5 Tips for Air Duct Noise Reduction

Whether you are trying to sleep, work, read, concentrate, watch TV, have a conversation, a noisy air duct can be enormously distracting. When your central air system is moving cool and warm air through out the house, the sheet metal in the unit might start to make a certain noise. We all know what the noise sounds like, because it can be incredibly irritating. Yet, there are a number of ways to reduce the sound to a manageable level or get rid of the sound altogether. You might think your first option is to turn the central air unit off, but if it gets too hot this summer, this option might be too unbearable. Here are 5 tips for air duct noise reduction.

1. One of the best ways to mute the sound from your air duct is to insulate. All you have to do is find out where the ducts run throughout the house and then find the proper insulation. This will take minimal construction and installation time. Moreover, it is a very cost effective method and it might even increase your home’s energy efficiency. When you do purchase the insulation make sure that it is the right grade, because you could end up wasting more energy and it might even be nosier than before.
2. Another low cost and minimally invasive solution is to purchase air duct silencers. You can search silencers online or you can ask your local hardware store if the have any in stock or can order them. Because air duct systems are intrinsically designed to carry sound, because they mainly consist of tubes, a silencer will block the sound at the source so that it doesn’t travel throughout the whole house.
3. Install proper expansion joint collars. Air ducts usually come in 3 foot to 4-foot segments and need some sort of expansion brace to connect them throughout the entire house. Sometimes an expansion joint collar is too big or too small, which can cause two pipes to clank against each other. Duct tape might be your solution for a day or two, but you’ll want to replace the joint collars sooner than later.
4. Call a specialist if you can’t diagnose where the sound is coming from. You don’t want to risk hurting yourself by looking too far into why your system is making noise. Calling an HVAC or air conditioning specialist, or repair company, like Florida Bryant Dealers, will diagnose the problem and then make any necessary repairs so that you won’t hear the sound ever again.
5. Lastly, the source of the noise might be coming from the fans or the blower in the unit. Replacing or repairing the blades inside the fan is usually the best way to reduce the sound. Because the sound echoes and reverberates through out the pipes, it might be hard to know where exactly the sound is coming from, but if you simply inspect the fan to make sure there are no broken blades or even debris you can typically get rid of the sound altogether.