How loud is a data center from my house?

What affects how loud a data center is

Cooling equipment

• An acoustic consultant for a proposed Illinois data center states that its air-cooled chillers run around the clock and that their sound output changes with load and outdoor temperature. (Shen Milsom & Wilke, LLC for Equinix (Village of Minooka Planning and Zoning, Sept 9 2025))
  Source excerpt

  “The chillers will operate continuously (day and night) and sound output will vary with load and ambient temperatures.”

• The same study reports that a chiller sound-attenuation package (compressor blankets plus fan baffles) reduced each chiller by about 10 dBA in its model. (Shen Milsom & Wilke, LLC for Equinix (Village of Minooka Planning and Zoning, Sept 9 2025))
  Source excerpt

  “This achieved approximately 10 dBA overall sound reduction for each chiller (85 dBA sound power).”

Backup generators and testing

• A noise assessment for a planned Illinois campus assumes each backup generator is exercised for 30 minutes a month on weekday daytime hours. (Shiner Acoustics, LLC for Prologis (City of Yorkville, IL document center))
  Source excerpt

  “Each emergency generator will be exercised 30 minutes per month on weekdays between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.”

Low-frequency hum

• Loudoun County states that its existing noise ordinance was designed for loud or sudden noise and may not fully capture low frequency noise from data center campuses. (Loudoun County, VA)
  Source excerpt

  “The Loudoun County noise ordinance was generally designed to address loud, sudden, or nuisance noise and may not fully capture LFN.”

• An environmental consultant for a Kentucky data center project cites an ANSI recommendation that low frequency noise be kept below 70 dBC and modeled the project against it. (ERM for Justified DataPower, LLC (filed in Kentucky PSC case 2026-00115))
  Source excerpt

  “The American National Standards Institute recommends that low frequency noise levels should be maintained below 70 dBC.”

Night-time and background noise

• A consultant notes that the local code sets stricter limits at night than during the day. (Shiner Acoustics, LLC for Prologis (City of Yorkville, IL document center))
  Source excerpt

  “The code limits noise levels by time of day, with more restrictive limits for nighttime.”

Tones and character of the sound

• The same consultant explains that equipment with tonal noise (such as a hum) would be judged against a limit 10 dB lower under the Yorkville, Illinois code. (Shiner Acoustics, LLC for Prologis (City of Yorkville, IL document center))
  Source excerpt

  “If the facility were to contain equipment with tonal noise emissions, its sound levels would be compared to a much more stringent (10 dB lower) Yorkville noise code.”

Background noise

• Pre-construction measurements at a rural Illinois site found average background (L90) levels of 39 to 42 dBA, a baseline against which new noise is judged. (Shiner Acoustics, LLC for Prologis (City of Yorkville, IL document center))
  Source excerpt

  “The measurements showed that environmental sound levels were moderate, with average baseline (L90) sound levels of 39 to 42 dBA.”

Several sources at once

• An AWS noise assessment illustrates that adding a second identical source raises the combined level by about 3 dBA, which matters for campuses with many units. (Amazon Web Services (for City of Wilmington, OH permit process))
  Source excerpt

  “adding a second lawn mower next to the first would cause the sound level at the same 100-foot location to increase to 63 dBA.”

How the estimate works and its limits

The math

Sound from a single compact source drops 6 dBA each time the distance doubles (20 dB per tenfold): L2 = L1 − 20·log10(d2/d1). Several sources combine by adding energy: 10·log10(sum of 10^(L/10)).

Why it is an upper end

The rule assumes open, flat ground with nothing in the way. Real sites have buildings, walls, berms, trees and terrain that usually reduce sound, plus air absorption over long distances. Wind, temperature layers and reflections can occasionally raise levels. Where a source figure is a limit rather than a measurement, nothing here says the equipment reaches it.

What is not modelled

Frequency (low-frequency hum is hard to block and is heard indoors), tones, time of day, how many units run at once, and background noise at your home. A level that is lower than the background where you live may still be audible if it is tonal.

Where the figures come from

Every level in the dropdown is a number a published study, filing or regulator document states, with the distance it states. Nothing is guessed. No tracked project record yet publishes a sound level together with a distance, so project levels are not offered as a source; the project picker only brings up the local rules and any limits the project has committed to. A project’s own figure is added automatically once its record carries a noise_dba fact with a distance.