My garage/shop is attached to my house. My spouse is sensitive to noise, hence I am looking for a quiet 220VAC air compressor, with a SCFM rating around 15. I figure that triple my current compressor would be about right.
When I was last shopping for an air compressor, I listened to the Sears regular compressor, and the Sears Professional compressor. The Professional compressor was noticably quieter, so I bought the Pro model, 25 gallon, 5.1 cfs. Unfortunately, even the large 115VAC air compressors do not put out enough CFM to drive a 1/4 inch die grinder on a continuous basis, let alone a 5 inch dual action air sander.
I know that I have heard some large air compressors that are very loud, and I know that some people put their air compressor outside the shop to remove the noise from the shop. However, I suspect that not all compressors are equally noisy.
Sears has a Professional compressor rated for 17 SCFS, 80 gallon, needs a 30 amp 220 VAC circuit, probably about the right size. However, I don't think that there is any way to plug it in and listen before I buy.
Anyone want to volunteer names and model numbers of quiet compressors? Or even compressors that are very noisy that I should avoid?
Thanks in advance.
Richard