How Quiet Are The Miele W3240 / W3364Wps

[pilotpete@hotmail.co.uk]

Can anyone advise how quiet these two machines are, Miele’s website only gives insulation levels not decibels. We are comparing these with Siemens similar priced machines and they give decibel levels on their site. Both manufacturers are offering 10 year guarantees on various models (offer expires end Jan (Siemens) and end Feb (Miele)

Have tried Kelko for comparisons on noise but these models didn’t appear to be listed.

Any information would be greatly appreciated on the above and comparisons of build quality.

Many thanks.

[uumode]

Can anyone advise how quiet these two machines are, Miele’s website only gives insulation levels not decibels. We are comparing these with Siemens similar priced machines and they give decibel levels on their site. Both manufacturers are offering 10 year guarantees on various models (offer expires end Jan (Siemens) and end Feb (Miele)

Have tried Kelko for comparisons on noise but these models didn’t appear to be listed.

Any information would be greatly appreciated on the above and comparisons of build quality.

Many thanks.

Well, I will be getting my W3240 on the 13th Jan, so will feedback then.

If you need a quiet washing machine the W3922

http://www.miele.co.uk/Products/Features.aspx?pid=99

is the cheapest Miele with the Silent Professional Motor (which is supposed to be super quiet) with 10 year guarantee

though is a bit more expensive of course, cheapest I've seen it is £833 or about £865

I've read a user review that with a Silent Professional Motor you can have it in the nursery and it won't wake the baby, except for the finish buzzer! (though I don't own one, so can't verify)

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I've seen one Miele washing machine quoted at 44dB. As uumode points out, if anyone wanted a seriously quiet washing machine then Miele do the "silent professional motor" although I'm sure that's overkill for the vast majority of people. I would have thought you’d need to have very specific requirements to justify the extra expense. A normal Miele washing machine is likely to be quiet enough for most people. My understanding is that Siemens also make a quality German washing machine, but that Miele are a bit better. However, how much better is something I need to research more as I’ve had little dealings with Siemens washing machines recently.

I’m a little sceptical of washing machines claiming to be quiet since I came across a Hotpoint washing machine range only a few years back that claimed to be super quiet, it even had it printed on the control panel, but although it was eerily quiet on wash (all you could hear was the water sloshing about) it sounded pretty normally noisy on spin. I’m also mindful that a “quieter” washing machine isn’t necessarily a better buy unless quietness is the highest priority.

However, the problem with decibels is that although we all know about them, do we know enough about them to discriminate between two washing machines based on the decibel rating? We know that the lower the number the quieter something is, but if one washing machine boasts a 45dB noise level and another washing machine quotes 47db, exactly how much quieter is the first? Is it even discernable to most people? Decibels mean nothing to me, apart from the higher the number the louder something is supposed to be. I know what 80 decibels sounds like because it’s the rating of a household smoke alarm, but I don’t think the decibel scale works “logically”. In other words, 40 decibels is probably not half the volume of 80 decibels, and two different things creating the exact same decibel reading may sound quite different to the human ear depending on the type of noise they are producing. There are even some decent washing machines (notably Bosch and even Siemens) that feature in the loudest noise category 70dB - 80dB. There’s a Tecknik 1200 spin washing machine quoted at 77dB – Surely a brand new washing machine doesn’t sound almost as loud as a smoke alarm?

An important point to bear in mind while researching washing machine noise levels is to also check the top spin speeds of the ones you compare. Clearly, a washing machine that spins at 1600 is likely to be noisier than one that only spins at 1000 RPM. A truer comparison is comparing the noise rating of washing machines that spin at the same speed, or at least to bear in mind that a faster one may legitimately be a bit louder.

It’s all fascinating, and I will do some research on decibels (I’ve been meaning to for a while and your post has inspired me to get on with it). If anyone knows anything about them that is relevant to basing a washing machine purchase on please let us know.

[pilotpete@hotmail.co.uk]

Many thanks for the replies, I had looked into decibels further before posting and if I have got it right 4db is twice as loud as 2db and half as loud as 8db but being able to listen to it it’s all a bit meaningless unless you want to listen to Led Zeppelin.

Like with any product as you say you have to compare like with like, same spin speed etc.

As our machine is in a utility room noise probably won’t be a big factor but it’s nice to know, as you say Andy “I’m also mindful that a “quieter” washing machine isn’t necessarily a better buy unless quietness is the highest priority.” We hopefully wouldn’t buy a expensive Hotpoint over a cheaper Miele based on the anything never mind the noise factor.

We are looking to buy towards the end of this month so shall await uumode’s posting with interest when theW3240 arrives.

We were looking at the W3240/W3364WPS and Siemens WIQ1435GB all fit in to roughly the same price bracket just a question of what you can live with or without. As we already have a Siemens cooker and ceramic hob we can vouch for the quality build but don’t know anyone that owns one of there washing machines.

The ISE machine I tried to e mail them about noise levels (their enquiries e mail link comes back as undelivered) but the extra 5yrs guarantee of Miele /Siemens seems a winner.

I have had experience of Miele which was still going strong after three years usage by 12 people (men at that) on a ship, given the inherent movement and vibration of the ship it never let us down so if anyone wants a recommendation to their quality build here is one. We also had a Miele drier that performed equally well.

[uumode]

Regarding measurements one must be careful 'how' they are measured.

While I haven't worked in the washing machine industry I have worked in audio where maximum output power is the figure to woo buyers.

I don't know how the quietness decibel rating is measured, but as far as I am aware, there is no standard.

e.g. if you take the reading 1cm away from the machine, or 4 metres away in a 'standard' sized room, or if the reading is taken above the worktop or infront of the machine might make a difference I guess.

So one manufacturer's 65 decibels might not be the same as anothers.

Maximum output power in audio can be measured to the point of a certain percentage of output distortion e.g. 0.5%. Clearly a manufacturer measuring their output level to a distortion level of 5% is going to achieve higher figures. Some test their output power until the speakers go pop!

Also regarding noise, also important it the 'type' of noise it makes. A 68 decibel irritating noise will be more disturbing than a 70 decibel pleasant low thrum for example.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Also regarding noise, also important it the 'type' of noise it makes. A 68 decibel irritating noise will be more disturbing than a 70 decibel pleasant low thrum for example.

I know a lot of customers who exclaimed that they found the noise of their washing machine spinning extremely pleasant, after I got it running again

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I found this, which although not ideal, may help to give a little perspective -

80 Very noisy Alarm clock; Sink garbage disposal

70 Upper limit for hearing conversation Vacuum cleaner; Private car

60 Conversation at 1m; Singing birds

50 Quiet Light traffic 30m away; Quiet office

40 Dripping tap; Library

30 Very quiet Soft whisper at 5m

[uumode]

I found this, which although not ideal, may help to give a little perspective -

80 Very noisy Alarm clock; Sink garbage disposal

70 Upper limit for hearing conversation Vacuum cleaner; Private car

60 Conversation at 1m; Singing birds

50 Quiet Light traffic 30m away; Quiet office

40 Dripping tap; Library

30 Very quiet Soft whisper at 5m

I also found this

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

but whatever you do, don't go over 180 decibels

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Nice one. According to the list, a telephone dial tone is 80 decibels. This is as loud as a smoke alarm, and louder than all washing machines on full spin. It's all very confusing and hard to correlate to washing machines. I initially scoffed at that, thinking how can a telephone dialing tone be as loud as a smoke alarm, but put the phone to your ear and it is lol. It's all relative, and about how far you are from the noise and how far it travels etc.

All we can go on for sure is that the lower the number the quieter, but then we have little clue how much quieter and if it’s even worth getting excited about.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I found this, which although not ideal, may help to give a little perspective -

80 Very noisy Alarm clock; Sink garbage disposal

70 Upper limit for hearing conversation Vacuum cleaner; Private car

60 Conversation at 1m; Singing birds

50 Quiet Light traffic 30m away; Quiet office

40 Dripping tap; Library

30 Very quiet Soft whisper at 5m

"A dishwasher with noise levels of 42dB sounds up to four times quieter than a 56dB model". That shows how difficult it is to compare the decibel numbers because it's only 14 points lower but it's 4 times quieter. The only thing we know is that the lower the number the quieter something is but it remains a very unuseful method of describing noise levels to consumers.