Image: Hotpoint H7T 911T MX H Fridge Freezer
Whether you’re working from home or love your kitchen to be quiet, a buzzy fridge can be very annoying. We take a look at how Quiet Mark rate the fridges – and other appliances – that won’t drive us mad…
Image: Liebherr SIGN3576 Integrated Freezer
What does summer make you think of? For us it’s strawberries and cream, Pimm’s in the back garden and Cliff Richard leading a singalong at Wimbledon. However, this summer is very different. Many of us are opting for staycations, and the new normal is working from home.
It’s a time when your refrigerator is working overtime to keep your food (and your choice of liquid refreshment) cool and fresh. But with kitchens now a social hub in many houses – and with lots of us working close to our kitchens, if not in them – you don’t want a noisy one.
Image: LEC R5517W Under Counter Refrigerator
Quiet Mark have been championing quiet domestic products – and more – since 2012, with only the quietest achieving their prestigious mark. They celebrate great acoustic design and assess the decibel levels of countless products. Buzzy fridges are a common issue – only approximately 25% of the refrigerators available meet their stringent criteria.
If you’re looking for a fridge that won’t drown out your Zoom meeting or your latest home schooling session, look no further.
Across a range of sizes and budgets, here are six fridges that have all achieved Quiet Mark certification. At the top end is LG’s dramatic GMX844MCKV multi-door fridge freezer, which is feature packed with wi-fi, linear cooling and a touch display. The Hotpoint H7T 911T MX H is at the other end of the spectrum in terms of price, but is sleek, quiet and boasts ‘no frost’ technology, meaning you’ll never have to defrost the freezer.
Image: LG GMX844MCKV Fridge Freezer
For those wanting an integrated solution, the Liebherr Sign 3576 is just a freezer, but one that punches above its weight. When it comes to smaller options, the Bush MUCFR55BLK Retro under counter freezer has a vintage vibe and a great A++ energy rating.
Image: Bush MUCFR55BLK Retro Under Counter Freezer
The Lec R5517W has a low noise output, a 107 litre fridge and a 16l freezer. For pure under-the-counter refrigeration, the John Lewis & Partners JLUCLFW6013 larder fridge won’t shake the rafters in terms of volume and has a door that can be hinged on either side, ideal for any kitchen layout.
Image: John Lewis Partners JLUCLFW6013 Fridge
Embrace the quiet life this summer…
Read the original article on the Grand Designs Magazine website HERE.
KEEP THE NOISE DOWN Don't be disturbed by loud appliances while you're eating, take advice from Poppy Szkiler, founder and MD of Quiet Mark (quietmark.com) Many manufacturers focus on performance features; the level of noise a machine makes may be a lesser priority. But Quiet Mark appliances have third-party independent verification that the awarded products are technically approved to be among the quietest available. Sound is measured in decibels [dB), which is a logarithmic measurement of the effective pressure of a sound relative to a reference value. Every 3dB increase equates to a perceived doubling of the noise level. Judging sound output purely as a dB rating can be misleading, as the figure needs to be considered in the context of models of the same type, and measured in a real-life environment. The Quiet Mark award enables those looking for a new appliance to see a product's relative quietness straight away. For large appliances such as fridges, washing machines, dishwashers and boilers, manufacturers must declare dB levels on their EU energy label, displayed as a sticker on the front of the product, or online. Large appliances are tested to specific legal standards, so the dB levels on the energy labels can be compared to each other. Quiet Mark's database identifies the quietest machines of a particular type, such as dishwashers, washing machines, etc. There are no such legal standards for small appliances, such as kettles, juicers and food processors. However, Quiet Mark tests these products in a kitchen facility and publishes the results. As more manufacturers begin to invest in and prioritise acoustics, low-noise performance is continuing to improve. As a rough guide, some of the quietest built-in dishwashers have a noise rating of just 39dB, which is around the same level as a quiet conversation.
BBC Good Food surveyed over 1,000 households to find out what dishwashers people currently own, why they chose them, what features they find most useful and whether they would buy them again. 16% said they looked for the Quiet Mark, making it one of the Top 10 buying decision factors.
According to Water UK, 85% of the public are worried about the impact of plastic pollution. In the UK 7.7 billion plastic water bottles and 2.5 billion single-use cups are used each year. Many are discarded and end up polluting our rivers and seas. Staggeringly if just 1 in 10 Brits refilled just once a week, we’d save around 340 million plastic bottles a year.
With temperatures set to soar this summer, keep your cool with The Cheshire Magazine's top 10 Quiet Mark Awarded fans, air circulators and air purifiers.
On 6th August 2020, Dualit ran a Twitter Poll. Given options of Speed, Quiet, Capacity and Repairability, Quiet came top with 50% of the vote!
