Quiet please!

Loathe noisy gadgets? The new breed of hush-hush tech could be the answer

Noise is destroying our health. it’s known that too much exposure can raise both heart rate and blood pressure, yet we are surrounded by incessant sound, and especially the continuous roar of electric gadgets in our homes.

‘Historically, if you heard a loud noise cortisol levels would shoot up as you prepared for fight or flight, and your heart would beat faster,’ explains Poppy szkiler, managing director of Quiet Mark ( quietmark.com), the organisation that accredits quiet home products. ‘These days, we hear loud sounds the whole time, our bodies react in much the same way and so we’re under constant pressure.

‘For this reason, manufacturers have started to design quieter, inoffensive sounding products, and consumers are eagerly investing.’

Here, Alice smellie tests some of the new quiet products with the help of a decibel measuring app on her phone, and Poppy gives her verdict.

VACUUM CLEANER

Miele Complete C3 Silence EcoLine, £280, miele.co.uk

WHAT: A sleek white beetle-shaped vacuum cleaner. it has a reducednoise motor and sound insulation. The castors have rubberised wheels and shock absorbers.

TEST: i test this against my beloved old Henry vacuum, which produces a thundering 82 decibels when i hold the attachment around seven feet from my ear, the distance at which i’d normally stand and vacuum.

in contrast, the Miele sounds like a purring cat; the silent function is just a low hum. Held at the same distance, it emits just 64dB.

i call my mother for a chat while doing the kitchen floor, and can conduct a conversation at normal voice pitch.

POPPY SAYS: one of the quietest vacuum cleaners we’ve tested. silent but still powerful. 9/10

HAIRDRYER

Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer, £299, dyson.co.uk WHAT: A steel grey hairdryer with a bright pink inside that throws 40 litres of hot air a second at wet hair. They have eliminated any irritating loud roar by adding extra blades to the internal motor, which pushes the sound to a frequency beyond the audible range for humans. TEST: Holding my old supermarket hairdryer 30 centimetres from my ear, the uneven sound measures between 84 and 96dB. The Dyson measures a steady 81dB, but the relaxing hum means you could practically use it as white noise and fall asleep. POPPY SAYS: This is perfect for families who need to be able to hear what’s going on around them. it demonstrates the importance of tonality as well as decibel levels. 7/10

KETTLE

Swan Fearne Quiet Boil Kettle, £32.99, swan-brand.co.uk

WHAT: A solid, retro-looking 1.7 litre kettle with ‘Quiet Boil’ technology. A Which? survey found some kettles can reach 95dB when boiling — the same as an electric drill. Here, a diffuser at the bottom of the kettle reduces the size of the bubbles created when boiling, which reduces the noise produced by the kettle.

TEST: Noise peaks at around 55dB when measured a metre from my head. i have to say, i’ve never been annoyed by a kettle, so this seems a quiet step too far.

POPPY SAYS: A gentle sound and 55dB is very unobtrusive. We’ve tested hundreds of kettles, and very few are quiet, because of the fast boiling action required in short time. 7/10

IRONING

Morphy Richards Saturn Steam Iron, £59.99, morphyrichards.com

WHAT: Trying to chat or watch telly while doing the ironing can be frustrating, especially with today’s super-efficient steam irons. Here, the ‘Aeroglide soleplate’ evenly distributes steam via 485 holes meaning that it doesn’t need to be as powerful — or noisy — as it is dispersed in a more effective way.

TEST: My current iron is perfectly adequate, but reaches more than 80 dB when in use. This one doesn’t have the Quiet Mark, but nonetheless press a button and it emits a low and continuous seductive 52dB hiss of steam.

When i turn on the telly i can hear everything.

An onerous task is made just a little less hideous.

POPPY SAYS: some irons make an explosive noise as they heat up and then as they drag water from tank to iron. Calmer sounds help you relax, constant noise intrusion is irritating. 8/10

ALARM CLOCK

Lumie Bodyclock, Shine 300, £125, lumie.com

WHAT: A dawn and dusk simulator that looks like a bedside light, with the time showing on the front. in a Japanese study, those who were suddenly forced awake had higher blood pressure and heart rate than those allowed to wake in their own time.

Alarm clocks can reach 85 decibels, but this wakes you by gradually increasing natural appearing light until your chosen wake- up time, which means levels of melatonin, the sleep hormone, have gone down and you feel as though you are waking from choice. You can also select from 14 soothing wake-up sounds.

TEST: Most mornings i gasp awake in shock as my alarm clock shrieks me into consciousness at 80dB. i select blackbirds as my alarm sound of choice. To my disappointment, i wake earlier than the clock, just in time to see the bulb glowing a deep, sunrise red. By the time the blackbirds start their tweeting i’m twitching with exhausted fury and slam it off. i know people who swear by these, but it’s not for me.

POPPY SAYS: The wake up sounds are soft and natural, but still do the important job of a traditional alarm clock. 6/10

TOOTHBRUSH

Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean 6100 Rechargeable Sonic Electric Toothbrush, Pastel Pink, £99.99, johnlewis.com WHAT: A sleek sonic toothbrush that gives effective and gentle cleaning. Philips point out most toothbrushes use noisy mechanical motors whereas the sonicare is tuned to deliver a quieter clean. TEST: The sound of my husband cleaning his teeth annoys me, and when i turn on the decibel monitor near his old electric toothbrush, i understand why. Held at mouth to ear distance, the clanking sound it makes is over 70dB. This, in contrast, is a consistent 55dB hum at the same distance. POPPY SAYS: it’s not always big loud noises that are intrusive. sometimes the buzzing or whining of smaller appliances can be just as irritating. 7/10

FOOD PROCESSOR

Magimix 3200XL Food Processor, £216, johnlewis.com WHAT: A compact all- in- one processor with blades for every possible cooking permutation including an egg whisk and a dough blade. The motor automatically adjusts power depending on what’s in the machine. There’s no such thing as a quiet food processor, but Magimix’s induction motor makes it less noisy. TEST: My current blender is 15 years old — and broken. The sound it made was like something used to scare crows. At around 80dB this is more like a low singing sound. i think it’s fantastic. POPPY SAYS: A game- changer; amazing that it can be efficient and make such a quiet sound. 8/10

DISHWASHER

Fisher & Paykel Double Dishdrawer, £1,239, fisherpaykel.com

WHAT: Runs at just 45dB and has two drawers so you can stack one whilst using the other.

TEST: i hold my decibel monitor 50cm away from this, and it produces a charming hum of 4555dB. However, the yelling of children and the barking of dogs means that this is a somewhat moot point — usually you can’t hear a thing. POPPY SAYS: The kitchen is the hub of the home and superquiet discreet dishwashers are set to become the norm. 7/10