhaust side but make the air exhaust larger than the air inlet, again at the top. The bends in the air flow reduce the sound waves escape as they travel in a straight line and are absorbed partially by the insulation and converted to heat. 5. Increase the size of the exhaust pipe and point the elbow up and out through the duct top ( point the trumpet to the sky ) as long as possible with out increasing the back pressure to much for the engine. You could use a universal coupling for easy removal of the generator, for use outside the enclosure. You appear to have room to move the generator 5" to the right. This will not reduce the sound as much as those I worked on and had built for the motion picture mobile generators during my career. But the design principles are the same as I used for the 22 - 100 KW, truck mounted; air cooled generators we used. For the record the best temporary enclosure I ever built was: a room of straw bales 12' high with 'U' shaped entrance and exit halls, with a straw bale roof on 2x8's on the flat covered with a tarp. Bert

Looks very nice, good job.

Nice job with that generator shed it looks like it will never get overheated and possibly never get wet inside.

Nice project! Thanks for making the video and sharing your ideas. I will certainly use them on my pending Generator Project. Thanks again.

One vent high and one low would likely suffice for airflow and the draft volume will increase with temp rise Majority of the heat is pumping out the exhaust

Great setup. I just would add a grounding rod next to the box for safety

Great info , great exhaust design and ideas. im going to build mine below grade, just for extra sound dampening.

nice work. gotta be prepared for rain when the power is out. nicely thought out and executed! thanks for the video

Good job, only thing I would add is a flexible exhaust coupling to isolate vibration from the box.

Very nice inexpensive way to store your generator. Did you consider adding an external muffler to help abate the noise? Also I put my generator on a "horse pad" I got from Tractor Supply. I welded a soup can lid on my external muffler, like what you see on big rig mufflers to keep the rail out. It stays shut when the generator is not running and flops up and down when running. The external muffler took an additional 10 decibels off the noise.

Good job! To prevent it from being stolen, I'd maybe chain it to the floor, as well. You did a fine job for a reasonable cost.

Absolutely brilliant. Thanks. Going to make mine out of wood and insulate it, we live in SD. This gave me some great ideas, thank you so much.

Informative and creative. I viewed a This Old House video where they said you needed to be five feet from the house or window/door opening for carbon monoxide gas safety. You may want to check your local code requirements. More important is you and your families safety. Thanks for the video.

Still sounds loud. You should cut out and glue fire resistant foam on the inside walls to help absorb the sound better

Excellent idea Pete. Thanks for sharing👍😎

I pretty much did the same setup with my shed....except it is about 20' from he house. I don't think I would have a generator running that close to my house. I used Hardie Board where the exhaust comes through the shed and painted the Hardie Board with Drylock waterproof paint on the outside piece. Also used an aluminum dryer vent to help cover the exhaust.

Still sounded loud to me. Maybe line the inside with ridged insulation board, you can buy it at HD or Lowes for like $4.00 for 4x8 sheet.

Was concerned about how to ensure there was sufficient air flow. I like your plan. Well done.

I'm going to do something similar & also for the battery I'm gonna add either a plug in trickle charger or solar trickle charger. Good video ! Everyone will do theirs a little different but yours is functional & that's all that matters.

Hard to steel that generator piped direct. lol Gotta thin about that today buddy. thanks for the sharing what you did. I'm going to be putting a plug out side for a generator soon. Power outages have been getting much worse the last few years. I'm certainly putting a shed up similar to this so life is easy when I need to use it. Gas and go, plug the fan in. I'll use treated 4x4. to get it off the ground. Maybe vent in the bottom also for air draw. Great job and pretty simple.

Pretty sweet man. I'll probably copy that for my generator. Pay no attention to the complainers.

Excellent video, I did the same thing with my 17,500 Generac , Im not sure how you charge your battery, I have Insteon technology with Alexa I just plug the Insteon box into a outlet and plug the charger into the box and ask Alexa to turn on the battery charger or you can put it on a monthly timer to automatically come on for charging of the battery, I also added a LED lamp on top of the box to verify the charger is on. I found myself plugging in the charger, a real hassle...

Two suggestions. Put the generator on blocks to make oil changes easier and other maintenance. Have a power cord going to the shed for a battery maintainer, trickle charger so that issue is covered in power failures. Of course a power cord going into the house with a remote start would make it sweet.

I had a piece of 2" exhaust pipe welded to the muffler around the outlet, then clamped on a short length of flexible pipe and a generic car muffler. That will fit in you shed and drop the noise a bit more while reducing the back pressure from your current setup. Just my $.02.

With the plastic walls being hollow, I wonder if you could drill a hole and spray foam in between for sound deadener

How bout ditching the plastic and consider a flex pipe on the exhaust becauseause vibration ... Bro physics

Great video. Thanks for sharing. Just picked up my 9000 watt genny yesterday.

Just watched ya video, great job ! Not over thought just getting her done !

You could line that shed with sound-deadening foam panels as well. And put areal muffler on that exhaust as well.

Just cut the pipe, thread both pieces, and connect with a 3/4" coupling.

I didn’t read all the comments. But living in Florida generators are a part of life. I only have two suggestions, the first one is to put a bug screen over the exhaust exit and the second one is to get a cheap solar 12 V battery charger from Harbor freight etc. Job well done enjoyed the video

I like this. Just bought this exact generator. Good job

Your fan is also letting out the noise of the generator put a weather cover( a hood) over your exit vent.

You can not hard mount the exhaust pipe..., it will crack at the flange. Use 1 inch flex instead.

Very nice work. Remarkable how much noise was reduced. I have a neighbor only 100 ft away from my proposed location, I may put sound absorbing foam on my doors at minimum. My I suggest you replace your intake vent with one that holds filters? With that 500cfm fan, you will get a lot of dirt inside which ultimately won't help with the engine air filter. I've done work on industrial control panels, we vent and cool the same but with intake filters which also ensures incoming air is clean vs a filter on the fan. Hardy board was a great solution for the exhaust, I was thinking oversizing the hole for the pipe but unsupported would cause muffler damage over time.

I love the design, curious for an update video of pros and cons lessons learned. My concerns for my own needs (everyone’s is different) is more sound proofing and exhaust muffler and the security against theft (in my area theft of generators isn’t uncommon)

You should put some Rockwool insulation on the inside to help with sound. It's also fireproof.

Is the exhaust pipe needed since you have an exhaust fan running? I'd have it running all the time and a smaller one at that

Nice job. Hadn't thought of adapting a shed like this.

I built this exact set up several years ago, but with a smaller Honda generator. No fans, but several vents that open when running. Also, I never run with the top completely closed. Works great and looks nice. I shoulda made a video.....

Larger exhaust diameter pipe and you need a flex connection. The vibration wil probably break the welding .....

Nice job, Pete! Have you thought of lining the inside with some insulation batting to lower the sound even more? Fireproof batting probably better for sound-proofing than styrofoam sheets.

Not a bad idea. May use it in the future but I'd agree with some of the others regarding the exhaust. Use same diameter exhaust pipe as the exhaust, run it up above the roof and stick a rain cap on it . Unless there are no windows or other access points on that side of the house. Overall its a good idea for all weather protection which is what it's intended to provide. Awesome job!

Thank you, the pipe looked small In the vid. It did sound like it ran fine. Thanks for the vid.

Instead of cutting the black iron pipe and welding, just use a black iron gas union, mush easier.

Why did you use the muffler extension if you have the box vented?

My neighbor has one of those plastic containers that he ordered from some open box deal, well it didn't come with any hardware now he doesn't want it. He offered it to me for free, I looked it over and thought 💭 the same thing, didn't feel like looking for the hardware. Now watching your video I might check ✔ to see if he still has it.

i like that setup...I have a 8000 watt northern tool gen with honda engine.. I did the same thing but my gen exhaust comes out the back so I turned gen around plugs in the back... I can't close my box running. I have no fan or the exhaust extension. I like your setup..great idea. my stuff is pluged all the time 30 amp plug comes out of the box thru the house to panel its on a 50 amp breaker..ele goes out. start gen go to the panel turn main off some 220 breakers turn 50 amp breaker on to feed panel. I set this up about 15 years ago..i started back feeding thru dryer plug years ago switched to 50 amp ...your setup gives me something to think about...my plastic box came from sears.. this system ran my house 10 days in a row...thanks

Exhaust pipe should be at least 2x the size. Way too much back pressure. Even though the muffler flange is small, it is meant to exhaust straight out... adding length causes back pressure and horrible on any small engine.

Point exhaust away from home with another pipe! Again exhaust fumes!

Mine is very similar. I will say exhaust extension is unnecessary. The attic fan will exhaust the emissions and heat. Plus, adding that extension will definitely make it a pain in the a$$ to mobilize the generator for routine /annual maintenance. I added lights to the hood of my shelter so I could see what I was doing if it was dark out. Make sure your shed is LEVEL to the ground so it doesn’t warp. These enclosures allow mice to get in ill fitting sides and doors. They will chew your cords and plastic sides! Every few months I throw some dryer sheets in the shed to ward off pests.

Nice job--I'll use some of your ideas. Thanks.

I'd just run the fan without the thermostat and forget the exhaust pipe, so it runs all the time and removes the exhaust from the cabinet.

Hi... Use a union

Nice work. This has inspired me as well!

Ive seen a bunch of these videos and Im trying to put something together. My generator is a 12000w and its big and heavy. My shed therefore had to be big enough to house it so it alone was over $300. I was hoping I wouldn't have to cut holes in it but I know I can't really leave it open in inclement weather. Piping in that exhaust like that worries me. Between the vibration and the back pressure I see nothing but bad things happening. One would think that having that kind of air flow would draw out the heat and fumes. I've been trying to take a little bit from each video to determine which idea I think would work best. Adding the sound deadening insulation and fireproofing the shed which is not fireproof is a good idea, but now this simple inexpensive idea took on a whole new life. Between the cost of my shed and my generator and I don't have any of the parts yet, I probably could have built one. Which was my first idea and thought buying this resin shed would be in a cheaper way out. Now I'm not so sure!