Noise reduction windows with Acoustic Glass

Everest, helping to make your home a quieter place to just be

The pervasive hum of background noise has become ever present. Maybe, an increase in passing traffic is keeping you awake, or maybe dogs barking in neighbouring gardens is cutting through your favourite TV show.

An increasing number of us want to reduce noise, so we can feel relaxed in the privacy of our own home.

Noise is both complex and personal and you might be surprised how many options there are to help with noise reduction. Windows are certainly one factor that could help make your home a quieter, stress-free place to be and Everest have a range of options that could help.

Why are some noises harder to ignore than others?

To really understand if, and how replacing windows can contribute to reducing noise, it helps to understand how sound works.

Sound is a vibration that travels through molecules of air and solid objects until it’s ‘heard’ by your ear. That vibration of sound makes anything it travels through vibrate at the same frequency, which is why you can feel the vibration and hear better if you put your ear to a wall or a window. You can actually see extreme noise vibrate a single pane of glass.

Sound vibrations look like waves hence the term 'soundwave' with different frequencies having a different wavelength. High-pitched sounds have more oscillations, so you will hear them as louder, which is why children playing close-by sounds so noisey but lower frequency noise travels farther, which explains why deep bass from a music festival can be heard for miles.

Why is it so difficult to avoid noise coming into my home?

Sound is difficult to contain because a soundwave can diffract around corners to find its way through any tiny gap.

A standard-built home will have lots of little gaps that sound can find its way through - and sound can also travel through solid walls, floors, ceilings and window panes. You might know that you can hear traffic or voices talking outside, but it’s not always obvious where the noise is coming from or how it’s getting into your house.

The most common points of entry are fireplaces, air bricks, from floors and ceilings, trickle vents and, badly-fitted doors or windows.

How do windows let noise into a home?

Windows usually cover a large surface area in a wall and have three main points of weakness to allow sound leakage into a room:

• The window pane is a large surface area vulnerable to sound transmission which is variable depending on the type of glazing used. Everest offers a specialist Acoustic Glass that can help to make a big difference.
• The window frame might have trickle vents, more window openers or could have micro gaps in the seals around the glass. This is where a solid frame with limited openers and high-quality seals and construction will make all the difference. Trickle vents are sometimes required by building regulations.
• The window installation is critical. Ideally, a frame should fit as snugly as possible in the wall with minimal use of fillers and packers that can create micro gaps. If your specialist noise reduction window isn’t fitted correctly, you won’t benefit from the best noise reduction it can achieve.

It might feel that you’re bombarded with noise invasion from all sides!

You can dial down the noise intrusion in your home by reducing the points of entry in combination with a well-fitted specialist noise reducion window. Not only should the noise reduce, but your home should also become more energy-efficient.

What options do I have to reduce noise by replacing my windows?

The good news is that we have solutions that can help to reduce the noise pollution in your home to make your home a more relaxing space. We don’t claim to eliminate all excessive external noise, but in many circumstances we can help. How much difference you notice with new Everest Acoustic Glass will be dependent on:

• The quality of your current windows
• Where the noise is coming from
• How the noise is leaking into your house
• How sensitive you are to noise

Noise reduction windows are one of our most popular products, with several options that you can choose:

• Everest Double Glazed windows with Acoustic Glass
  The solution we most often recommend for reducing noise is a double glazed window with specialist noise reduction glass. Noise reducing glass works by having a two different thickness of glass pane in the double glazed unit with one having a laminate PVB sound dampening layer on the external pane of glass. This combination helps to disrupt sound waves and reduce noise.
• Everest Triple Glazing with Acoustic Glass
  If your main concern is energy efficiency, we can offer noise reduction glass in a triple glazed unit. As explained above, surprisingly triple glazing isn’t as effective as the double glazed version as the third pane will reduce the effectiveness of the sound dampening offered by a double glazed unit. Triple glazing with noise reducing glass is better than standard double glazing, but we would only recommend this combination if noise is secondary to heat retention.
• Everest triple glazing or double glazing with other types of glass
  A well-fitted new window will reduce noise if it replaces a single or poor quality double glazed window. Other options to reduce noise include limiting the number of openers in the frame, high-quality seals and good installation, these will all make a difference to noise reduction. So, a standard Everest double or triple glazed window in comparison to an old and badly fitted window will help to noticeably reduce noise levels.
• Secondary Glazing for sound reduction
  Secondary glazing can also offer excellent results. This is because it can create a larger gap between the external pane and the internal pane creating a noise reducing chamber. The more distance from the window pane to where your secondary glazing unit is installed the better. This can be a great alternative for older properties that have planning restrictions or rooms with access restrictions such as flats.

How does double and triple glazing noise reduction compare?

How much can you really reduce the noise through your window?

How much you can reduce noise coming into your house depends on what you have now. If your home has old single glazed windows, you will notice a difference simply by adding new double glazing windows.

As described above, noise reduction also depends on how your home is constructed and the main entry point of the noise

Sound is measured by the strength (amplitude) of the waves in decibels (dB)

* Pilkington Technical Bulletin

**Everest Independent testing

The table above is based on laboratory testing, where the glass is tested in isolation. In real life, there are other factors that might be leaking sound into your home, so we can only offer this as a guide and not a guarantee.

In ideal circumstances, you can expect up to 11dB difference between a single pane of glass and a noise reduction window. This might not seem like very much, but decibels are calculated to a scale that means every increase of 10dB doubles the perceived loudness of sound. Therefore, noise on the other side of a single pane of glass is twice as loud as a noise reducing window.

It’s important to note that noise reduction windows will not make a room silent. They can make a considerable difference to the quality of life in your home, but we don’t claim to make a home soundproof. And you may have to address other issues that are leaking sound into a room.