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PUBLISHER'S LETTER
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ISSN 1030-2662
2
SILICON CHIP
When will domestic appliances be quiet?
Hands up all readers who spend some time every week doing domestic
chores? Not many of you, are there? OK, I'll try another tack? How many
readers have found that when domestic appliances are being used, they can
hardly hear themselves think? Well most of you should be able to respond
positively to the latter question. It is a fact that most domestic appliances
are far noisier than they should be.
Apart from power tools such as electric drills, circular saws and power
planers, the noisiest domestic appliances are probably food mixers and
processors. In my own home, whenever the food mixer is being used we
have to shut it in the pantry cupboard - it is really deafening. It is so noisy
that if it was a power tool used in industry, ear muffs would be mandatory.
Many vacuum cleaners and hairdryers are not much better. If you vacuum
clean an average size house at least once a week, you will know that it is a
fairly strenuous task which is just made harder by all the noise. Most
vacuum cleaners are so noisy in fact, that the average person using one will
not be able to hear a phone ringing in the same room. The same applies to
hairdryers and you aim most of the noise straight into your ears when using
it.
Washing machines are another unnecessarily noisy appliance. Virtually
every household has one of these crude machines graunching away for
hours every week. The cost of making the gearbox quieter would add very
little to the purchase price. And a little anti-drum treatment to the inside of
the panels would go a long way in silencing these beasts.
Even appliances such as dishwashers and refrigerators which are supposed to be quiet can rarely said to be inaudible. In fact, while the newer
fridges are generally more efficient , they are often noisier than models 15 or
20 years old.
There is no real reason for all this domestic bedlam_.Appliances could be
made a lot quieter. The problem is that few buyers ever enquire or ask for a
demonstration of an appliance before they buy it. If most buyers did so, I am
sure that a lot fewer noisy appliances would be sold.
So if you are unhappy about the noise level of an appliance you've
recently purchased, why not write a letter to the manufacturer or distributor
about it? Make a bit of noise yourself. If enough people take action, the
homes of the future will be quieter and more pleasant places to be in.
Leo Simpson
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