noise questions
noise questions
first, i'd like to acknowledge my appreciation for being an informed consumer thanks to those who post here. i have a couple of questions which i will roll into one post. why is it difficult to get STC ratings for many relacement windows? i know there are many other factors to consider when noise reduction is a concern and the STC rating is not precisely comparing apples to apples. is there any benefit to looking into an accoustical analysis to help determine the best window solution ( for noise reduction) for a typical house? is there a source for emperical evidence addressing double vs triple glaze vs laminated for noise reduction? thanks for any responses.
noise
Getting lab certified is expensive.
I suspect that many smaller companies simply can't afford all of the different certifications that are available - and since sound performance isn't usually a major marketing issue for most folks - that testing is not always performed.
You can certainly do an acoustic analysis, but to what end? Completely sound-proofing a house would be frightfully expensive - if it could even be done to an individual's satisfaction. But, at the same time, there are specific construction techniques that help prevent exterior sound propagation into the interior (or the reverse, if that is a concern - keeping loud noises IN the house).
Certainly empirical evidence for window sound performance exists - as does a great deal of anecdotal evidence - but ultimately it all comes down to the ear of the beholder. Simply, some people hear what others don't hear and some people are bothered by sounds that don't bother other people. Many country folk find the city to be depressingly noisy and yet city folk often don't even notice the hubbub...it isn't that they are ignoring it precisely, more that their brain has learned to tune it out and now the noise no longer exists. Some city folk, on the other hand, when in the quiet of the country may actually find it uncomfortable because it is too quiet for them.
In simplified terms, one aspect of white noise works on the principle that a steady background sound with an SPL higher than the SPL of any noise that you might want to remove allows your brain to eventually disregard that background sound and subsequently the unwanted noise as well.
Sound attenuation - in the real world (not including such things as recording studios or concert halls, etc), tends to be very subjective and subject to a great variation among people - and places - and time of day - and the source of the sound.
But, to answer your question - try this one out -
http://www.saflex.com/pages/technical/acoustical.asp
I suspect that many smaller companies simply can't afford all of the different certifications that are available - and since sound performance isn't usually a major marketing issue for most folks - that testing is not always performed.
You can certainly do an acoustic analysis, but to what end? Completely sound-proofing a house would be frightfully expensive - if it could even be done to an individual's satisfaction. But, at the same time, there are specific construction techniques that help prevent exterior sound propagation into the interior (or the reverse, if that is a concern - keeping loud noises IN the house).
Certainly empirical evidence for window sound performance exists - as does a great deal of anecdotal evidence - but ultimately it all comes down to the ear of the beholder. Simply, some people hear what others don't hear and some people are bothered by sounds that don't bother other people. Many country folk find the city to be depressingly noisy and yet city folk often don't even notice the hubbub...it isn't that they are ignoring it precisely, more that their brain has learned to tune it out and now the noise no longer exists. Some city folk, on the other hand, when in the quiet of the country may actually find it uncomfortable because it is too quiet for them.
In simplified terms, one aspect of white noise works on the principle that a steady background sound with an SPL higher than the SPL of any noise that you might want to remove allows your brain to eventually disregard that background sound and subsequently the unwanted noise as well.
Sound attenuation - in the real world (not including such things as recording studios or concert halls, etc), tends to be very subjective and subject to a great variation among people - and places - and time of day - and the source of the sound.
But, to answer your question - try this one out -
http://www.saflex.com/pages/technical/acoustical.asp
800-399-4623