Noise affects the quality of home life for 76% of people in UK

62% confirm household appliances adversely affect their enjoyment of the home

Quiet Mark, the international mark of approval from the UK’s Noise Abatement Society, today reveals the findings from research covering 2000 consumers collected at the Ideal Home Show, confirming that noise has a negative impact on over three quarters (76%) of the UK population at home.

The research also reveals that 62% felt that noise from their own household appliances adversely affects the enjoyment of home life to some extent.

Furthermore, as we enjoy the sun and open our homes to the world, 53% verified that outside noise affected the extent to which they opened their doors and windows.

This theme continues as noise from outside the home also impacts; spending time in the garden, balcony or similar (46%), sleeping (46%), concentrating (45%), reading and writing (43%), resting (41%) and entertaining guests (27%).

The daily cacophony of noise that surrounds us is also changing our sleep patterns as respondents confirmed they had been woken up, kept awake, or changed the time they went to bed or got up because of; noise from within the home (41%), noise from neighbours inside their homes, (through the wall, ceiling or floor) (33%), noise from neighbours coming through windows (28%) and being woken by other household members (37%).

It seems that noise is also impacting our productivity at work as 61% felt that noise in the workplace adversely affects their performance.

Noise can profoundly impact our health, productivity and quality of life. It is something that we have accepted too readily as a side effect of progression, but as this research shows, it is having a tangible impact on our lives and needs to be tackled. “Quiet Mark is working with John Lewis, and a range of brands, to re-dress the balance of noise in our environment by encouraging the development of quieter products and by raising awareness of the importance of turning down the volume for our collective well-being. We all have busy lives, but that should not automatically mean we have noisy lives as well. Poppy Elliott, Managing Director of Quiet Mark

We have noticed that increasingly customers are considering sound an important factor when buying technology for the home. For a long time we’ve just accepted that modern life means a cacophony of noise, but there is a rising awareness of household noise in particular and the negative impact it can have on our health and wellbeing. Coming home should mean a peaceful and relaxing environment, but while space is at a premium it’s often the worst offenders – washing machines, vacuum cleaners, extractor fans and food mixers – that are essential for the upkeep of a pleasant home. People’s tolerance levels are getting lower, and as a result we are making buying decisions based on sound as much as price. Johnathan Marsh, Head of Buying And Electricals for John Lewis

Sound is increasingly becoming a more important consideration when deciding what technology to buy for our homes. Quiet Mark’s pioneering partnership with John Lewis sets a new benchmark in sound quality for the next generation of high performance, low-noise technology, designed to be in closer harmony with nature.

This unique charity/retailer partnership will display the latest Quiet Mark approved products at The Quiet Mark Treehouse and Garden by John Lewis, open to visitors at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show between July 8th – 13th 2014.

The Treehouse has been specifically developed to offer a vision of a quieter style of living. It is designed with the very best in sound engineering and is home to a range of Quiet Mark awarded technology available at John Lewis.

Don’t forget to joined our community on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Thanks