How To Find A Quiet Vacuum Cleaner

Who does not know it, the annoying noise when vacuuming. This noise drowns out pretty much all other sources of sound in the entire apartment and is often a real torture for the ears of humans and animals.

However, it doesn’t work without a vacuum cleaner. Depending on how many people live in the house or apartment, and whether children and / or pets are present – vacuuming has to be more or less frequent.

While a single apartment may only have to vacuum once a week, the owner of pets such as dogs or cats may even vacuum daily.

And even if there are still no completely silent vacuum cleaners, there is still something you can do about the noise when vacuuming. A quiet vacuum cleaner could be the solution and reduce the noise level while vacuuming.

Kenmore Intuition Bagged Upright Vacuum Lift-Up Carpet Cleaner 2-Motor Power Suction with HEPA Filter, 3-in-1 Combination Tool, HandiMate for Floor, Pet Hair, Green

Our recommendation

Soniclean WhisperJet C2 Canister Vacuum Cleaner – Ultra-Quiet Operation – U15 ULPA Filtration – Made in Germany

The benefits of a quiet vacuum cleaner

The advantages of a quiet vacuum cleaner are of course obvious. Noise is perceived as annoying and it is always a good idea to avoid as much noise as possible. Especially in your own apartment or house.

When is a vacuum cleaner loud and when is a vacuum cleaner quiet?

If you want to buy a quiet vacuum cleaner and do a little research in this regard, you will inevitably come across terms such as “Silent” or “Silence” within the product descriptions.

But what do these terms mean? A vacuum cleaner is of course not automatically quiet because it has one of these terms in its name. With these terms, the manufacturers want to indicate that the respective model is a particularly quiet vacuum cleaner.

But what are these terms related to? On what data basis do we speak of a quiet vacuum cleaner?

Manufacturers use the auxiliary unit of measurement Bel, or decibel (dB), to indicate the volume of a vacuum cleaner. Decibel stands for the tenth part of a bel.

But what does this information tell us? When is a vacuum cleaner loud and when is it quiet?

The average noise level from vacuum cleaners

To find out how loud vacuum cleaners are, and above all, how much quieter special silent vacuum cleaners are in comparison, we noted the volume specified by the manufacturer of 10 vacuum cleaners from the Amazon bestsellers.

These vacuum cleaner bestsellers also included two devices that already had the term “Silence” in their name. We skipped these models and selected the next device from the bestsellers, as we want to compare the “normal” vacuum cleaners with quiet vacuum cleaners.

We then determined the average volume from these 10 vacuum cleaners. The result was a value of 77.7 dB (A).

The two silent vacuums that we skipped over were the following two models:

If you now assume an average volume of 77.7 dB (A) and compare this value with the volume of the two quiet vacuum cleaners, you can already see that the designation “Silence” in the name of the models is justified.

With 70 dB (A) and 67 dB (A), these models actually have a significantly lower dB (A) value than the average value we calculated. It is noteworthy that a reduction of only 10 dB (A) corresponds to halving the perceived volume.

Attentive readers will now have noticed that we mentioned that manufacturers use the decibel (dB) auxiliary unit of measurement to provide information on the volume of their devices. But now we often find a dB (A) value in the product descriptions. What is it all about?

The difference between dB and db (A)

At this point it becomes a bit theoretical, but unfortunately there is no other way. The topics of volume, acoustics and sound level are extremely extensive and correspondingly complex. At this point, it would go beyond the scope and our expertise to go into detail.

Nevertheless, we would like to briefly and superficially deal with the difference between dB and db (A), since you are regularly confronted with both statements.

The sound pressure level

First of all, you should know that the sound pressure level is a quantity used to describe the strength of a sound event. A formula is used for this, the result of which is marked with the auxiliary unit of measurement decibel (dB).

So when it comes to specifying the sound pressure level, it is usually given in decibels. That is why the volume is also given in dB for vacuum cleaners.

Now you can find information in dB (A) regarding the volume. What does that mean again?

The human ear perceives tones with the same sound pressure at different pitches at different levels. In principle, one can therefore say that the dependence on the perceived volume and sound pressure level is heavily dependent on frequency. Therefore, when making statements about the perception of a sound event, the frequency spectrum of the sound pressure must be considered.

In order to be able to quantify the perceived volume, the weighted sound pressure level exists as a quantity. This is where the frequency weighting comes into play.

The weighted sound pressure or the frequency weighting

In practice, the measured variables are weighted by an evaluation filter that takes into account the frequency response of the human ear and thus adapts the measured values ​​to the human hearing perception. A frequency-dependent adaptation of the sound pressure level is therefore made.

There are four weighting filters A, B, C and D.

In Germany, the A-weighting is usually used for practical applications. This A-weighting then results in information such as 70 dB (A) or 70 dBA. dBA therefore stands for an A-weighted sound pressure level.

A C-weighting dB (C) is only used for high sound pressure levels. However, no C-rating is used for the volume of vacuum cleaners.

DB (A) is not a unit other than dB, but an A-weighted sound pressure (dB (A)) cannot be converted into an unweighted sound pressure (dB), as there is no conversion formula for this. The reverse is also true.

This is important to know because product descriptions sometimes contain dB and sometimes dB (A) information. Sometimes you can even find both items of information with the same value in different places within the same product description.

In such cases, we therefore assume at this point that manufacturers generally refer to the assessed sound pressure level (dB (A)). We also assume that there is at least one A-frequency filter in a standardized sound level meter .

Compare sound pressure level

In order to better estimate the sound pressure level in general, there are tables which compare different sound pressure levels in different situations and events.

If you know these comparisons of different situations and events and their sound pressure level, then you can better estimate the volume of a device. But only if you compare dB with dB and dB (A) with dB (A).

However, specifying the sound pressure level without a specified distance to the sound source is as good as useless. Because the actual sound source does not have a fixed dB value.

For example, if a manufacturer gives a blanket value of 70 dB without any further information, we do not initially know from what distance this value was determined.

So we have no choice but to assume that the manufacturer’s information was measured with standardized sound level meters from the same distance. Because we don’t have other data available and you have to put your database somewhere.

Compare vacuum cleaner volume – How to find a quiet vacuum cleaner

With this information, you can find out before you buy how loud or quiet the vacuum cleaner will be. The information on the volume of a vacuum cleaner is particularly interesting when you compare the values ​​of different models.

So you can find out by hand which is the quietest vacuum cleaner.

Of course, it doesn’t always have to be the quietest vacuum cleaner. Using the information on the volume, you can create a small comparison list yourself and then compare the individual models based on their performance data. Perhaps you will then notice that a quiet vacuum cleaner from midfield is already doing it.

Such a comparison table should be filled with the values ​​of your own research and could look like this, for example. The lower the dB (A) value specified by the manufacturer, the quieter the vacuum cleaner should vacuum during operation.

Such a table could now be filled with all possible vacuum cleaners and their values. So you can then determine the quietest vacuum cleaner. You can of course add further fields to such a table. It could be interesting if you add more fields with the price and type of vacuum cleaner (bagless or with bag).

If you value other properties when buying a quiet vacuum cleaner, such as the wattage, carpet cleaning class, hard floor cleaning class or other properties, you can of course also include these in the table.

With such a table you create an excellent data basis for determining the individually best-fitting vacuum cleaner.

Which is the quietest vacuum cleaner?

When customers are looking for a quiet vacuum cleaner, the question that often arises is which is the quietest vacuum cleaner ? This question is of course not about determining the quietest vacuum cleaner in the world without considering the performance values. Otherwise you could end up with a small handheld vacuum cleaner. However, that is not the aim of the exercise.

Because at this point it is of course about powerful cylinder vacuum cleaners that are suitable for regular cleaning of floor coverings at home. So it’s about finding the quietest vacuum cleaner that still vacuums very well and is suitable for everyday use.

At the time of this article, we did not find a quieter vacuum cleaner than the AEG VX8-4-ÖKO vacuum cleaner with only 58 db (A) .

AEG VX8-4-ÖKO vacuum cleaner with bag (55% recycled material, only 58 dB (A), incl.additional nozzles, 12 m action radius, ergonomic handle, 750 watts, washable Allergy Plus filter, black / green) *

• Sustainability: Made from 55 percent recycled plastic – PVC-free – up to 92 percent recyclable – packaging made from 100 percent recycled material, 100 percent recyclable
• Whisper-quiet: Incredibly quiet noise level of only 58 dB (A) – no louder than a relaxed phone call
• Convenient handling: Comfortable 12 m radius of action – easy to use and high-quality equipment for pleasant and efficient vacuuming

233.90 EUR

View on Amazon *

Different types of quiet vacuum cleaners

There are basically two different types of vacuum cleaners for the home. On the one hand, there are bag vacuum cleaners and bagless vacuum cleaners.

With bag vacuum cleaners, the air flow is directed directly into the air-permeable bag, which filters the air and at the same time collects the dust. If the vacuum cleaner bag is full, it is exchanged for a new bag.

In the case of bagless vacuum cleaners, a vortex is generated in the incoming air flow, whereby the dust particles are pressed outwards due to the centrifugal force, where they are then separated. Bagless vacuum cleaners have the advantage that they are usually odorless, provided that they are cleaned after each use

Vacuum cleaners without a bag are divided into single cyclone vacuum cleaners and multi-cyclone vacuum cleaners, which differ in their technology.

What should you look out for when buying a quiet vacuum cleaner?

In addition to the volume of a vacuum cleaner, there are of course many other properties that should be considered when buying. If you only value the volume, you can ignore the other properties and concentrate purely on the manufacturer’s information on the dB (A) values.

However, this is not recommended, because in the end of a new vacuum cleaner the suction power, the capacity, the power consumption, the accessories, the carpet cleaning class, the hard floor cleaning class, the dust emission class, the operating range (length of the power cable) and the price should be right.

There are of course also allergy vacuum cleaners, which are equipped with a special HEPA filter. Allergy sufferers in particular should pay attention to this.

Are vacuum cleaner robots or vacuum robots quieter than normal vacuum cleaners?

In recent years, vacuum robots have also been shortlisted when it comes to buying a new vacuum cleaner. Vacuum robots can be very practical as they do their work all by themselves using sensor units.

But what about the volume of vacuum robots? First of all, of course, you have to ask yourself whether the volume of a robotic vacuum cleaner is even an issue. Because if the vacuum robot only does its work when nobody is in the apartment, then the volume may not play a decisive role.

Let’s take a look at the volume of some popular vacuum robots:

Based on this data you can already see that the mentioned vacuum cleaner robots are usually quieter in operation than conventional vacuum cleaners. At this point we cannot say whether this is a fundamental fact. To do this, one would have to compare more models with one another in this regard.

However, due to the design, the suction power of a vacuum robot cannot of course be compared with the performance of a conventional vacuum cleaner. The battery operation alone makes it clear that a vacuum robot cannot put the high performance on the parquet or carpet like a corded vacuum cleaner in mains operation.

Our conclusion on the quiet vacuum cleaner

Because of the enormous volume, vacuuming is often a nuisance. Some devices are so loud in operation that you don’t want to pick them up.

But even if vacuum cleaners generate a certain sound level due to their design, there are still some differences in volume between the individual models.

It can therefore be a good idea to buy a particularly quiet vacuum cleaner to protect your ears and nerves while vacuuming.