Noisy appliances: How loud is your house?
In a residential street in south London, dozens of household appliances are being put through their paces - not to measure how well they work, but how loud they sound.
The room we're in is officially a laboratory. There's no soundproofing in sight: noise bounces gleefully off the sort of hard surfaces and shiny floors you'll find in many modern homes.
A device shaped like a human head is rigged up to a monitor displaying colourful graphs, recording every whizz, rattle and beep.
Environmental consultancy firm Quiet Mark has spent the last 10 years awarding its colourful "Q" logo to the quietest household appliances in every category you can think of - from hairdryers and air purifiers to kettles and washing machines.
It's something of a labour of love for founder Poppy Szkiler, whose grandfather, John Connell, established the Noise Abatement Society in 1959.
