Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM MAY 2022 32 began to migrate their production to quieter dishwashers as demand for them increased. A decade after the standard became active, the sound ratings of the loudest and quietest dishwashers on the market dropped. The quietest units dropped by 10 decibels, which is typically perceived as being half as loud 3 . In fact, many of the premium branded units are so quiet that owners could not tell they were running. The dishwashers had sound emission levels lower than the background sound levels in the homes where they were installed. Manufacturers responded by adding lights to alert customers that the unit was running or finished, so that the owners would know the dishwasher was working correctly. In the nearly two decades since the dishwasher sound standard was introduced, consumers have enjoyed the reduction in dishwasher noise levels in their homes. Consumers benefited from competition to produce quieter dishwashers. The same premium unit in 2012 that had a sound rating of 50 sold for nearly $ 300 less in 2015 as manufacturers responded to the market and produced dishwashers with lower sound ratings with little or no sound packages to be sold at lower price points. Manufacturers have seen proliferation of higher profits and created distinct market segments to sell their commodity, value and premium dishwasher brands. Now that dishwashers are no longer the loudest appliance noise source within the home, other products should now be identified for creation of a sound rating to provide the consumer with more opportunity to continue to reduce the sound levels within their homes. A good candidate would be the clothes washer with its sound emission levels approximately 1,000 times higher (30 dB) than a quiet dishwasher. Currently, the purchase decisions for most appliances are now typically based on energy efficiency, capacity and price only, with the exception of a dishwasher, which now also includes sound level. Sound level is a purchasing decision influencer for dishwashers but should be one for all other appliances as well due to the additional sound emitted that adds to the cacophony of appliance sounds in the home. 5. REFERENCES 1. Cowan, J.P. (1994). Handbook of environmental acoustics. John Wiley & Sons. 2. Herreman, K.M. & Mouw, N.A. (2004). A potential standard for determining dishwasher sound power levels. Proceedings NOISE- CON 06, 2006 December 3-6, Honolulu, HI, edited by Scott Sommerfeldt and Ichiro Yamada, CD-ROM paper no.nc060641 (Institute of Noise Control Engineering Inc., Ames, IA). 3. Herreman, K.M. Market effect on sound ratings for dishwashers. Proceedings NOISE-CON 16, 2016 June 13-15, Providence, RI, edited by Gordon Ebbitt and Courtney Burroughs, paper no.nc16_159 (Institute of Noise Control Engineering Inc., Washington, DC). Owens Corning One Owens Corning Parkway, Toledo, Ohio 43659 USA www.owenscorning.com © 2022 Owens Corning. All Rights Reserved. A P P L I A N C E T R E N D S FIGURE 3 — Segmentation of dishwasher brands offered for sale in the United States during August 2015 (pricing and sound rating from major appliance retailer websites) FIGURE 2 — Comparative examples of noise levels

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