Tag: human annoyance

Noise annoyance is one of the most common non-health effects of noise. Although related to sound levels in some way, annoyance ratings do not depend on this factor alone. Other factors are discussed, including a measurement condition. Researchers ask people to rate annoyance in their homes or in laboratory conditions. Some studies suggest that the results from these two conditions cannot be compared because different non-acoustic factors influence people’s judgments. To answer this question, we conducted a study in which people were asked to rate the annoyance of the same noise stimuli in both conditions. The results obtained so far show that there are no statistical differences for all noise levels.

Wind turbine (WT) noise is commonly reported to be very annoying. There is a consensus in the literature that this is mainly due to the non-stationary nature of the signal, which is modulated by the movement of the blades. However, measuring and recording such noise is very difficult due to the fact that in most cases a single wind turbine is only one part of a larger complex (consisting of dozens of them). In this paper we describe a laboratory experiment in which people were asked to rate the annoyance of WT noise as a function of distance from a WT. Wind turbine noise was recorded from both sides, downwind and in line with the rotor plane. The results suggest that annoyance ratings decrease with increasing distance from a WT and that noise recorded from the side (in line with the rotor plane) is slightly more annoying than that recorded downwind. In addition, the RT used as reference noise was the least annoying source.