In Search of Peace and Quiet

The annoyingly loud humming of the new “energy efficiency” refrigerator has stirred me from my sleep… again.

This refrigerator has taken over my life.  IT controls my movements in the house — when I eat, when I sleep, when I wake up, when I play the piano and practice, when and where I watch TV and talk on the phone, what I write about, etc.  I’m afraid to open the refrigerator when it’s quiet, for fear of waking the frigid monster from its slumber.  Once that happens, it roars back into action.

I can’t sit in silence — literally — so, I’ve complained about this phenomenon ever since I got the fridge — three days ago.

Everyone around me —from the salesman to my mother— tells me to suck it up.  “You’ll get use to the noise.  Your problem is that your house is too quiet and stress-free.  Get a couple of dogs, a couple of kids; turn on the TV and stereo, run the vacuum, run the A/C, dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer—then you won’t notice the noise coming from the refrigerator.”

Their answer is to add more noise… not to eliminate or reduce the noise pollution that already exists.

So, I feel like I’m being held hostage by my refrigerator, and no one cares to rescue me. 

I even offered to pay ransom for my freedom — to buy my peace and quiet back!  I went back to the store to exchange the fridge for a more expensive, but quieter model.  The salesman tells me that there is no such creature — a quiet refrigerator.

I searched online and found his statement to be true… at least a fridge in my price range.  If I had $5,000 in my budget to spend on one appliance, then I could get a quieter one… and that day will only come when I become a famous and published author.

I guess this is our own doing.  This noise pollution problem was actually instigated by us… well, by the people we voted into office — Congress. 

Due to Congress passing energy efficiency laws, manufacturers of refrigerators have replaced the high-powered, quiet compressor fans with lighter, noisier fans that have to run 75% of the time to keep the refrigerators at the requested temperature.  Because the motors run 75% of the time, this constant loud droning sound is ever-present.  If you live in a small house that has an open floor plan (like mine), the loud humming permeates throughout the house, around corners and seeps under closed doors. 

It’s during these times that I have to grab for the printout of the Serenity Prayer — because, in this state of mind (and lack of sleep), I can’t recite it from memory… or from my heart.

Yes, I’m in search of the Peace and Quiet that used to live in my home and my heart.  They do not live with me, anymore — not since the new refrigerator moved in.  They moved out when IT moved in.

Yes, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

Since I haven’t been graced with such wisdom to know the difference, I’m still searching for a solution to my problem.

Can I change this for me?  Can I bring Peace and Quiet back into my home and soul? 

Through Internet searches and forums, I’ve learned that noisy refrigerators bother more people than just me.  One gentleman took a decibel meter with him and searched for two weeks — looking for a quiet refrigerator.  He only found a quieter one.

Another lady has to wear earplugs to sleep at night.

One person has placed sound absorbing (fire-proof) material in the walls around and on the floor under his refrigerator to soak up the offensive noises his refrigerator makes.  He said that the sound absorbing material has eliminated most of the noise. 

So, that’s my next step.  I’m paying a guy to install sound absorbing installation around the fridge. 

If that doesn’t work, I guess I have to accept things I cannot change… but I’m not there yet…

What is very interesting about this experience is that, once I made the decision to do something about the noise — and not just sit and accept it, like everyone’s telling me to do — my friend, Peace, came back home.

So, together we sit, waiting for the day that Quiet returns home. 

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