The last audio accessory -- a ultra quiet refrigerator?

jrebman · « **on:** 27 Jun 2007, 09:21 pm »

Only half joking.

Like so many modern homes, my main floor is completely open with the kitchen/dining area at one end, and the living room/listening area, at the other, and nothing but air between them.

My refrigerator drives me nuts when I'm trying to listen and seems to run quite a bit. The house is otherwise dead silent as it is insulated for passive solar and I don't face any streets, plus there is no noise from the radiant hot water heating. The refrig's coolant level checks out, as does the thermostat, but nonetheless it still runs far too often to be able to really enjoy listening.

So, the question is, does anybody have a really super-quiet refrig, or know of any particular brands/models that are (the current one is a Jennair).

It also needs to be pretty energy efficient (the house is powered by grid-tie PV system which runs between break-even and small surplus) and my fiancee would love it if ice cubes would magically fall from the door on demand.

Any other ideas on how to quiet a refrigerator -- big maple base with brass footers, black hole #5/no-rez (ok, now I'm kidding.)

-- Jim

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 09:45 pm »

wife and I were just talking about this yesterday.
We specified quiet when we bought our Kitchenaid last year. The salesman seemed to be downplaying the quiet thing when he sold it to us. After a year, I'd say it is a little quieter than our old cheapie, but not significantly, and it's on way more than 1/2 the time.
When I went under the front yesterday and saw the heat exchanger needed dusting I found out that only the first row of heatsinks was reachable. The rest are impossible to get at without lying the fridge on its face, and it's not going to happen - it's a big fridge.
This may be a factor in the fact it's on all the time, though.

Seems to me there was one option for a quieter brand which we passed by because it was so much smaller, and that was the LG. I think it was called "library quiet". These below are larger, and if they had been available we might well have bought one of these:
http://www.epinions.com/content_238698270340
http://www.epinions.com/content_173181800068

My understanding is that there is nothing really to choose between the mainstream brands as to mechanism, just style and features.

CSI · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 09:53 pm »

Our home has a similar floor plan and I had the same problem. I solved it by putting the refrigerator on a timer! It doesn't seem to do any harm to turn it off during our peak listening/TV hours (7-11PM), and you'll be saving some energy as well. Of course, you need to be sure the coils in the back are clean and it doesn't need defrosting, etc. Also, I'm not sure how it will work with older, less efficient units (ours is a 2 year old Amana) but it is a cheap fix that may be worth trying.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 09:59 pm »

I think there may be a move to putting the coils on the bottom of the fridge so that they can design in more depth without the fridge being any deeper. They're easy to clean on the back -almost impossible on the bottom.

nathanm · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 10:42 pm »

Sour milk and melty ice cream are just part of the sacrifices the audiophile must make in the pursuit of high fidelity! Turn down the dials as low as they will go and dig the sweet silence!

AB · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:04 pm »

I hate my refrigerator too. I mean I really hate it. I flip it the bird every time I walk by it and I turn it off with enormous satisfaction when listening.

I have not actually started to look for a new frig but when I do I want one with its compressor mounted outside of the house - like an air conditioner. I am not sure something like this exists but I don't see why it couldn't. Maybe it would possible to modify an existing one?

If you do find a quiet refrigerator, I want to hear about it.
Thanks

tonyptony · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:19 pm »

I have the exact same problem.

Well, the cream of the crop is SubZero, but I honestly don't know how quiet they are. Just a little bit closer to affordable reality, I'm guessing something like a GE Profile would be built with that kind of user comfort in mind.

Wayner · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:29 pm »

This is exactly why I have a split level. Let the wife listen to the damn fridge upstairs, and then I get to listen to the furnace/air conditioning downstairs!

You can't win.

Idea: Remote control outlet.....I have one and I use it to shut up one of my appliances when I listen to music. Just don't forget to turn it back on when your done or you will have sour milk!!!!

W

WEEZ · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:42 pm »

...not to mention the warm beer..

hmen · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:44 pm »

Quote from: AB on 27 Jun 2007, 11:04 pm

I have not actually started to look for a new frig but when I do I want one with its compressor mounted outside of the house - like an air conditioner. I am not sure something like this exists but I don't see why it couldn't. Maybe it would possible to modify an existing one?

Thanks

There are refrigeration units with remote compressors but they are commercial size and usually start at about 3G w/o the compressor. There are also large commercial walk-in units that have the compressor noise inside.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #10 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:45 pm »

Quote from: AB on 27 Jun 2007, 11:04 pm

If you do find a quiet refrigerator, I want to hear about it.
Thanks

well apparently this one is 41 dB:
http://www.epinions.com/content_173181800068

It is really hard to find this kind of information. Most are completely accepting of being surrounded by motor noise of one kind or another.

mcullinan · « **Reply #11 on:** 27 Jun 2007, 11:49 pm »

hehee this is the funniest topic.... but so true. For me its the gurgling of the fish tank... and 25 other tiny devices humming in my house. I sit down to listen to music and its like Im behind the engine of a Jumbo jet. Until I decide to listen I pretty much ignore it all... I live on Long Island and there is a hum of life here... I wonder what the decibel level is?
Mike

JLM · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 12:37 am »

Seems like an audio man cave is in order, be it ever so humble.

When we built in 2005 I demanded man cave (we were moving closer to her work/family and farther from mine). All walls are insulated. Interior walls are staggered stud construction. Weatherstriped insulated fiberglass exterior door used. Ceiling has 8 inch batt insulation. Ductwork to the room is insulated flexible duct. Even the power for the audio system is on separate circuits with its own grounding rod. Electrical service to the house is underground, all appliances are new, all wiring is 12 gauge on 20 amp circuits.

Total isolation has its downfalls, but I'm suffering through them.

Well, not quite total isolation. The builder refused to follow the plans that called for a suspended gypsum ceiling, so between that and 6 recessed can light fixtures I hear everything above (washer, dryer, footsteps, vacuum). Probably worse than I imagine because everything is so quiet.

What's a "grid-tie PV system"? Our builder was big on building EPA 5-star homes, but that's a joke. It's money in his pocket for stuff we paid for. And the only innovative idea he suggested was an insulating tarp to go under the basement slab. I suggested structural insulating panels for the living room, picked the brand of windows/doors, and asked for fan-fold styrofoam under the vinyl siding and over the house wrap.

mgalusha · « **Reply #13 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 02:28 am »

Glad I'm not the only one who hates their frige. We moved out to the country for quiet and it's pretty damn quiet most of the time but until I can build a man cave in the basement my system is living in the dining room, which has the furnace/ac on the other side of one wall and the kitchen/fridge/dishwasher behind me and of course there is no door.

My wife and I have agreed on the part of the basement that will become my listening room. Our basement is split into one large open are and one smaller area. The smaller area is under our bedroom, so no appliances above and unless it's time for bed my wife spends almost no time in there. 3 walls of concrete and 10ft ceilings. I'm gonna be a happy man when I can get it built/insulated/finished.

jrebman · « **Reply #14 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 02:34 am »

Russel,

Thanks! We're going to look into this when we get done with our wedding and back from the honeymoon. I think it will fit here, but it may stick out a few extra inches beyond the one we have now. Width and Height don't appear to be a problem.

JLM, Last Fall I had a 2.1 kw photovoltaic power system installed on the roof, which seems to provide us with generally all and more of our electrical needs. Grid-tie means that when the panels are generating more than we are using the excess is put back into the grid to be used by others and our electric meter runs backwards when that is happening. In peak demand times (when we are using more than we are generating, or at night) we get power from the grid, so there is never any interruption to service. Essentially it means that we don't have storage batteries and an inverter. We have a smaller inverter/grid interface box that converts the 360 volts DC from the panels into 60 Hz AC and then syncs it with the grid and then runs it through the special net meter, which as I said, runs backwards when we're producing more than we are using.

Yeah, there are a lot of loopholes in the so-called Green building standards, but we designed this entire community from the ground-up to be the best compromise of expense and energy efficiency, and we were actually awarded one of the first EPA 5Star Plus ratings. All of the homes have passive solar design, all have significant southern window area and good windows. We use glue-lams for main structural members to conserve large timbers, 100% recycled blown cellulose insulation (which has a very high R value plus the added bonus of good noise insulation as well., and instead of vinyl or aluminum siding we use cement board which lasts basically forever. All external wood for decks, steps, porches, etc. is Trexx composite wood/recycled plastics, and my home has bamboo flooring on the main level and recycled pop bottle carpet on special low VOC padding. All paints, adhesives, wood finishes and subflooring are low VOC types as well. Each building also has a central boiler for domestic hot water and heat, and is plumbed and wired for future solar hot water panels -- which 2 of the 8 buildings already have in place. That's how you get EPA 5 Star Plus. And, that's only the buildings -- there's more about the layout, the drainage and irrigation systems, etc.

-- Jim

kyyuan · « **Reply #15 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 04:26 am »

Jim,

Based on the description of your house, that's pretty much how I would like to build mine -- some day. And, I would love to build it with a mid-century modern flavor. Bravo, Jim -- bravo.

Ken

1000a · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 05:37 am »

Quote from: jrebman on 27 Jun 2007, 09:21 pm

Only half joking.

Like so many modern homes, my main floor is completely open with the kitchen/dining area at one end, and the living room/listening area, at the other, and nothing but air between them.

My refrigerator drives me nuts when I'm trying to listen and seems to run quite a bit. The house is otherwise dead silent as it is insulated for passive solar and I don't face any streets, plus there is no noise from the radiant hot water heating. The refrig's coolant level checks out, as does the thermostat, but nonetheless it still runs far too often to be able to really enjoy listening.

OK I use a monster HT2000 PC hooked up to my fridge

I am not kidding.

you what?

seriously it gives me a switch I can reach easily no climbing behind the beast, just hit switch.
stay out of fridge and enjoy the tunes. maybe for WAF you could make a small switch that's visually hidden. modern fridges stay pretty cold off for a few hours, just make the ritual of turning back on, as soon as you turn off the amp.

works for this single guy may need some good diplomacy in a family environment. cause hell I turn off the AC too. I crank AC up in the room turn on the amp get the shorts, 30 mins later I kill the noisy beasts get 2 hours of good tunes. return to semi domestic living space.

all of us as a think tank team could tweek fridges for audiofiles make millions

i do mean to be helpful not flipant.

1000a · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 05:56 am »

Yes the man cave

,. (seriously I am completely over it) single men enjoy this dubious luxury of the family man often.

this includes not doing dishes, eating peanut butter crackers while spending hours searching the net for the next tweek. not going to the grocery store and any number of high style living techniques that afford more time to obsess about audio.

you married guys must be very stealth or you will wind up in a Saturday morning "Intervention" and off you go to treatment. if you refuse such treatment and are banished from said premises.

you to will experience again or maybe the very first time the multiple room Ultimate Man cave, where all man priorities are in perfect order daily.

eric the red · « **Reply #18 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 06:02 am »

Speak of the devil...this thread kills me as I think of many bad names for my refrig every night before I unplug it for some peace and quiet while listening and I am single and live in my own man cave all the time when I am home which is not alot but still....Damn you Heinekens and your incessant whining to stay cold

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #19 on:** 28 Jun 2007, 06:24 am »

ETR....

Quote

Damn you Heinekens and your incessant whining to stay cold

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