Room Loudness Sones Reference Chart

Related Resources: civil engineering

System Design Guidelines for Room Loudness. See Sound Loudness Design Equations for relative equations.

Room Type	Sones	Room Type	Sones
Hotels		Public buildings
Lobbies	4.0 to 12	Museums	3 to 9
Banquet rooms	8.0 to 24	Planetariums	2 to 6
Ball rooms	3.0 to 9	Post ofﬁces	4 to 12
Individual rooms/suites	2.0 to 6	Courthouses	4 to 12
Kitchens and laundries	7.0 to 12	Public libraries	2 to 6
Halls and corridors	4.0 to 12	Banks	4 to 12
Garages	6.0 to 18	Lobbies and corridors	4 to 12
Residences		Retail stores
Two & three family units	3 to 9	Supermarkets	7 to 21
Apartment houses	3 to 9	Department stores (main ﬂoor)	6 to 18
Private homes (urban)	3 to 9	Department stores (upper ﬂoor)	4 to 12
Private homes (rural & suburban)	1.3 to 4	Small retail stores	6 to 18
Restaurants		Clothing stores	4 to 12
Restaurants	4 to 12	Transportation (rail, bus, plane)
Cafeterias	6 to 8	Waiting rooms	5 to 15
Cocktail lounges	5 to 15	Ticket sales ofﬁce	4 to 12
Social clubs	3 to 9	Control rooms & towers	6 to 12
Night clubs	4 to 12	Lounges	5 to 15
Banquet room	8 to 24	Retail shops	6 to 18
Miscellaneous
Reception rooms	3 to 9
Washrooms and toilets	5 to 15
Studios for sound reproduction	1 to 3
Other studios	4 to 12

Note: Values showns above are room loudness in sones and are not fan sone ratings.