If you've been shopping for new bathroom fan or ventilation fan, you've probably come across a measurement of sound called sones. Many of us are familiar with another unit of sound measurement, decibels, but you may be seeing sones for the first time.
What is a sone? How is a sone measured, and how does it compare to decibels? Keep reading to find out.
What Is A Sone?
A sone is a measurement of sound, similar to a decibel. Where decibels measure the sound of products like air purifiers, air conditioners, and more, a sone is typically a measurement of the loudness of ventilation and bathroom fans.
What Is A Sone Rating?
When you see a sone rating you're looking at an indication of the loudness of a particular ventilation fan. The higher the sone rating, the louder the product is going to be.
What's The Difference Between Sones and Decibels?
A decibel rating is a physical measurement of the sound level. Without going too far into the science of it, decibels measure the physical sound pressure or level of a product.
The sone rating was developed to measure how humans think how loud a sound is, not just it's physical noise level. Humans perceive sound differently based on the frequency of the sound. The higher the frequency, the better humans can hear a sound.
When the sone rating was created, human test subjects were asked for how loud a sound feels to them. Sones are a better way to understand the loudness of an appliance in real-world application.
Read More About How Loud Decibels Are
The Measurement of Sones vs. Decibels
Sones are a linear measurement, meaning that two sones are exactly double the loudness of one sone. Sones are typically measured in half-sone increments like 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, etc.
Decibels are not a linear measurement, going from four decibels to eight decibels doesn't mean the noise level has doubled. Looking at it that way, sones are an easier measurement for most of us to understand.
| Sones Vs. Decibels Comparison | |
|---|---|
| Sones | Decibels (dB) |
| 1 | 28 dB |
| 2 | 37.99 dB |
| 3 | 43.84 dB |
| 4 | 47.99 dB |
| 5 | 51.21 dB |
| 6 | 53.83 dB |
| 7 | 56.06 dB |
| 8 | 57.98 dB |
| 9 | 59.68 dB |
| 10 | 61.20 dB |
Sone Rating Chart
How can you visualize what a sone level means. The below sone rating chart is a general guideline for how loud various sone levels are.
| What Sone Levels Sound Like | |
|---|---|
| Sones | Source |
| 0.3 Sones or Less | Virtually Unable To Be Heard |
| 0.3 - 0.9 Sones | Difficult To Be Heard Unless Specifically Listening For |
| 1 Sone | Sound of Refrigerator Running |
| 2 Sones | Quiet Office Environment |
| 3 Sones | TV At Comfortable Volume |
| 4 Sones | Conversation Level |
| 5 Sones | Refrigerator |
| 6 Sones | Restaurant Setting |
| 7 Sones | Noise Level of Light Traffic |
| 8 Sones | Dishwasher or Shower |
| 9 - 10 Sones | Kitchen Blender |
- 0 - 2 sones is considered Very Quiet.
- 3 - 6 sones is considered Quiet.
- 7 - 9 sones is considered Annoying.
- More than 10 sones is considered Potentially Damaging.
In Summary
Sones are measurement of sound relative to how loud it feels to humans while decibels measure the physical sound pressure
