For 3 of the last four years I have gone religiously to Download Festival at Donnington Park every June, and this year I shall be going for my fourth festival. The festival is set in Derby and you have to pass through a few sleepy villages that are very pretty. The contrast between that and around 100,000 metal fans is an interesting sight!
This got me to thinking about sound proofing. The festival has to stop playing live music at 11pm due to council noise pollution laws. So taking that into consideration, what is the best form of sound proofing windows?
I have always been of the opinion that a mix of 6mm and 4mm glass helps disperse noise waves better. Add in Argon gas and thicker PVCu frames and this also helps the cause. However I don’t have any accurate figures to say how much this actually reduces noise. Is there any other better configuration of glass which does a better job?
Noise reduction isn’t one of the highest priorities for people when they consider replacing their windows and doors unless they live in a densely populated area, next to a motorway or have rather noisy neighbours. But when they do ask for extra noise reducing measures, we use the configuration of glass that I mentioned above. Does 6.4mm laminated glass work better than standard 6mm?
Obviously fitting trickle vents isn’t going to help with reducing noise. In fact it’s one of the worst things you can do. I once sold some windows to a lady who insisted that she have trickle vents after I tried my best to explain that she really shouldn’t go for them. About a month later we went back to seal them up as she lived next to a motorway and should have listened to me in the first place!
Just interested to hear your thoughts and what glass make up you guys use when customers ask for better noise protection.
Triple Glazing!!!
Pilkington Customers Specifiers etc. can use Pilkington Spectrum on line to work this out but as a guide. The following applies in sound reduction. ( Figure = dB)
4mm Single Glass = 29
4-16-4 Double glazed unit = 31
4-14-6.8 Double glazed unit (6.8 = Optiphon Laminated) = 36
4-16-4-16-4 Triple glazed unit = 32 ( No point in my opinion doing triple)
16.8 Optiphon Laminated = 42. The best glass for sound reduction but does not comply to Document L. regulations
Hope above is useful .
To answer your question of 6m or 6.4 lam – Marginal, but there’s usually not enough in it to change a decibel on the Rw scale, but the UV and security benefits of lam make it a no brainer to prefer that. Accoustic lam ( .eg. Optiphon or Stadip silence) is always better than standard lam, but a hefty premium more normally for a Decibel or two. Standard lam is a very cost effective way to lose a bit of background road noise for a better nights kip. I’ve done this at home (60yards off a main road). In severe… Read more »
I’ve fitted a recording studio out at the Bear radio station.Stanford upon Avon.You need massive airspace over 2 inches for it to be effective.
It was part of curriculum in city and guilds training back in 80*s that the smaller the airspace the better for heat insulation.wider better for sound.Obviously 28mm has been decided to be the optimum for both.