Most of the people who come to us in need of noise control know they need the noise to be significantly reduced. They don’t necessarily know how to do this, what their options are, or how noise control actually works. They have many questions, and luckily, we have those answers.
While we’re happy to answer each customer’s questions individually, we also thought we’d address some of the more common ones here.
One of the most common questions is “How does sound absorption actually work?” The sound waves strike surfaces of a room (walls, floors, ceiling) and they either absorbed or reflected back into the room.
When a sound wave strikes acoustical material, the sound energy is converted to heat. The sound absorbing material is designed to absorb and dissipate that heat.
How much noise can actually be reduced? When treating a noise problem with absorption we can expect a maximum reduction of 8-10 dB-A. This is a meaningful reduction as the human ear perceives a 10 dB reduction as cutting the noise in half. We can also create barrier walls or full enclosures to block or contain noise. Typical noise reduction for a barrier wall will be 10 to 20 dB-A depending on the materials used and the size of the wall. A sound enclosure can reduce noise by as much as 30 dB-A or more. The client’s needs determine the solution offered.
If you have more questions or want to know what’s best for your noise control needs? Contact us, we’re happy to help!
