Just how loud is loud?

It's often difficult to know how loud an activity is.

The following table (sourced from here) lists common noises and tells you how loud they are.

190 dBA Heavy weapons, 10 m behind the weapon (maximum level)

180 dBA Toy pistol fired close to ear (maximum level)

170 dBA Slap on the ear, fire cracker explodes on shoulder, small arms at a distance of 50 cm (maximum level)

160 dBA Hammer stroke on brass tubing or steel plate at 1 m distance, airbag deployment very close at a distance of 30 cm (maximum level)

150 dBA Hammer stroke in a smithy at 5 m distance (maximum level)

130 dBA Loud hand clapping at 1 m distance (maximum level)

120 dBA Whistle at 1 m distance, test run of a jet at 15 m distance 

115 dBA Take-off sound of planes at 10 m distance

110 dBA Siren at 10 m distance, frequent sound level in discotheques and close to loudspeakers at rock concerts, violin close to the ear of an orchestra musicians (maximum level)

105 dBA Chain saw at 1 m distance, banging car door at 1 m distance (maximum level), racing car at 40 m distance, possible level with music head phones

100 dBA Frequent level with music via head phones, jack hammer at 10 m distance

95 dBA Loud crying, hand circular saw at 1 m distance

90 dBA Angle grinder outside at 1 m distance

85 dBA 2-stroke chain-saw at 10 m distance, loud WC flush at 1 m distance

80 dBA Very loud traffic noise of passing lorries at 7.5 m distance, high traffic on an expressway at 25 m distance

75 dBA Passing car at 7.5 m distance, un-silenced wood shredder at 10 m distance

70 dBA Level close to a main road by day, quiet hair dryer at 1 m distance to ear

65 dBA Bad risk of heart circulation disease at constant impact is possible

60 dBA Noisy lawn mower at 10 m distance

55 dBA Low volume of radio or TV at 1 m distance, noisy vacuum cleaner at 10 m distance

50 dBA Refrigerator at 1 m distance, bird twitter outside at 15 m distance

45 dBA Noise of normal living; talking, or radio in the background

40 dBA Distraction when learning or concentration is possible

35 dBA Very quiet room fan at low speed at 1 m distance

25 dBA Sound of breathing at 1 m distance

0 dBA Auditory threshold

So for instance the house in the picture with a frost fan 30m from it (opposite Fairhall school) will be experiencing a noise louder than a hairdryer at 1m. Try it. Then try to sleep.