How loud is it, really?
QuietScore ranks 2550 appliances by their published sound levels — certified lab measurements from the U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR database where they exist, and manufacturer-published dBA ratings elsewhere, always labeled. No "whisper quiet" adjectives. Just sones, decibels, and specs you can compare across every brand.
Bathroom & Utility Fans
819 models ranked · quietest: 0.1 sones · median: 0.7 sones
Range Hoods
72 models ranked · quietest: 0.1 sones · median: 1.5 sones
Dishwashers
596 models from 27 brands · quietest: 37 dBA · median: 44 dBA
Washing Machines
571 models from 28 brands · quietest: 65 dBA · median: 74 dBA
Dryers
492 models from 23 brands · quietest: 57 dBA · median: 64 dBA
Sones → Decibels
What sones mean, how they convert to dBA, and what each level actually sounds like.
Why certified data instead of reviews?
Manufacturers describe nearly everything as "quiet". The only numbers you can trust are the ones measured in a certification lab under a standard test procedure. ENERGY STAR requires certified sound-level testing for ventilating fans and range hoods, and publishes the results as open data. QuietScore normalizes that data, ranks every model, converts sones to approximate decibels, and links each spec back to its official source — so you (and your favorite AI assistant) can verify every number.
How this site stays current
An automated pipeline re-checks the EPA dataset weekly. New certified models get pages within days of publication, discontinued listings are flagged, and every page shows when its data was last verified. Read more in our methodology.