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The sone was proposed as a unit of perceived loudness by Stanley Smith Stevens in 1936. In acoustics, loudness is the subjective perception of sound pressure. Although defined by Stevens as a unit, it is not one of the SI units. Such units meet the stringent criteria of metrology, which include being realizable in a highly precise and reproducible manner, and so transferable for scientific and industrial purposes in a range of contexts. -Source Wikipedia Encyclopedia

How Loud Are Sones?

Sones measure the loudness of appliances such as kitchen exhaust fans or range hoods. One sone is about as loud as the refrigerator hum,, while four is equal to a normal conversation.. Sones are also used to calculate cubic feet per minute or CFM — typically them move in parallel where the higher the CFM, the higher the sone rating.

When you imagine kitchen ventilation you may visualize annoying fans that rattle your ears in the kitchen.. Fortunately, there are many quiet kitchen exhaust fans on the market that do an excellent job without all the noise.

Sound levels are measured in sones

Spot fans are usually rated at 3 to 4 sones, but there are spot exhaust fan models that are louder..A fan that is 1.5 sones would be very quiet, and low-capacity fans rated as low as 0.5 to 1 sones are nearly inaudible.

The best professional kitchen range hoods and exhaust fans with a low sone rating are usually priced accordingly.

Kitchen Exhaust Fan Sones Comparison Chart

So we know with higher prices comes low sones. Albeit, it may seem of little importance finding a low sone vent take it from me when cooking for any extended period of time a cheap exhaust fan can be loud and seemingly more obnoxious, the cheaper the kitchen fan. I have a ductless high sones rated unit, which is not very effective at circulating particles out of the air and when the TV is playing I can't even hear it.

Sone Chart
Sound Level Situation

Traffic Noise







TV/Radio


Calm Office



Night in Suburbs

Rustling Shrubs
Sone Level
8.0

7.0

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5
How We Feel

Conversation with Added Noise







Normal Conversation






Comfortable Zone Free From Noise