Save Chesapeake Schools · data center noise demo

Max volume. One tap.

Chesapeake’s draft data center ordinance allows steady tonal data-center noise at a residential property boundary up to 68 dB(C) at night and 73 dB(C) during the day. This page uses your phone speaker at max volume to approximate those levels from a typical phone.

Instructions for a resident on a phone

Turn phone media volume all the way up.Not ringtone volume. Use the side buttons while this page is open.

Hold the phone about arm’s length away.Or place it on a table 2–3 feet away. Do not use earbuds.

Tap the night button first.That is the more disturbing standard because it can run while people are trying to sleep.

Let it run for at least one minute.A data center is not a passing truck. It is a continuous mechanical drone.

Sound starts after tapping a button.

How loud is that?

Whisper

30 dBA

Normal conversation

60–70 dBA

Data center night limit

68 dB(C)

Data center day limit

73 dB(C)

Plain translation: the proposed nighttime data-center limit is in the same broad loudness range as a normal conversation, but unlike conversation it can be a continuous mechanical hum, rumble, whine, or buzz. dBA and dB(C) are not identical: C-weighting counts low-frequency sound more heavily, which matters for data-center equipment.

68 dB(C)

Nighttime steady tonal noise limit at or within a residential property boundary.

73 dB(C)

Daytime steady tonal noise limit at or within a residential property boundary.

What phone loudness this assumes

This demo assumes a typical phone at maximum volume is roughly 75 dB SPL at 1 meter.
That is based on a small published phone-review subsample: 69.6, 72.7, 73.7, 74.1, 74.6, 74.6, 76.3, 76.4, and 80.0 dB.
Median of that sample: about 74.6 dB. Rounded operating assumption: 75 dB.
Phones vary. This is a public-education approximation, not a calibrated sound study.

Phone speakers understate the worst part of data-center noise because they cannot reproduce deep low-frequency rumble well. A real data center can have more bass, more wall/window penetration, and more nighttime annoyance than this phone demo suggests.