Parking garage jet fan - too much noise?

[TSN79]

I am to choose a certain type of jet fan in a parking garage. Looking at a spesific one, what I'm having a hard time considering is the noise it generates - 78 dB (A) at 3 m - and whether it would within acceptable limits? This is a fan that you would pass underneath walking to or from your car. Do you think it will be too noisy?

 

[phinds]

There are a TON of db scales on the internet, showing roughly what 78db is equivalent to (comparisons like "a little lower that 100 yards from a freight train")

Whether or not it is too noisy is going to be very subjective.

 

[Travis_King]

Well, whether it will be uncomfortable is difficult to say; as Phinds said, it's very subjective. Some people won't care, some might send complaints daily.

Whether it's permissible will depend on local building codes, probably, or OSHA (depending on where you live). OSHA has some guidelines here:
https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=standards&p_id=9735
Basically, 85 dB is the threshold for the requirement of a hearing protection program for prolonged daily exposure, since you are below that, you shouldn't have a concern as far as it being un-healthily loud. Though it is likely that in a garage, people would be much closer than 10 feet away from the fan...I'd contact the manufacturer and discuss noise levels at closer distances.