Quiet / Silence
The indoor fan runs at its lowest, quietest speed, and on some makes the compressor is held back too, to cut noise.
What pressing it does
Panasonic’s QUIET “reduces airflow noise”; Daikin’s quiet airflow setting runs the fan at a weak level; Midea’s Silence (hold the fan button 2 seconds) also runs the compressor at low frequency. Samsung allows it in Cool or Heat and then fixes the fan speed.
What it does not do
It does not keep full cooling or heating power: Midea warns Silence may result in insufficient cooling and heating capacity, and Daikin says to change the airflow if the room does not reach the set temperature.
Makes differ, check your unit’s manual: the same drawing can mean different things on different brands, and only your model’s manual says exactly what a button does and which modes it works in.
- What it looks like
- Usually the word QUIET or SILENCE; some remotes use a fan with a single low bar or a figure with a finger to its lips. Our drawing is a speaker with one small wave.
- Names makers use
- QUIET (Panasonic, Fujitsu); Quiet (Samsung, Daikin airflow setting); Silence (Midea); Silent speed (Airwell)
Where makers differ
Most quiet settings act on the indoor fan. Daikin’s separate OUTDOOR UNIT QUIET and Mitsubishi Electric’s NIGHT MODE lower the outdoor unit’s noise instead.
Often confused with
A short burst at maximum fan speed and compressor output to reach the set temperature as fast as the unit can.
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No single published standard defines air-conditioner remote icons, so this meaning is taken from 4 makers’ own manuals, each fetched and read on the date shown:
- Panasonic: Panasonic — Operating instructions, CS-Z*AKUAW air conditioner (North America, PDF) — “QUIET: This operation reduces airflow noise.” POWERFUL, FAN SPEED and QUIET cannot be selected at the same time. Checked 2026-09-26.
- Daikin: Daikin web operation manual — Adjusting the airflow rate — “When the airflow is set to [quiet], quiet operation starts and noise from the indoor unit will become quieter. In the quiet operation mode, the airflow rate is set to a weak level.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Midea: Midea — Remote controller owner’s manual, RG51A(2)/E and RG51B(2)/E (PDF) — Silence function: hold the Fan button over 2 seconds; “Due to low frequency operation of compressor, it may result in insufficient cooling and heating capacity.” Checked 2026-09-26.
- Samsung: Samsung — Wind-Free 2.0 air conditioner user manual, AR**TSFA*** (PDF on Samsung HVAC’s document store) — Quiet function: “reduce the unit’s operating noise … in Cool or Heat mode … you cannot change the fan speed.” Checked 2026-09-26.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.