Quieter vacuuming, more harmony
Wouldn’t it be nice if the noise from vacuuming didn’t disturb everyone in the house?
According to an independent survey commissioned by Electrolux in the spring of 2007, most European consumers say they wish they’d thought more about the noise their appliances made before buying them. The survey also revealed that given the choice again, around half would choose a quieter vacuum cleaner even if it was more expensive.
Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, the survey found that many people also strongly associated quieter appliances with quality, reliability, efficiency and thus environmental friendliness.
How quiet is a quiet vacuum?
The traditional vacuum cleaner has a loudness of 80 decibels. The latest models from Electrolux, however, are much quieter. The Ultra Silencer, for example, operates at only 72 dB. Because the decibel scale is exponential, this reduction means that the audible sound of the Ultra Silencer has been halved twice. In other words, it hums.
A quiet vacuum means you can now vacuum whenever you find time for it, without disturbing others, or yourself. You can vacuum while people are reading a book, watching TV or listening to music. You can even do the vacuuming in the middle of the night while the children are asleep.
Vacuum cleaners like the Ultra Silencer from Electrolux use several techniques to minimize noise, starting with designing the turbine in a way to reduce high-pitched tones. These tones have been found to be especially irritating and are often produced by motors spinning at more than 30,000 rotations per minute.
Vacuum cleaner motors are also mounted on sound-dampening brackets and wrapped in sound-deadening material. Airflow is also a key consideration. Engineers aim to reduce turbulence at two critical places: the motor air inlet and the air exhaust. In the case of the Ultra Silencer, the motor’s air inlet in the dust bag compartment is large and has an aerodynamically funnel shaped design.
How important is quiet?
Noise is more than a nuisance. According to the League for the Hard of Hearing, noise from neighbors, street traffic, music blaring in the next apartment, train whistles, airplanes, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, television sets, hair dryers, dishwashers, washing machines, blenders and other home appliances affects health and well-being even when it is not loud enough to pose a hearing risk.
These effects include: stress, nervousness, sleeplessness, blood pressure and pulse, digestive complaints etc. And the problem is widespread. More than half of Europeans live in a noisy environment; for 1/3 of them, the sound level at night disrupts their sleep.
With these negative aspects of noise, it is nice to now that the Electrolux Ultra Silencer does not add to the problems. Now you can vacuum without disturbing and without creating extra stress.
A guide to common noises
The figures below give an indication of the relative rankings of everyday sounds.
0dB - The threshold of hearing
20dB - The sound of a whisper
30dB - WHO recommendation for undisturbed sleep
40dB - Refrigerator or a library
50dB - Average dishwasher
60dB - Sewing machine
65dB - Average cooker hood
70dB - Average washing machine or TV
72dB - Ultra Silencer vacuum cleaner
80dB - Average vacuum cleaner
85dB - Prolonged exposure above this level can cause damage to hearing
90dB - Food processor, lawn mower
100dB - Electric drill
110dB - Personal stereo
120dB - Thunder, loud stereo
130dB - Threshold of pain
140dB - Fireworks, plane taking off
150dB - Gunshot
What few of us realise is that a change of 3dB (A) technically halves or doubles sound levels. For example, this actually means that a power drill emits more than 8 times as much noise as a food processor and more than 64 times as much noise as the average vacuum cleaner.
