DA-76-11-3 -- The Room Air-Conditioner, Round-Robin, Sound Rating Test Program PDF

In 1971, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) published Room Air Conditioner Sound Rating Standard RAC-2SR.

Room air conditioners radiate sound simultaneously to the outdoors and to the room being conditioned. Under the AHAM standard, the outdoor side sound ratings are determined by procedures similar to those given in the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute Standard 270 for Sound Rating of Outdoor Unitary Air-Conditioning Equipment. Two changes were incorporated in the room side rating procedure.

Before the AHAM standard was approved, it was considered essential to assess the required testing capabilities and rating accuracy. To this end, three room air conditioners were obtained for testing by laboratories that agreed to participate in the program. To impose the more difficult measurement problems, these units were deliberately modified to produce possible, but atypical, pure tone components.