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Noisy appliances: How loud is your house?

By Zoe Kleinman
Technology reporter

Published
12 hours ago

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woman on sofa with hands over her ears image copyrightGetty Images

In a residential street in south London, dozens of household appliances
are being put through their paces - not to measure how well they work,
but how loud they sound.

The room we're in is officially a laboratory. There's no soundproofing
in sight: noise bounces gleefully off the sort of hard surfaces and
shiny floors you'll find in many modern homes.

A device shaped like a human head is rigged up to a monitor displaying
colourful graphs, recording every whizz, rattle and beep.

Environmental consultancy firm Quiet Mark has spent the last 10 years
awarding its colourful "Q" logo to the quietest household appliances in
every category you can think of - from hairdryers and air purifiers to
kettles and washing machines.

It's something of a labour of love for founder Poppy Szkiler, whose
grandfather, John Connell, established the Noise Abatement Society in
1959.

She says that since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, people have
become a lot more conscious of the noise inside their homes.

"It's becoming a mega-trend," she says.

"People are looking to create more peaceful homes because life has
become literally under one roof."
Poppy Szkiler from Quiet Mark
image captionPoppy Szkiler says sound quality can be more important
than volume

Now the firm, which describes itself as a consumer champion, is looking
to change the way we measure sound. Currently when you shop for an
appliance, if it does have a noise rating, that figure will be in
decibels - and that tells you how loud it is.

Ms Szkiler says about 40 decibels (dB) is ideal for inside the home.

However, 40dB of a smooth, consistent hum is very different from 40dB
of clunking, rattling or screeching.

Currently, though, unless you work in the field of acoustic sciences,
there's no consumer-friendly measurement for overall sound quality.

Quiet Mark is on a mission to change that and is currently researching
ways to include sound quality in the rating it awards the products it
assesses.

"In addition to decibels, we are measuring tumble dryers, which often
have a big droning sound, and we're measuring jeans - and how the
buttons hit the centre of the drum - to measure the sound quality, the
pitch and tonality. And we are seeing which appliances are best
insulated and isolated, for the best noise reduction within our home,"
she explains.
Quiet Mark label on a kettle
image captionThe firm seeks out the quietest brands of household
appliances

There isn't even a term for it yet - but there is a demand.

Quiet Mark is already listed on the sites of various UK retailers,
including Argos, Littlewoods and John Lewis.

John Lewis's technology director, Laurence Mitchell, says there are
more than 10,000 searches a month for appliances that include the term
"quiet" on the retailer's website.

There's a "quiet revolution" tab on John Lewis's appliances page, and
washing machines and kettles are the devices most likely to be linked
to the search.

But he says consumers should be prepared to pay more for a quieter
life.

"If you look at things like appliances, to have a lower noise level you
may need things like an inverter direct-drive motor (which reduces the
number of motor components, and therefore noise, particularly in
washing machines), or increased dampening, and of course those things
come with a cost," he says.

Part of the difficulty in finding the right way to label sound quality
is that it's such an individual experience - what's music to my ears
may be painful to yours.

And on a serious note, [51]continued exposure to loud noise has been
linked to health conditions, including heart problems.

People who are neurodiverse may also find some sound challenging.

For example, Tom Purser, of the National Autism Society, says that
autistic adults and children process sensory information - including
sound - differently.

"For some autistic people, it will mean certain types of noise, certain
tones, certain frequencies will be almost painful to them. But for
some, there will be certain types of noise and sounds they really enjoy
and find themselves seeking," he says.

"It's a very difficult experience when the world is full of so many
different sorts of sound and noise on a daily basis."
Quiet Mark lab
image captionInside the lab at Quiet Mark

Poppy Szkiler admits she appreciates the sound of silence - the quieter
her home environment, the better for her. She hopes that manufacturers
will take note of a wider demand for tech that is seen but barely
heard.

"There's huge levels of integrity and wonder in engineering," she says.

"Acoustic engineering is just as important as energy efficiency, or the
way something looks, or its performance."

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