Quiet 100 litre air compressor
Updated: 21.10.2026
A quiet 100 litre air compressor, in this amazon.co.uk set, means a stated decibel class, not a promise that the pump will disappear into a semi-detached street. The listings quote 67 dB, 71 dB, or 97 dB, and they do not share one test method on the page. If you are buying for a garage beside a neighbour, or you employ people who stand near the pump, those three numbers are different classes, and a catalogue decibel is not a daily noise exposure. Prices stay on the [100 L air compressor comparison](/hub/compressors/100l-air-compressor). No lab measurement of these pumps. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
A quiet 100 litre air compressor, in this amazon.co.uk set, means a stated decibel class, not a promise that the pump will disappear into a semi-detached street.
A quiet 100 litre air compressor, in this amazon.co.uk set, means a stated decibel class, not a promise that the pump will disappear into a semi-detached street. The listings quote 67 dB, 71 dB, or 97 dB, and they do not share one test method on the page. If you are buying for a garage beside a neighbour, or you employ people who stand near the pump, those three numbers are different classes, and a catalogue decibel is not a daily noise exposure. Prices stay on the 100 L air compressor comparison. No lab measurement of these pumps. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Stated noise | Second noise figure | Free air delivery | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  TIGREN TIGREN V100DD 100L | 97 dB | Not stated on Amazon | 8 CFM on SIP page | 6.7 | about £347.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  SIP SIP Airmate 100L horizontal | 71 dB on Amazon | 90 dB(A) LwA on SIP page | 9 CFM on SIP page | 5.7 | about £395.96 | View offer |
 SIP SIP Airmate 100L vertical | 67 dB | Not stated on Amazon | 9 CFM at 8 bar | 7.2 | about £479.98 | View offer |
On this page
The figures in this set
The lowest stated figure is on the SIP Airmate vertical, model 05484. The amazon.co.uk listing says 67 dB, and Toolden’s page for that model says 67 dB as well. The pump is oil-free and the tank is vertical. The vertical shape is about headroom, at roughly 115 cm. It is not a silencer. Turning the receiver upright does not make the piston quieter.
The horizontal SIP Airmate, model 05481, is the next stated class, and 71 is not the only number. Amazon says 71 decibels. SIP’s technical table for that model lists 71 dB(A) LpA and 90 dB(A) LwA. LpA is a sound-pressure figure at a stated place. LwA is a sound-power figure for the machine as a source. Quoting 71 and leaving 90 in the table makes the pump sound like a different product. If you use the SIP page at all, use both.
The loud class is 97 dB. The TIGREN listing states 97 dB. Sealey’s sheet for the SAC10030VA states 97 dB. Amazon’s Sealey bullets say quiet operation and give no decibel. The only review text on that listing says the compressor was very noisy, and that it arrived broken and was refunded. Use 97 dB for the Sealey. The bullet is not a measurement.
HSE’s motor-vehicle repair note says an increase of 3 dB doubles the sound energy. If the 67 dB and 97 dB figures had been measured the same way, the gap would be 30 dB, which is ten doublings, on the order of a thousand times the sound energy. The listings do not prove the same weighting, distance, or load. Treat 67, 71 with an LwA of 90, and 97 as three labels that are far apart when the tests match.
If people work here
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 put duties on employers, not on a Saturday hobby. Regulation 4 sets a lower exposure action value of 80 dB(A), an upper exposure action value of 85 dB(A), and an exposure limit of 87 dB(A) after hearing protection is taken into account. HSE’s employers’ page uses those same three numbers. A catalogue figure of 97 dB is above the action values. It does not, by itself, prove that a named worker’s daily exposure is illegal, because exposure depends on how long they are in the noise and what else is running. It is a strong reason to assess the job before that pump becomes someone else’s working day.
HSE’s vehicle-repair guidance adds a practical check. If you have to raise your voice to be heard at about 2 metres, the noise may already be high enough to harm hearing. A 97 dB compressor in that room is part of the assessment, not a detail you file under the tank size. This page will not claim that a particular defender cuts 30 dB. Use the SNR printed on the protector you actually buy, and have someone competent do the exposure sums if staff are there.
A written noise assessment is the employer’s route when the action values may be exceeded. Comparing two Amazon bullets is not that assessment. The 67 dB SIP may still need a check once it shares a bay with grinders. The 97 dB machines need the check sooner. Which listing fits which job, once noise is only one of the conditions, is on the best 100 litre air compressor page.
If it is your own garage
Members of the public, and hobby noise that is not someone’s work, sit outside those employer duties. You do not acquire an 80 dB(A) legal cap on a private compressor by reading the workplace regulations. You also do not get a free pass with the neighbours. GOV.UK explains that councils can act on a noise nuisance. The permitted-level figures in that guidance belong to the night-noise regime and are measured indoors. They are not a product limit for a garage compressor at 10 am, and they are not a rule that 97 dB is automatically illegal or that 67 dB is automatically fine.
What you can do at home is choose the class and the hours. The 67 dB SIP is the listing to start with when the garage shares a wall with a living room or with next door. The 71 dB(A) LpA horizontal SIP is still in that quieter conversation, with the 90 dB(A) LwA kept in view so you do not tell a neighbour the machine is 71 as if that were the whole storey. The 97 dB Sealey and TIGREN belong in a detached workshop, or in a garage you only run when the house can stand it, with hearing protection on you even though no inspector is asking. Siting the pump away from the party wall, and closing the door, changes what the neighbour hears. It does not rewrite the decibel on the data plate.
One Sealey review calling the machine very noisy is a single UK text, not a survey. It matches the 97 dB sheet more closely than it matches the quiet bullet.
Quiet is not the only specification
A quiet pump that cannot feed the tool is a different disappointment. The vertical SIP’s bullets state 9 CFM free air delivery at 8 bar. That is the airflow you buy with the 67 dB figure. A nailer used in bursts will usually sit inside it. A gun held open above that delivery will still starve, and you will have paid the highest price in the set for a machine that is quiet and too small. The buying guide is where that sum is done.
The horizontal SIP’s maker page states 9 CFM free air delivery as well, beside the 71 dB(A) and 90 dB(A) pair. Amazon’s 15 CFM is not the quiet machine’s hidden extra air. The TIGREN maker page states 8 CFM free air delivery with the 97 dB listing. Sealey’s sheet states 7 cfm free air delivery with 97 dB. Buying the loud pair does not buy you a spray-shop compressor. It buys a similar airflow with a much higher stated noise.
If you came for the quietest stated machine in this set, that is the vertical SIP at 67 dB, with 9 CFM free air delivery on the listing, and with no amazon.co.uk reviews to confirm it. If you came hoping 97 dB was only a little more than 67 dB, the 3 dB doubling rule is the correction, with the test-method limit in the same breath.
Common questions
Which machine in the set has the lowest stated decibel figure?
The SIP Airmate vertical, 05484, at 67 dB on the amazon.co.uk listing and on Toolden’s page. That is the lowest stated figure among these four. It is not a claim that every 100 litre SIP on the wider market is louder, and it is not our own measurement.
Is 71 dB the only noise figure for the horizontal SIP?
Amazon prints 71 decibels. SIP’s table for 05481 prints 71 dB(A) LpA and 90 dB(A) LwA. If you tell someone the machine is 71 dB, say that the sound-power figure beside it is 90 dB(A). One number without the other is how this model gets misdescribed in conversation.
Will 97 dB bother a neighbour?
It is the loud class in this set, and a compressor at that stated level, run in a garage on a shared wall, is a realistic nuisance complaint even though no fixed daytime decibel cap is quoted here. Councils deal with nuisance. They do not publish a rule that 97 dB is illegal for this product. A detached building and shorter hours change the risk. They do not change the 97 dB label.
Does workplace law ban 97 dB?
It does not ban the machine. For employers, 80 dB(A) and 85 dB(A) are action values and 87 dB(A) is the limit after hearing protection. A 97 dB catalogue figure means you assess exposure before staff work beside it. A private user with no employees is outside those duties.
Do I need hearing protection at home?
The workplace regulations do not force a defender on a hobbyist. If you must raise your voice at about 2 metres, HSE’s vehicle-repair note says the noise may already be high enough to harm hearing. For a stated 97 dB pump, wear protection while it runs. Choose the protector by the SNR on its packet, not by a round minus 30 dB claim.
Why might two decibel figures appear for one model?
Because sound pressure and sound power answer different questions. On SIP’s 05481 page, 71 dB(A) is LpA and 90 dB(A) is LwA. They can both be true. Averaging them to 80 dB would invent a third figure the maker did not publish.
Does a vertical tank make the pump quieter?
No. The vertical SIP is the quietest stated model in this set because the listing says 67 dB, not because the tank stands up. The horizontal SIP is also sold as a low-noise Airmate, at 71 dB(A) LpA. Orientation is about the space you have, at 115 cm tall versus a long floor footprint.
What if I buy the quiet one and the tool still starves?
Then the limit is free air delivery, not the decibel. The 67 dB SIP states 9 CFM at 8 bar. If the tool’s plate, plus a margin, sits above that, the tank delays the drop and the pump still falls behind. Go back to the buying guide before you trade up to a 97 dB machine that delivers the same sort of airflow.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and manufacturer pages below. amazon.co.uk listings checked on 20 October 2026.
- HSE INDG178: Written schemes of examination (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000, regulation 8 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: Noise at work, employers (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Pressure Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BCAS fact sheet 851 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Sealey SAC10030VA product page (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Sealey guide to compressors (retrieved 20 October 2026)