Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

Dear Group,


I am in a situation where I need to minimise sound transmission into a
room (noises such as sirens and raised voices, not low frequency or
road noise).

There is no option of secondary glazing due to the fact that there is
a Juliet balcony. The only option is 'upgrading' the existing 24mm
(4-16-4) sealed units. I appreciate this is not the ideal option.

So, what is the ultimate 24mm sealed unit for sound reduction?

Different thicknesses of laminated glass? Gas filled? Sound insulating
spacer bars?

Many thanks for any advice/experience that anyone can share.


Regards,

Alex

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

In article om,
wrote:
I am in a situation where I need to minimise sound transmission into a
room (noises such as sirens and raised voices, not low frequency or
road noise).

There is no option of secondary glazing due to the fact that there is
a Juliet balcony. The only option is 'upgrading' the existing 24mm
(4-16-4) sealed units. I appreciate this is not the ideal option.

So, what is the ultimate 24mm sealed unit for sound reduction?

Different thicknesses of laminated glass? Gas filled? Sound insulating
spacer bars?

Many thanks for any advice/experience that anyone can share.

The thickest glass possible with the greatest gap.

--
*The severity of the itch is proportional to the reach *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

On Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:08:31 -0800, wrote:

Dear Group,


I am in a situation where I need to minimise sound transmission into a
room (noises such as sirens and raised voices, not low frequency or
road noise).

There is no option of secondary glazing due to the fact that there is
a Juliet balcony. The only option is 'upgrading' the existing 24mm
(4-16-4) sealed units. I appreciate this is not the ideal option.

So, what is the ultimate 24mm sealed unit for sound reduction?

Different thicknesses of laminated glass? Gas filled? Sound insulating
spacer bars?

I believe it's best to have several inches of space between the panes,
also to have them not quite parallel to one another, to avoid standing
waves in the space.

--
Frank Erskine

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

On 5 Nov, 14:08, wrote:
Dear Group,

I am in a situation where I need to minimise sound transmission into a
room (noises such as sirens and raised voices, not low frequency or
road noise).

There is no option of secondary glazing due to the fact that there is
a Juliet balcony. The only option is 'upgrading' the existing 24mm
(4-16-4) sealed units. I appreciate this is not the ideal option.

So, what is the ultimate 24mm sealed unit for sound reduction?

Different thicknesses of laminated glass? Gas filled? Sound insulating
spacer bars?

Many thanks for any advice/experience that anyone can share.

Regards,

Alex

Also, bear in mind there may be trickle vents letting sound in, in
which case improving the glazing may not help.
Simon.

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

Owain wrote:
wrote:
I am in a situation where I need to minimise sound transmission into a
room (noises such as sirens and raised voices, not low frequency or
road noise).
There is no option of secondary glazing due to the fact that there is
a Juliet

I don't understand that. Secondary glazing goes *inside* the existing
windows.

Presumably it's because due to the Juliet thingy, the windows are
casement-type, opening inwards, so if the OP wants to ever open his
windows again, secondary glazing is out (I've only ever seen sliding or
fixed secondary glazing).

David

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

In article om,
writes
Dear Group,


I am in a situation where I need to minimise sound transmission into a
room (noises such as sirens and raised voices, not low frequency or
road noise).

There is no option of secondary glazing due to the fact that there is
a Juliet balcony. The only option is 'upgrading' the existing 24mm
(4-16-4) sealed units. I appreciate this is not the ideal option.

So, what is the ultimate 24mm sealed unit for sound reduction?

Different thicknesses of laminated glass? Gas filled? Sound insulating
spacer bars?

Many thanks for any advice/experience that anyone can share.

Pilkingtons had some great pages on their Asia/New Zealand site with
tables of construction vs attenuation but the page is no more.

From memory, the best of the DG options was 6.4mm laminated inner,
4mm plain glass outer with appropriate spacer to make finished thickness,
the dissimilar glasses broke up resonant transmission. I think the claimed
reduction was 50%+. I see Pilks have introduced Optilam Phon which
claims to absorb more sound by having a softer plastic layer than that of
normal laminate so that would probably be the ideal inner.

There may be more info at http://www.pilkington.com but they don't half
make it hard to find. If it bothers you I imagine they will do Optilam Phon in
low-e as well. Be sure to buy from/as trade if you can.

As I'm sure you're aware, the window seals will need to be pretty airtight to
get much of an improvement, if the noise doesn't already reduce by a
dramatic amount as you close the window the last 5mm & latch it then
you probably have a suspect seal.

If you have trickle vents, forget it unless you fancy filling them with builders'
foam.
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

In article , fred writes

There may be more info at http://www.pilkington.com but they don't half
make it hard to find. If it bothers you I imagine they will do Optilam Phon in
low-e as well. Be sure to buy from/as trade if you can.

Ah, here we go:
http://www.pilkington.com/resources/...ndatasheet.pdf

Examples are 16mm gapped but I'm sure 6.8/12/6 would be just as easy
to have made up.
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

In article ,
fred wrote:
In article , fred writes

There may be more info at http://www.pilkington.com but they don't half
make it hard to find. If it bothers you I imagine they will do Optilam
Phon in low-e as well. Be sure to buy from/as trade if you can.

Ah, here we go:
http://www.pilkington.com/resources/...ndatasheet.pdf

Examples are 16mm gapped but I'm sure 6.8/12/6 would be just as easy
to have made up.

Interesting that the total thickness of the glass is the important thing -
it makes little difference if this is made up of a single or double glazed
unit, sound wise. Unlike secondary glazing the width of the wall away from
the main which provides a very real improvement.

--
*Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let him sleep.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Sealed units - maximising sound insulation properties
 

Dear all,

Many thanks for the various replies.

Lobster was correct in the assumption that the Juliet balcony consists
of (large) inward opening casement doors, making secondary glazing
impractical.

I have already replaced all the suspect seals and there are no trickle
vents, so I think the next step is to get a few quotes for the cost of
new sealed units featuring the Pilkington glass mentioned. I'm sure it
will be eye-wateringly expensive!

Many thanks again,

Alex