Comparison between perceptual responses to traffic noise and wind farm noise in a non-focused listening test

Despite the clear benefits of renewable energy, the rapid expansion of wind energy has resulted in widespread community complaints regarding wind farm noise (WFN). As the impact of WFN on sleep and health is not well established, road traffic noise (RTN), with well-known sleep disturbance effects, is likely to be a useful environmental noise comparator. This study investigated the self-reported annoyance to short- and long-range WFN and RTN via a non-focused listening test. Twenty-five participants from a WFN-naïve sample population took part in the listening test. A total of six stimuli were presented in random order for 10-min each, while participants were engaged in a reading task. Five WFN and RTN stimuli were presented at a sound pressure level (SPL) of 33 dB(A) for comparison with the sixth 'no noise' background control stimulus, which had an SPL of 23 dB(A). After each stimulus, participants responded to questions regarding annoyance, awareness, acceptability for sleep and loudness. Participants were also instructed to order the samples from the least to the most annoying. Short- and long-range WFN and short-range RTN were consistently rated as the most annoying according to sample ordering. There were significant differences between subjective responses to noise samples versus the 'no noise' control, however, no significant differences in subjective reports toward specific noise samples.