According to the report published by the Government of the USA, 104 million individuals had annual LEQ(24) levels > 70 dBA (equivalent to a continuous average exposure level of >70 dBA over 24 hr) in 2013 and were at risk of noise-induced hearing loss.
The condition is also getting severe day by day, Now a day according to an estimate more than 220 million individuals in the USA are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Out of these people, more than 6% of people are at risk because of Noisy Refrigerators.
Do you lay in that 6%? If yes, then, you are in the best place as today I am going to share my Whole experience on “How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor?”.
I always get frustrated because of this Noisy Refrigerator Compressor while shooting videos for my Youtube Channel, Work From Home During Covid, Some guest visits my home many more times.
To find the exact solution to this problem, I talked with the Engineers, Searched Google, ask friends, and many others. At last, after 3 to four weeks of research, I found almost all possible solutions regarding “How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor?”.
Before we move ahead with the solution we will try to find all possible problems you might face. Let’s start the discussion:
What Is a Refrigerator Compressor?
The compressor is the backbone of the Refrigerator that use to regulate Chiling or coldness inside the refrigerator. It applies pressure in the warm part of the circuit to make the refrigerant hot. The phenomenon is however almost similar to the pumping air in the Cycle or Car tube.
In simple words, the compressor is used to exhaust the compressed coolant into the fridge and make your fridge cool.
Basic behind the working Compressor of the Refrigerator:
The basics behind the working of the compressor are the conversion of the low-pressure coolant into the high-pressure coolant as described in the above picture or you can prefer this video for the whole explanation.
In other words, There are three stages behind the cooling of the refrigerator. These three stages are:
- Stage 1:- Low Pressure exists from the Compressor,
- Stage 2:– Evaporator coils make these Low-pressure coolants into high-pressure by heating the Coolant,
- Stage 3:- High-Pressure Coolant enters into the compressor to make it a low-pressure gas and This process continues till the life span of the refrigerator.
What type of Noise Refrigerator Compressor makes?
Before digging into the solution of “How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor?”. We are going to dig into the types of noise generated by your refrigerator.
There are too many types of Noise almost every refrigerator makes. Some of these you are currently facing are listed below:
- Popping: The wall of the fridge contracts and expands with temperature change. There may be two reasons behind this – an Old Refrigerator or Made up of Faulty Material.
- Vibrations: Legs of the refrigerator are placed on uneven floors.
- Hissing: Leakage of the refrigerant.
- Whirring: Compressor Fan rapidly rotating or moving to and fro
- Sizzling: Water Leakage
- Dripping: Leakage of OIL
These are prominent noises your compressor is making. The noise you will get from this is normally more than 40db which is enough to make an issue with your ear according to a report published by GOV of USA.
From which part of the Refrigerator Noise is Comming?
To find the exact solution, you need to identify from where the sound is coming. It is appearing from the Lower Back of the refrigerator, upper back, inside the fridge, or anywhere else. You also need to identify if there is rust in the fridge, uneven floor, or anything else.
This identification will help you to find what is the best method to solve the issue appearing on your device.
How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor
In this section, we are going to learn the method of “How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor in 2022?”. Some of these methods are discussed below in a very detailed manner
Put the Legs of Refrigerators on A Flat Surface:
If you have a new refrigerator or placed your refrigerator on a floor where it’s not been placed in the past, then, this is the most thing you need to do.
There is a high chance that the floor is uneven. If you find the floor uneven, then, you need to use a mat and Wheel to even the floor. This will help you to make your floor even and balance the fridge from all four sides.
Fix the position of the Fridge:
When the refrigerator is not fixed in position, the wheel or the stand of the fridge is used to change its position because of the vibration created by the condenser of the refrigerator. To quiet that vibration news, you need to fix the position.
In the case of the wheel, you can switch off the wheel with the help of a key. If there is a stand at the bottom, You need to pack your refrigerator from four sides with the help of wood. According to me, this is the most prominent and most effective way to fix the position of the fridge.
SoundProof Refrigerator from Behind:
Shielding the refrigerator from the back is one of the most effective ways to quiet a refrigerator condenser. As this will hinder the propagation of the sound. In this case, the sound will generate from the fridge but you can’t able to hear that sound.
The most efficient material to hinder the sound is material coated with mass-loaded vinyl. Some of the soundproofing materials that contain this are Noise Grabber Mass Loaded Vinyl 2 LB MLV 10+ Sizes, TMS Mass Loaded Vinyl, and many more.
For better results, you can place this material all around the shelve, and the wall around the refrigerator.
Clean the Condensor and Fans on a regular basis:
When you are in an area where the air is full up of .25ppm, 2.2 ppm, and 25 ppm then it is obvious that your refrigerator is full of dust. You need to clean this dust on a regular basis (2 to 4 weeks). If this has happened to you guys, there is a great possibility your food inside the fridge is infected with the germs.
The video above has a great illustration of how you can Quiet your Noisy Refrigerator Compressor with cleaning. You can use alcohol or petrol-like substances for the deep cleaning of the area.
Install an Intake Silencer:
More than 20db of the sound used to be produced by the intake pipe of the refrigerator condenser which is almost 40% of the total sound pollution generated by the fridge. So, it is the best and most cost-efficient idea to install an intake silencer.
Intake normally used to cost $10 to $200. After the reduction of the sound from 60db (running refrigerator) To 40db (with intake silencer). This reduction will help you to maintain good sleep.
Sound Proof From Inside:
You are searching for How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor and your refrigerator is too old(more than 4 years). Then, it’s a great idea to install a soundproofing material from the inside. As lots of parts of the fridge are usually damaged in this time frame.
Either you need to buy a new product or install an insulator for insulation from the sound. These insulators are usually built from vinyl material. Some of the soundproofing materials that contain this are Noise Grabber Mass Loaded Vinyl 2 LB MLV 10+ Sizes, TMS Mass Loaded Vinyl, and many more.
Buy New One:
Buying a New fridge is a better idea than searching for How To Quiet A Noisy Refrigerator Compressor. This purchase will improve the product quality and sound level of the fridge.
Why is the compressor of my fridge so loud?
In most cases, the compressor of the refrigerator is loud because of the dirt level in the condenser. You can improve sound quality by cleaning or buying a new intake silencer.
How loud should a refrigerator compressor be?
In the Normal case, the Sound of the refrigerator usually ranges between 55db to 60db.
Why are new refrigerators so noisy?
New refrigerators are usually made up of plastic-like material which use to expand and contract with changes in temperature.
Born in Delhi (INDIA), I created this to share my 4 Years of experience in the SoundProofing Industry.