12v Fridges - Empirical-ish Collection of Sound Levels

[roving1]

Iceco VL45

Quiet room baseline- 24.3 db

Fan side high power compressor setting- 36.9db
Fan side low power compressor setting- 37.1db

Difference from baseline to operating 12.8db

My house fridge kicked on and then my neighbors brodozer showed up and started idling so I bailed on the quiet side measurements.

Interesting there is essentially nothing in it for the difference between low and high, it's all fan noise. I did some repeated testing and with my ear right up the fan grate I can hear the compressor speed changing pitch between low and high but when it stabilized the noise blends and disappears into the background. The compressor itself is almost inaudible.

For additional info my cooler has the cover and was chocked to the brim with food running on A/C power.

Fun fact, in my bedroom in the center of the floor with all the walls having stuff around the perimeter I could really barely hear the fridge running from my bed. But when I moved to a different room and put the fan up close to a bare wall my perception of the noise level easily doubled and I could hear it running easily from anywhere in the living room or kitchen. Could see that applying to the inside of a vehicle put up against a flat sound reflecting surface as well.

 

[Rallyroo]

Unfortunately, don't have my Engel MT45 anymore to test, but I don't remember it being annoying loud as I have slept inside my vehicle a couple times with no issues. Friend had a Engel MT040 and I remember I was sleeping in my tent and when his Engel MT040 inside his rig kicked on, the buzzing of the compressor woke me up multiple times. From that I wondered, was my own Engel ever that loud? Hope someone can get some numbers for the Engel fridges.

 

[axlesandantennas]

As I write this, my Dell XPS fan just kicked on. It's just a normal fan sound. In comparison, I would say that my ICECO JP40 is just a little louder than that, which is to say, not much.

I have slept with it running, and, at least for my tinnitus riddled ears, is not bad at all.

But there are a few other things to take into consideration, and that would be pitch / frequency of this noise, and the distance you are testing the sound levels from.

For instance, some sounds I find "soothing" and others make me wish I were deaf (like a two cycle engine). The fans in the JP40 are perfectly ok with me, but that's just me.

As for distance, sound stated in dB needs to be stated from a distance from the object because the measurement follows the inverse square law. I'm not an expert in this by no means, but it was something that I had to work with in my former job. Anyway, what it basically means is that if you measure the fan at say, 40 db at 1 foot from the fan, then at 2 feet, the sound should be 10 db. When you double the distance from the object, then you cut your measurement by dividing by 4.

So that's my nerd out on this. Also, here is a chart. I get like this when it comes to hearing now because I have really screwed up my hearing and the last thing YOU want is to have a persistent ringing in your ears. It sucks.

 

[plh]

recluse yourself from the conversation.

Yes, will do. Good luck with your experiments. Have a nice day.

 

[axlesandantennas]

Yes, will do. Good luck with your experiments. Have a nice day.

Before you bow out, got a question for you. I assume you were using a handheld meter of some sort? When we did sound testing, we had one to make sure we would not go over OSHA limits (85 db?) but I don't remember which one it was. Anyway, how good/bad would you say a smart phone app compares to an actually device like this? I would guess it's in the "ok, but not great" category? Thanks!

 

[plh]

Before you bow out, got a question for you. I assume you were using a handheld meter of some sort? When we did sound testing, we had one to make sure we would not go over OSHA limits (85 db?) but I don't remember which one it was. Anyway, how good/bad would you say a smart phone app compares to an actually device like this? I would guess it's in the "ok, but not great" category? Thanks!

We do not use any handhelds. Our microphones are from G.R.A.S. and Bruel & Kjaer, the DAC is a B&K unit and post processing software is also B&K. I'd say that the smart phone app would be on the "bad" scale. Our setup is relatively low end and cost roughly $25k. The stuff we test is in the 40dBA max range. It is impossible to get reliable measurements in that low dBA area without a noise isolating chamber (anechoic chamber). Our chamber is not great (sound floor is around 30dBA) and for any official published results we go to an outside lab. The outside lab in the Detroit area that we use has a noise floor of around 23dBA.

 

[67cj5]

I tested My Fridges with a db meter not an App. which is well within Spec for general purpose measurements.

 

[Rallyroo]

Which free dB measuring app do you guys like for iOS? I'm currently using the free version of Decibel X. Other than the annoying ads since it's the free version, but sometimes I question the numbers I'm getting. When I expect to read a high number sometimes it's way lower than expected. When I expect to read a low number it's sometimes way higher than expected.

 

[axlesandantennas]

We do not use any handhelds. Our microphones are from G.R.A.S. and Bruel & Kjaer, the DAC is a B&K unit and post processing software is also B&K. I'd say that the smart phone app would be on the "bad" scale. Our setup is relatively low end and cost roughly $25k. The stuff we test is in the 40dBA max range. It is impossible to get reliable measurements in that low dBA area without a noise isolating chamber (anechoic chamber). Our chamber is not great (sound floor is around 30dBA) and for any official published results we go to an outside lab. The outside lab in the Detroit area that we use has a noise floor of around 23dBA.

Oh wow! Thanks for the info.

It's funny, I've never been in a anechoic chamber, but the place I used to work had a "quiet room" that was used for voice over / narration work for videos. Just a regular office with sound chamber foam everywhere. It was a strange experience being in there. Not nearly as quite as a testing room, but much more quite than many of us are used too. Almost like sound was just sucked out of the room!

 

[bas157]

Are your fridges really about the sound of a desktop computer when the compressor is running?
I just bought an Alpicool T50 that arrived this week. I'm thinking it is defective as I can hear it from 30 feet away. I downloaded 3 spl meter apps last night and tried them at 6am this morning when it was quiet at home(and outside) and was getting over 50db with spikes up to 60db from about 6 feet away. The db listed for the T50 is 45db or less. I'm really thinking it is defective as some youtube videos show the camera right next to the vents and I can barely here anything with the speakers turned all the way up! The sound also changes when it is running(after startup), which I also think is strange. I thought it would be a constant/steady sound when running, not something that changes in pitch and frequency.
Any chance someone can post a short video of their fridge running? I'm assuming they are all pretty close as to how they sound. I'm waiting to hear back form Alpicool via Amazon (tried the number on the Alpicool website and and says the call cannot be completed)

 

[jadmt]

Are your fridges really about the sound of a desktop computer when the compressor is running?
I just bought an Alpicool T50 that arrived this week. I'm thinking it is defective as I can hear it from 30 feet away. I downloaded 3 spl meter apps last night and tried them at 6am this morning when it was quiet at home(and outside) and was getting over 50db with spikes up to 60db from about 6 feet away. The db listed for the T50 is 45db or less. I'm really thinking it is defective as some youtube videos show the camera right next to the vents and I can barely here anything with the speakers turned all the way up! The sound also changes when it is running(after startup), which I also think is strange. I thought it would be a constant/steady sound when running, not something that changes in pitch and frequency.
Any chance someone can post a short video of their fridge running? I'm assuming they are all pretty close as to how they sound. I'm waiting to hear back form Alpicool via Amazon (tried the number on the Alpicool website and and says the call cannot be completed)

My ARB50 is super quiet, literally I have to look at the light to see if it is running or not. mine runs 24/7 if not in my rigs it is in the house keeping beer cold. I have slept in the back of my jeep with my head right next to it and never bothered me. I have good hearing so it is not like I can't hear either.

 

[roving1]

Are your fridges really about the sound of a desktop computer when the compressor is running?
I just bought an Alpicool T50 that arrived this week. I'm thinking it is defective as I can hear it from 30 feet away. I downloaded 3 spl meter apps last night and tried them at 6am this morning when it was quiet at home(and outside) and was getting over 50db with spikes up to 60db from about 6 feet away. The db listed for the T50 is 45db or less. I'm really thinking it is defective as some youtube videos show the camera right next to the vents and I can barely here anything with the speakers turned all the way up! The sound also changes when it is running(after startup), which I also think is strange. I thought it would be a constant/steady sound when running, not something that changes in pitch and frequency.
Any chance someone can post a short video of their fridge running? I'm assuming they are all pretty close as to how they sound. I'm waiting to hear back form Alpicool via Amazon (tried the number on the Alpicool website and and says the call cannot be completed)

Mine is sitting in the open bed of the truck in my driveway. I always think it's not running because if there is any ambient noise including wind blowing through the leaves on trees I can't hear it even if I stick my face near it. I just feel for air now to confirm its running.

I have definitely had laptop computers louder than my fridge.

 

[bas157]

Thanks for the replies, Alpicool is sending me a return label. They said if it is still loud in eco mode the compressor must be bad. Might order another and hope it isn't bad. Kinda bummed, was looking forward to using it next week for a camping trip. If I get one, I'll try to post the db levels, since I've already got three of the apps on my phone now!