Cooling engine - noise

Complaints Corner
1
I rent an apartment in the city center of Zurich (2nd floor) and there is an external cooling engine either for an industrial fridge or AC at the ground floor with fan is continuously running day and night.

I can still manage to sleep but I find the background noise very annoying and somehow it makes me nervous.

Just to give you an idea, the noise is similar to a car with the engine on, perhaps a bit less noisy.

Do you believe it is possible to raise a complain? In case, what should I do?

Thanks

2
If it was there when you moved in then you can't really complain. If it was recently put in without consultation/notice then maybe.

(btw.. could it be a geothermal unit... seems more likely.. and if so it's powering the block)

3
It was already there but I find it annoying , I complain . Very simple.

4
Let's wait for the plot twist first

5
Stick something metal in the fan, see who comes running and complain to them.

6
I thought about it but there is a camera...

7
So you have a problem with a heavy metal fan - my sympathies.

8

it’s a pity to see “legends” and “veterans” on this forum spitting bullsh*its to increase their post counter.

Anyway, a possible solution is described here:
https://forum.beobachter.ch/forum/th…ze-aufstellen/
https://www.zh.ch/de/umwelt-tiere/la…ermsorgen.html

somebody might find it useful.

Now I suppose that addiotnal posts from veterans and legends will appear as a result. A sort of a fee to be able to post.

9
If the poster had followed that bullshit advice from many previous threads, he/she would already be a member of the Mieterverband and would also already have talked to the neighbour(s). Problem most likely already solved.

10

Noise levels:
https://www.zh.ch/de/umwelt-tiere/la…erbelaerm.html
related regulations:
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1987/338_338_338/en

11

And here is an iOS app that will help estimate their actual noise level. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/app.html

12
Thanks for these. Did you find out the source of your noise?

Just playing with Decibel X for Android. It is incredibly sensitive to the traffic noise coming through my windows.

13
When we had a noise problem I had read one could not really use phone apps reliably as noise measurers since they were calibrated differently. We ended up buying a cheap one from Amazon and use that.

I was surprised to learn that the tolerable level of noise is actually quite noisy....

14
How does your phone app measurement compare with the meter?

15
If you follow my link you will see discussion on that point. That’s why I said estimate.

16
The noise source is a cooling engine .

I am not sure I am supposed to take a measure.Most probably I don't. That aspect could become quite complicated to calculate as it depends how and when you take the measure + additional aspects. (Ref annex 6 of the regulations)

By reading the information at the links I posted I deduced that:

- Art 18 : "Within one year of completion, the enforcement authorities shall inspect the improvements and soundproofing measures to check compliance with the measures ordered. In case of doubt, they carry out tests to assess the effectiveness of the measures." So somebody should take the measure. I think I read somewhere that those measures are triggered by requesting them.

- Art 5 "Equipment and machines may be placed on the market only following a conformity assessment and the appropriate marking."

I am not a lawyer so the information might be not applicable

Next step for me is to contact the renters association a nd get a feedback.

I had a chat with the restaurant personnel, and I managed to have the engine shut down during the sleeping hours but they shut it down at around 23:45 - 2AM until .....while I would prefer they do it earlier.

Then I found those links and I understood that I may push this thing a bit further. I have to be careful though because I already obtained something(power off during the night) and if it comes out that the installation has been approved they might decide to leave it turned on.

Please not that the entity who installed the device it is a restaurant, not a private person. From my undrstanng, the applicable regulations might be different between the two

17
Move !

18
I'm sorry for you, I've experienced this first hand. During the day the fan seems very quiet but at night it made me headaches unless all windows were closed. I moved in late autumn so I wasn't aware about the issue until summer.

19
Veterans delivering quality comments once again

20

Your case is typically a case where spending energy will most probably give 0 results, call it experience if you prefer