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The 4 Key Ways Sydney Residents Can Reduce Noise in Their Home

noise reduction

The 4 Key Ways Sydney Residents Can Reduce Noise in Their Home

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Some of the exciting things that attract people to live in Sydney is the city’s iconic beauty, the hustle and bustle of everyday life and its vibrant lifestyle. While this charm pulls many into staying long term, it quickly fades when you can’t keep the city’s, loud vibrant lifestyle out of your home. Sydney is without a doubt Australia’s largest capital city, but that doesn’t mean its residents should be up all night dealing with noise.

For Sydney residents who experience excessive noise, there are four key ways to reduce the level of noise that they experience and make their homes comfortable. Read on to find out what they are.

Cover Hard Surfaces

The outside world, the road, and loud neighbours can be a major source of noise, the best way to start reducing it is from within the home. A major amplifier of unwanted noise within the home is hard surfaces such as floors. A great way to prevent this noise from travelling throughout your home is by covering hard surfaces with rugs, which prevent sound from reverberating through your home (and also adds a bit of decorative flair to your living space ).

Use Furniture Strategically

If your neighbours have a very talkative pooch or have developed an ill-advised passion for late night music, the resulting noise can be tiring to say the least. Another strategy for noise reduction can be using bulkier furniture. You can take advantage of bookcases and large cabinets by placing them against walls to act as a makeshift sound absorber to prevent noise from travelling throughout your house. You can also align the head of your bed against and internal wall instead of having your head close to the external noise.  By using your furniture strategically, you can effectively reduce noise and the effect it has on your comfort.

Fix Cracks, Gaps and Holes in Your Home

Many homes struggle with noise reduction because of noise seeping through cracks, gaps, or holes in walls or even around the windows and door. Even well insulated houses can fall victim to these noise leaks, which is why it’s essential to identify where leaks exist to rectify the issue as soon as possible. Sealing the gaps quickly by yourself or with the help of a hired professional, you can help your home reduce unwanted noise. Magnetite’s Sealtite is a perfect solution to seal the gap under or around your doors and windows. This solution enhances the performance of existing windows and doors by applying suitable draught-proofing strips that are appropriate for the window or door style, retaining easy operation.

Soundproofing and Double Glazing Your Existing Windows

Windows can let in too much noise to your home. A standard, single paned window can be the worst culprit of noise penetration, easily allowing outside noise into your home, keeping you up and disturbing your home environment. One effective way to reduce noise within your home is by investing in  good window soundproofing. Soundproofing solutions block gaps where sound can come from, while adding value to the existing space. Replacing your window with an Insulated Glass Units (IGUs) or also known as double glazed window is the most common window soundproofing solution. However, for Sydney’s city dwellers who live in an apartment or terrace house, replacing the window often is not an option.

An alternative soundproofing solution like a retrofit double glazing, or a secondary glazing solution is more feasible and may deliver more effective result. These solutions  allow the residents to enjoy all the benefits of double glazing without the hassle of replacement windows.

An example of secondary glazing is Magnetite’s Soundtite window system, which uses the structure of your existing windows and simply adds a secondary acoustic aluminium window, with a maximum air gap, to stop the noise and vibration from coming in.

For Sydneysiders who have timber windows, a retrofit double-glazing solution like Magnetite® can provide effective soundproofing with minimal visual impact. Magnetite® is magnetic secondary glazing system that attaches discreetly to the inside of a window reveal. The system creates an air cavity which acts as an insulation barrier against noise and temperature to create a comfortable, stable indoor temperature for year-round comfort.

Double-glazed windows don’t just reduce noise, they also add value to your home by providing a more comfortable space.

Magnetite Sydney offers a range of retrofit double glazed window systems and soundproof windows solutions specifically designed to keep unwanted noise out of your home, so that you can get back to enjoying Sydney living.

If you’re interested in a Magnetite or Soundtite solution, please get in contact with our team at Magnetite Sydney today.

  1. Conduction
    Heat moving through an object (i.e. heat will travel through an aluminium, or steel frame more easily than through a timber or PVC frame).
  2. Radiant heat
    Heat from the direct sun. It can pass through space until reflected or absorbed.
  3. Convection
    Heat flow resulting from air movement e.g. either 'natural' convection - warm air rises, or 'forced' convection - a breeze by a window, both can result in a draught by a window.
  4. Infiltration
    Air leaks around the frame, around the window sash and through the gaps in the movable window parts.

When evaluating your options to improve the thermal performance of your windows, the following double glazing key performance criteria should be considered:

  • U-Value (Uw) represents heat transfer through a window, irrespective of direct sunlight. The lower a window’s U-Value, the better the insulation performance.
  • Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) measures the solar energy that passes through glazing. The lower the SHGC, the less solar heat is transmitted through a window.
  • Air Infiltration or leakage measures the rate at which air passes through gaps in window joins and seals. The lower the air infiltration, the better a window’s energy performance.

The Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS) Thermal Performance

Aluminium Frame Windows

Glazing Type Cooling Stars Heating Stars Cool% Heat% Uw SHGC
Single glazed 3mm clear glass* half blue star red starhalf red star 7.4 0.77
Single glazed 3mm clear glass &
4.5mm Magnetite		 blue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred starred starhalf red star 35% 59% 2.9 0.67

Timber Frame Windows

Glazing Type Cooling Stars Heating Stars Cool% Heat% Uw SHGC
Single glazed 3mm clear glass* blue starhalf blue star red starred starred starhalf red star 20% 28% 5.5 0.69
Single glazed 3mm clear glass &
4.5mm Magnetite		 blue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred starred starred star 37% 61% 2.6 0.66
Single glazed 3mm clear glass with
Solartite** and 4.5mm Magnetite		 blue starblue starblue starblue starblue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred starhalf red star 76% 45% 1.8 0.20

 

*WERS standard typical industry window
**Solartite is a range of high performance window film. The window tested above has Solartite’s low-e film.

Magnetite vs Traditional Double Glazing – What the experts says

Winter - the ideal situation is to let in as much of the sun's heat and then trap it inside to maintain a comfortable environment in your home or office. This will also significantly reduce heating costs and saves you money. The ideal window for winter will have a high SHGC to let the sun's heat in and a low U-Value to prevent the heat from escaping. Clear windows without shading films are better suited for winter climates.

Compared with traditional double-glazing, Magnetite’s double-glazing solution can provide better results during winter or for cold climate areas such as Canberra, the Adelaide Hills and Blue Mountains.

Magnetite's clear acrylic window panels allow the direct heat from the sun's rays to enter the building and once inside, Magnetite's superior magnetic seals retain the heat, giving Magnetite an advantage over conventional operating windows.

Glazing Type Cooling Stars Heating Stars Cool% Heat% Uw SHGC AI
Double Glazed 3mm clear glass/12mm air
gap/3mm clear glass IGU (Insulated Glass Unit)*		 blue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred starred starhalf red star 40% 55% 3.0 0.61 5.0
Single glazed 3mm clear glass &
4.5mm Magnetite		 blue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred starred starred star 37% 61% 2.6 0.66 0.5

 

*WERS standard typical industry window

Summer - the ideal situation is to minimize the heat coming in from outside and prevent the cool air inside from escaping through the window. This will make your home more comfortable and reduce your air-conditioning costs. The ideal window for summer, or for a large west-facing window, will have a low SHGC to limit the heat from the sun's direct rays, as well as, a low U-Value to prevent the heat in the air outside from moving through the window and warming the cool conditioned air inside. It is better to have a shading film on the first (outer) glass pane to limit the heat that enters the double glazed unit.

The combination of Magnetite retrofit double glazing and Solartite outperforms the traditional insulated glass unit for hot climate. Magnetite fit over an existing window with reflective film will give better summer heat control than a double-glazed window with supertoned glass.

The Magnetite system stops the conduction and convection of heat better than glass windows giving superior results for summer conditions. Combined with a film or a shading device, Magnetite is the ideal solution for the hot Australian conditions.

Glazing Type Cooling Stars Heating Stars Cool% Heat% Uw SHGC AI
Double Glazed 5mm Supertoned glass/6mm
air gap/5mm clear glass IGU (Insulated Glass Unit)*		 blue starblue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred starhalf red star 54% 425% 3.30 0.461 5.0
Single glazed 3mm glass Solartite**
and 4.5mm Magnetite		 blue starblue starblue starblue starblue starhalf blue star red starred starred starred star 73% 38% 2.4 0.19 0.5

 

*WERS standard typical industry window
**Solartite is a range of high performance window film. The window tested above has Solartite’s low-e film.

Click here to view pdf version of Magnetite WERS test result.

Noise Reduction Technical Data and Results

Proven Results

Noise pollution is one the biggest problems faced in the cities today, particularly in a high-density living. Unwanted noise can be responsible for sleep loss and lack of concentration. This can lead to a deterioration of health through increased stress levels, headaches, high blood pressure and loss of hearing.

Noise penetrates windows through leaky seals or vibrations through the window structure. To reduce noise, a window should minimise air infiltration, hold enough weight to limit vibration and allow a large air cavity. This cavity, or air gap, is the key to secondary glazing.

Expert Advice:

CSIRO Research by John Davy shown an air cavity can effectively enhance sound insulation performance. The larger the air cavity the more noise the window system can reduce. Results show a wide air gap of 100-125mm will improve sound insulation by an average of 7dB(A) more than windows with a narrow gap of 8-13mm.

Window or Glass Door Type Total Glass Thickness (mm) Air Cavity Thickness (mm) Sound Insulation (dB)
Single Glaze 3mm 3 0 23
Single Glaze 6mm 6 0 27
Double Glaze Narrow Gap 9-12 8-13 31
Double Glaze Wide Gap 9-12 100-125 38

 

The human ear is less sensitive to low frequency sound. According to a study released by the CSIRO, the human ear needs a change of 3dB to detect a difference in noise levels and the human ear perceives a change of 10dB as a doubling or halving of the noise level.

If you double the thickness of glass in a window the noise level will decrease by 3dB the least amount possible to make a difference. If the glass is laminated there is no perceived difference in noise reduction.

National Acoustic Laboratory Testing:

Working with the principles of noise transfer, Magnetite® and Soundtite are designed for high performance, which is achieved by combining air tight seals with the ability to maximize an air cavity and the flexibility to vary glazing thickness to suit. Magnetite® is excellent at reducing general noise such as busy roads, commuter trains and noisy neighbours. Whereas, Soundtite works well to combat low frequencies noise such as garbage truck, freight trains or airplane during take-off and landing.

Test Code Material Tested Rw* Improvement
ATF 707 (test window) Aluminium sliding window, 3mm float glass with mohair seals 23 N/A
ATF 709 Test window, 100mm air gap and Magnetite System (4.5mm acrylic panel) 35 52%
ATF 1507 Test window, 100mm air gap and Magnetite System (10.0mm acrylic panel) 39 70%
ATF 817 Test window, 100mm air gap and Soundtite (6.38mm laminated glass) 41 78%

 

*The Weighted Sound Reduction Index (Rw) is a measure for sound insulation performance of a single building element such as windows. The higher the Rw rating, the better the sound insulation.