Sound quality evaluation of kitchen hoods

Abstract

The main goal of present work is to create a comparative evaluation methodology based on the correlation between the objective parameters of traditional acoustics and the psychoacoustic subjective parameters investigated with listening tests. This led to the definition of a quality index for kitchen hoods calculated from measurable objective parameters to provide guidance on the ultimate sound perception of the consumers. The acquisition of data was carried out in a standardized laboratory and in a typical environment representative of a kitchen, in order to study the acoustic behavior of the hood installed and operating in real conditions. For this reason, suitable listening tests have been conducted on a selected group of subjects representing a sample of potential clients of the selected kitchen hood models, with the aim of correlating human sensations and measured objective parameters. Finally, a sound quality index (SQ Index) was calculated for each of the hood models in order to highlight the best performing sample from the point of view of the pleasantness of the sound emitted in the kitchen environment.