The Journal of the INCE of Japan

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To clarify attitudes toward sounds emitted by electric home appliances and the actual circumstances in which such sounds are emitted, a questionnaire survey was conducted among university students and the residences of the students were examined. Respondents generally felt annoyed by loud sounds emitted by electric home appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines and dryers, whose A-weighted sound pressure level was high. However, they also felt annoyed by the soft sounds of personal computers whose A-weighted sound pressure level was low. Comparison of survey results obtained for respondents living with families and those living alone showed that the respondents living alone reported a higher level of noisiness for refrigerators, electric pots and washing machines, whereas the respondents living with families reported a higher level of noisiness for vacuum cleaners. Respondents generally stated that the sounds emitted by electric home appliances were unpleasant and should be softer, and they anticipated progress in noise-reduction technology for electric home appliances. However, they tended to accept a certain level of noise emitted by electric home appliances.

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