Abstract
An investigation was conducted to ascertain the sound pressure levels of home electric appliances in actual situations, what the ideal levels were, and the level considered to be unacceptable. Added to this, the question of what amount purchasers considered it reasonable to pay for noise reduction. It was found that impression of the “actual, ” “ideal” and “intolerable” levels of sounds from home electric appliances could be obtained by psychoacoustical experiments. The results showed that there was a uniform difference of about 10dB between the three levels for the sounds used in the experiment. Subjects also suggested the acceptable cost of noise reduction in home electric appliances. Interesting information was also obtained concerning what kinds of electric appliances housewives wanted to have, what performance they expected, and what factors might contribute to the selection of electric appliances.
