Noise from Window Air Conditioners

Of the wide variety of air conditioners used, the window air conditioner is the most popular. It definitely sales more than the split air conditioners and are also more widely used than central air conditioners. And this is not just for domestic purposes only. Even commercially, both for cooling and heating purposes the window air conditioners are the most preferred. The main reason for this is that it can fit into your window and most of its body remains outside the room. So it looks good and also doesn't occupy any space of the room. They also need not be shifted from one place to another. I t remains unobtrusive.

But, like any other air conditioner machine it also produces noise. The intensity obviously would vary according to the type and size of the air conditioner, but there will be some amount of noise produced. This is kind of a white noise and though some might actually like the noise, most would want to do away with it, or at least keep it to its minimum. And remember the noise isn't restricted to your home alone, but can affect your neighbors.

The ductless air conditioners basically are a derivative from the central air conditioning system and the window air conditioning system taking the plusses from both, and removing the restrictions of each. The necessity for inventing this ductless air conditioners can be traced back to a few reasons. First of all, not all houses had the provision for ducts being installed. Even if the house had provisions, installing ducts would be a pretty expensive exercise.

So, before you invest on a window air conditioner, do check the labels on the unit or in the literature that comes with the product to find out the sound power levels. The noise level are generally represented in terms of the unit decibel. The higher the decibel ratings the louder the sound is. You also need to remember that the sound pressure increases by a factor of 10 for every 10-decibel increase. So, if we are talking about 50 decibels then it is actually 10 times louder than 40 decibels and 100 times louder than 30 decibels. So don't be fooled by thinking that 60 decibels would hardly make any more noise than 50, cause it will actually make a lot more noise.

The source of noise in a window air conditioner is the compressor and the fan which are both combined in a single unit. There may be other reasons to noise as well like worn bearings, cabinet rattles, dirty or rusty fan blades, worn rubber mountings and compressor wear. With regular maintenance you can keep these noise levels down but you have to accept the fact that after a point of time, as the air conditioner ages, the noise from it will keep increasing.