how do DW manufacturers measure volume levels?

12 years ago

i'm curious...

we just replaced a GE Profile that supposedly was a 58db model, but in reality when going full bore, was about 70db standing in front of the dishwasher when it was doing it's "grinding thing."

our new Bosch we received yesterday is rated at 42db. it's MUCH quieter than the GE but by measurement, it still is in the low 50s at its loudest when water is hitting against a metal bowl inside the dishwasher and i didn't measure the sound level when it drains into the sink above the disposer, but i'm guessing that too is above 42db.

are these ratings largely a function of the ability of the cabinet/floor to absorb noise, etc? it would seem that where a dishwasher is installed would play pretty big role.

on the other hand, it seems uniform testing/spec would take a unit freestanding on a floor and put a mike/sound level meter X feet away and measure the volume. maybe the 42/58 db ratings we see on our two different dishwashers are from some distance closer to 5-10 feet?

not complaining, really...this is more just curiousity. funny thing: while i definitely know the DW is on now, even with the Bosch, when the fridge is running, i now notice how loud it is, not the Bosch dishwasher. that's progress! :)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

User
12 years ago
good question !

there is no industry standard, and few ,if any, manufacturers will tell you how they do it.
sombreuil_mongrel
12 years ago
Quietness is usually a function of price. An expensive and noisy model will not be long on the market.
Casey
Related Discussions
Mike 34-how to figure your container volume using DRY measure
Q
Comments (4)
Al- Thanks for reading my long post and for the compliment. Ronalawn- been there on the wrong side of the road, making left turns was the worst for me. By the way, speaking of the weight of a gallon of water..... I believe a US gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds (at least it's a little closer to your 10 pounds, which is indeed the weight of an Imperial gallon.) Also, a liter weighs 2.2 pounds. There are 7.5 U.S. gallons in a cubic foot of volume. So, 5 gallons equals 2/3's of a cubic foot. (2/3 x 7.5 = 5). A cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 pounds. And just for grins I'll throw in... Watering Your Garden: To cover 1,000 square feet with an inch of water takes 625 gallons. One Gallon per minute (gpm) = 1,440 gallons per day. It takes 10.4 gallons every minute, to apply one inch of water over 1,000 square feet every hour. Gallons divided by minutes x 8.03 = cubic feet per hour. Gotta go water, it's HOT!!! Rebecca
...See More
Hydroponic Automation: Measuring water volume added to reservoir
Q
Comments (3)
I have a little bit of electronics and MCU programming background. I don't think you application requires high accuracy. Here is what I would do: Ã¢ÂÂ¢ Get a cheap flow meter that suits my needs from eBay. Ã¢ÂÂ¢ Connect it to the pump or outlet Ã¢ÂÂ¢ Pump water to a bucket Ã¢ÂÂ¢ Measure how much is in the bucket and compare that to your flow meter reading. There are flow meters with display, or you can make your own with an Arduino module and a LCD. If you go that way you can add more functions, like measuring temperature or RelH, or even Ph. Simple alternative: Have a huge reservoir with fertilizers in it and supply from there. Or better two, and switch when empty.
...See More
How to level a bathtub into a podium
Q
Comments (12)
Good morning guys, Eric is right, John, the tub is not yet installed. We were about to do it, yesterday, when this new snafu came to light. And Eric, thank you for your encouragement. Yes, this project has proven quite exciting so far... and needlessly costly. At this point, I don't know if I should cry or just sit down and write a book! The GC showed up at our house yesterday afternoon after I threatened to sue him. He still has not brought in all that I have already paid for, and when I told him about the 3" gap, his jaw just dropped. While I was busy with the plumbers and the electricians, he went and fitted two small pieces of plywood over the floor in the podium to try and raise the floor to meet the footing of the bath. He cut those pieces no bigger than the footing of the bath. Not only are they not high enough, but such short pieces will prevent the weight of the tub to distribute evenly over the whole floor. Me thinks, anyhow. Anywhooo... John, this bathtub does not come with little adjusting legs. It is pre-leveled on a board which is meant to lie flat on a levelled floor. I'm adding a picture for you to see better. What I am thinking of doing is making a few blotches, or mounds, of mortar and squish the bath in place. I'm thinking little mounds will be easier to squish into than a large solid surface, plus I don't want to add too much extra weight. We've had all our floor joists doubled but this is an old house and it needs to be treated gently... Eric, the reason I hesitate to fill the gap with lumber is that I won't be able to shim level the bath on all four side once it is dropped in place because the corner it sits in is on exterior walls. Perhaps a combination of the two methods would work well. One thing is for sure, my GC is now toast and this project has now officially been downgraded (some, including me right now, would say upgraded) to a DIY project. Oh well, it's only money, right.... Sniff, sniff.... ;-( Here is a link that might be useful: 3
...See More
Ques about measurement, volume, mass & gluten & sugar free
Q
Comments (14)
Sooz- What brand of stevia product are you using? That would help with finding or altering recipes for you. I have a number of stevia products and they all measure differently, and I use them differently. Some measure cup-for-cup for sugar and others would take 1/2 t.-1 t. for a recipe. I also have a the cookbook "Stevia - naturally sweet recipes for desserts, drinks and more!" by Rita DePuydt, but these recipes are NOT gluten-free (although I think there are some that could be converted to g-f all-purpose flour or almond meal). Helpful hints baking with stevia: *It helps if the recipe utilizes fruit, fruit juice/s, fruit sauces and purees, and dairy products (sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt, etc.). The fruit sugars help with the sweetness and disguise the "aftertaste" from stevia. You can use less stevia since the sugar in fruit also adds sweetness. The dairy products help keep the baked goods from drying out and lactose (a sugar) aids in some browning. *Refrigerate or freeze cookie dough for 4-hours or overnight before baking. The cookies will taste sweeter. *Add 1-3 T. of another sweetener such as date sugar, malt syrup, rice syrup, agave nectar, coconut (palm) nectar, or honey. These also help with browning. Since stevia doesn't brown like sugar, baked goods look anemic. It also doesn't tenderize or moisten baked goods. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be sure to check out Paleo recipes and Low-Carb recipes. They are generally gluten-free (using almond flour and coconut flour) and use fruit (medjool dates, apple butter, applesauce, fruit spreads, etc) or low-glycemic yacon syrup, coconut nectar, palm sugar, stevia and other low-cal. chemical sweeteners. I've used Swerve (which is a brand name of Erythritol), but didn't care all that much for it. I thought it was used best with another low-carb sweetener like palm sugar or agave nectar. I avoid Splenda because I react to it. The link below is a sugar-free recipe I happen to have in the cookie jar right now. It calls for 1 T. agave nectar, but I usually use 2 T. coconut nectar (I make coconut nectar by melting 1-1/2 c. coconut palm sugar in 1/2 c. water on a warm burner). You could also use sugar-free honey in this recipe (I can find it at Wal-Mart), which is another sugar-free option for you. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry Coconut Pecan Breakfast Cookies
...See More
kashmi
12 years ago
Derek: I'm so glad you posted about your experiences. As you know, we have the same DW, and it's not as quiet as we expected. My sister has an older (and a bit less expensive) model that you almost cannot hear when it is running. With ours, we hear it: as you said, when it empties and when water hits a metal bowl/pan.

It IS quieter than our 14 year old Bosch, but not the super quiet we had expected. We had wondered if the reason is that the DW sticks out from the cabinets about 1". We tried to get the installer to place it flush with the other cabinetry, but that just didn't happen. I've wondered whether it would be quieter if it were further back -- less noise leak? (In hindsight, we should have used our regular plumber instead of the appliance store's installer. Who knew?!)

In any case, what about your installation? Is it flush with your other cabinets? If so, then we're wrong in our diagnosis. Again, it's not obnoxiously loud; just louder than we had expected. But, as you say, not louder than the refrig.

BTW, to your question about db ratings ... at one point we were considering a Viking DW. We couldn't find a db rating and emailed the company. The response was that Viking did not test or provide that info. We didn't know if that was because their DW were louder than others in the same price range or if there just was no standard and so the manufacturer supplied ratings were pretty much meaningless.
Derek87
Original Author
12 years ago
kashmi, et al.

our DW is installed pretty flush with the cabinets (24" from the wall), with the handle sticking out. it's not perfectly flush because our cabinets aren't level (they are somewhat bowed out so the dishwasher face isn't perfectly flush with the cabinet. this is confirmed with a level: the bosch is perfectly level in all directions but the cabinets are not.)

so i've done some more research and investigation and here are some of my hypotheses/findings:

- i had been accidentally using a C-weighting on my sound level which has the Bosch checking in at 56-59db at it's loudest. but if i shift to A-weighting, which i'm sure Bosch would do (reduces the effective recorded volume measured for lower frequencies), the DW falls belows my sound level meters measurement threshold: it is below 50db standing 1-2 ft away from the front of the dishwasher.

- most of the sound is coming from beneath the dishwasher from the area around the toe kick. the volume goes up a significant amount if one measures at the level near the floor and even with A-weighting, i get a measurement of 54db (ie, measurable with my sound level meter)

- water being emptied out into the drain just above the disposer is louder too, but i don't think that is the dishwasher's fault and is unavoidable without a dedicated drain or something rigged to go below the disposer.

my conclusion: i may not be getting 42db (that may be attained with water not hitting any dishes, but it's probably performing to "spec" and that the 42 db is probably measured a few feet from the unit at standing level with nothing in the dishwasher. i do think some measure of sound could be further reduced by putting some sort of insulated toe kick below. that would surely help some of the noise.

i'm surprised your sister's older model is quieter, but it could be slightly a function of installation and perhaps ambient noise?

hope this helps. i'll have to make a few more measurement to satisfy my ardent curiosity (that's what i get for being a scientist for my day job), but i feel a bit better that the dishwasher is doing what it is supposed to as far as sound levels are concerned.

you owe it to yourself to buy or borrow a sound level meter to see if you 1" is affecting things. you still may be able to reduce the volume with it set back further, but it's hard to deduce with out any objective measures of the sound level.

how do DW manufacturers measure volume levels?

Comments (4)

User

sombreuil_mongrel

Related Discussions

kashmi

Derek87
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

how do DW manufacturers measure volume levels?

Comments (4)

User

sombreuil_mongrel

Related Discussions

kashmi

Derek87Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Derek87
Original Author