One question I get asked a lot about air conditioning is simple: are they noisy?
In a home, with what I’d call a proper domestic system (not the cheap and simple kind built for an office), the answer is no. They’re quiet. Not completely silent, but quiet.
Why a good indoor unit is quiet
There is a fan inside the indoor unit, but it isn’t a propeller like a desk fan. The blades form a long cylinder that rolls the air out across the width of the unit. That moves a lot of air with far less noise than a fan you’d wave in front of your face.
You rarely run it flat out
Most indoor units have fan speeds from one to five. One is a gentle trickle, five is flat out. The only time it runs flat out is when you first switch it on and it’s bringing the room up or down to temperature. Once the room is there, it drops back and sits trickling.
Even flat out, “noisy” is the wrong word. It’s not silent, it’s the sound of a fan pushing air.
Can you sleep with it on?
Yes. I’m a bit of a princess about noise when I’m sleeping, and mine is about three foot from me, up on the wall. It doesn’t keep me awake at all.
On most indoor units you can also set it so it doesn’t switch off completely. It backs off to fan speed one and stays there all night. That’s for cooling (you wouldn’t run heating all night unless the house is really cold). Because it stays on, you don’t get the jump from total silence to a fan starting up. It’s just a soft background white noise.
In the daytime
During the day you’ll barely hear it at all. Most homes have some background sound from inside or out, and a good unit isn’t an intrusive noise. You’ll really only notice it if you’re sat right next to it.
The short answer
Are domestic air conditioning units noisy? Proper, decent ones: no, not at all. If you want to hear one for yourself before you decide, ask us and we’ll happily show you. Call 01480 400 607 or book a quote. You can also read more about our air conditioning, including in Huntingdon and St Neots.
Jason Pope
Owner, Selec Group