AC Unit Sound Ratings

[Steve N]

Greetings, I am lining up for a new air conditioner. The Trane XL14i is boasting sound ratings of 76... Sound ratings are important enough to me to weigh heavily on my final decision. I have a choice of Carrier, Trane, or York.

I am having a 2-1/2 ton, with R410a Refrigerant...Puron as Carrier calls it...

Any suggestions on sound ratings or where I can get further information on this...I would like to see a sheet that lists all the manufacturers side by side with their sound ratings but this does not seem easy to find...

Steve

[<kjpro]

Boasting about 76??????????

ICP R-410 Air Conditioners:

H4A4 series, 14 SEER, high fan 74 low fan 70

H4A3 series, 13 SEER, high fan 75 low fan 70

ICP R410 Heat Pumps:

H4H4 series, 14 SEER, high fan 74 low fan 69

H4H3 series, 13 SEER, high/low fan 73

[Noon-Air]

Rheem 2 1/5 ton R-410A heat pump (with RHLL-HM3617J air handler) RPNL-030JAZ 15.00SEER/9.25HSPF 73db RPPL-030JAZ 14.40SEER/10.10HSPF 73db

RHEEM 2 1/5 ton R-410A A/C (with RHLL-HM3617J air handler) RANL-030JAZ 14.00SEER 73db RAPL-030JAZ 15.50SEER 73db

[Tekkie®]

Make certain you emphasize to your vendors that low noise is an important feature to you and the ductwork and infrastructure you have/putting in place will support this.

[Noon-Air]

Can&#39;t help you there, but I hear that Bubba&#39;s Guns and Ammo has ear plugs on sale.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Yeah...okay BUT...

How much might one of those help much in drowning out some of the f****ng incessant freeway noise that I happen to get here ???

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Somewhere around here I have a sound pressure meter I had bought many years ago--pretty sure still it&#39;s complete and that the chicken shit glue binder that I had Boeing Cal-Cert put around the pot is still intact....maybe take some readings..

Nevermind though..we are getting into sound pressure and dissapation as it relates to distance from the initial source.

I&#39;ve actually quite a bit in this, amatuer musician and all--but a general rule of thumb is one of root quare distance, bbc did the studys inna f****ng cornfield in the 40&#39;s IIRC.

Perhaps quite an advantage for certain hvac folks that were able to isolate outside units inna say maybe a concrete structure that only allows sound to travel upwards.

[Noon-Air]

Seems to me that as long as the appropriate clearance distances are maintained for proper air flow and access around the condenser, thick hedge would go a long way towards absorbing sound instead of reflecting it.

[Tony]

How about solid state "No noise at all" Tony

[Tekkie®]

You won&#39;t hedge on that after you absorb all the noise this is sure to emit?

[Noon-Air]

I haven&#39;t had *that* particular problem since I quit eatin at Taco Bell