A chainsaw is the loudest tool most homeowners own, and the battery versions change that less than the marketing suggests. Every saw in this survey declares at least 83 dB(A) at the operator's ear, and STIHL's own manuals tell buyers to wear ear defenders even with its quietest one.
Fifteen battery saws sold in the US carry maker declarations. At the ear they run from 83 to 96 dB(A); guaranteed sound power runs from 97 to 109. A gas STIHL sets the contrast at 99 and 114.
STIHL declares every battery saw it sells under EN 62841-4-1, with K values and a guaranteed ceiling under EU directive 2000/14/EC. But the North American manual for the MSA 60 and MSA 70 contains no sound figures at all. The international English manual for the same two saws, on STIHL's own document server, carries the full declaration.
We quote the international edition for every STIHL saw here and match it to the US model by the serial prefix STIHL prints in both. The figures describe the same machines, and the omission is a North American publishing choice, not a missing measurement.
Two numbers, never one ranking
Each saw carries two quantities. LpA is pressure at the operator's ear. LWA is sound power, the saw's total output, with a guaranteed ceiling. We rank on the ear figure and show the guaranteed power beside it.
For comparing brands, guaranteed LWA is the fairer number. STIHL, Husqvarna and EGO all declare it under 2000/14/EC, while their ear figures use different standards or none named. The sound power vs sound pressure explainer covers why the two cannot be mixed.
Husqvarna's Power Axe saws
Husqvarna prints ear pressure, measured sound power and guaranteed sound power on its US product pages, including the consumer Power Axe saws, though it names no standard or K value. The 225i Power Axe declares 89 dB(A) at the ear and a guaranteed 100, the quietest saw you can order on Amazon. The 18 inch Power Axe 350i declares 91 and 102, below EGO's 18 inch saw on both.
Husqvarna's own numbers also show progress: its current 542i XP pro saw declares 91 at the ear against 95 for the 540i XP it replaced.
EGO, declared in Europe
EGO prints nothing for US chainsaws. Its European manuals declare both quantities with K values, so we map each EU saw to its US counterpart by bar length, chain pitch, gauge and chain speed, and flag every match. The 16 inch CS1611 maps to 91.25 dB(A) at the ear and a guaranteed 103; the 18 inch CS1804 maps to 92.53 and 105. EGO has no 20 inch saw with a declaration.
What gas costs
STIHL's gas MS 250 declares 99 dB(A) at the ear under ISO 22868 and a guaranteed 114 dB(A) sound power. Against the MSA 60's 83 and 97, that is 16 dB(A) at the ear. The gap shrinks at the big end: STIHL's MSA 300 battery saw declares 96 at the ear, within three decibels of gas.
The silent aisle
Makita and DeWalt publish no noise figure for any US chainsaw we checked, across product pages and manuals. They cannot be ranked here, whatever their saws sound like in use.
We did not measure any of these chainsaws. Every figure is the maker's own, quoted as published, with the standard, K value and document identified wherever the maker identified them.
