Nobody likes too much noise. Of 117 local authorities across England in the period between February 2020-21, a total of 131,645 noise complaints were recorded: that’s 67 complaints for every 10,000 people.[1] While the vast majority of complaints were linked to residential issues, the total also includes other sources such as noise in the street, vehicles, machinery and equipment, dogs, agriculture, alarms, military, traffic and railways.
Urban noise can be a major problem. This is nowhere more relevant than within the business world, where many organisations are starting to invest in their own on-site 5G telecommunication cabinets. Newly installed 5G communication cabinets are potentially adding to noise problems as the number of components in cabinets is steadily increasing, along with fans and other noisy elements to help keep them functioning and operating at the right temperature.
When you consider that businesses have to comply with legislation when it comes to noise pollution, this can become a real issue when noisy cabinets contribute to breaches and particularly if residents in a neighbourhood complain. Noise pollution can lead to nuisance claims and can be costly for companies to deal with.
A happy medium
What’s the solution? Firstly, we must never underestimate the role of fans and air conditioning systems in data cabinets. They are critical to keeping electrical components cool and reducing the risk of overheating, which would be far more problematic than noise pollution. However, there is a way to keep cabinets cool without making too much noise.
We recently developed our new Air Exchanger product, which aims to do just this. The CHH CoNeX Air Exchanger is designed to overcome the performance limitations of fans, providing a similar output to that of a full air conditioning system, without the energy requirements and excess noise.
We believe that the new Air Exchanger can play a critical role in aiding the UK’s 5G network rollout, with the installation of thousands of further data cabinets in urban locations. Our air exchanger is designed to cool internal components and electricals within a data cabinet, with an emphasis on noise control.
Designing for noise control
Our new Air Exchange represents our considered approach to data cabinet and enclosure design alongside other methods of facilitating component cooling.
Our engineers look at all integrated cabinets holistically. They take into account the environment the cabinets will be placed in, who will be using them, the frequency of maintenance, the product and component life cycles, accessibility, as well as aesthetics and functionality. This ensures that whatever their use, our cabinets always do the job they are required to, while blending perfectly into the background so as not to be obtrusive.
Through the careful use of materials, design and construction, we ensure that internal parts are free to operate in the way they should, with the cabinet keeping any excess noise to a minimum. Therefore, the design of every cabinet varies depending on its location and the volume of acceptable background noise that it will operate in.
If your business is looking for a quietly effective solution, get in touch with CHH CoNeX today.
