Reduce Ambient Noise at Home, Inside and Out with These Effective Tips
It’s a known fact that noise pollution is a thing; exposure to both loud and moderate noises can actually damage some fragile parts of your ears, affecting your hearing - let alone the havoc it can wreak on your nerves, leading to anxiety and irritation.
08/12/2019
If you don’t take a moment to focus on the audible noises around you, you’re probably not even aware of how much background noise your brain is filtering out without you feeling. From your fridge whirring, air brakes from buses outside, recurring car horns, to the repetitive opening and closing of your neighbors’ doors. It’s fascinating, really.
But since it’s a known fact that noise pollution is a thing, exposure to both loud and moderate noises can actually damage some fragile parts of your ears, affecting your hearing— let alone the havoc it can wreak on your nerves, leading to anxiety and irritation. According to silenthomehub, people need to research more to how they can lessen unwanted noise and the benefits of a more tranquil environment. It’s not that a few noises can be that unhealthy, but a calmer surrounding is definitely more stress free.
In this article, we go over some tips to reduce ambient noise at home, both inside and out.
Reducing Noise from Outside
Use Heavy Drapes on Thin Windows
Heavy, sturdy curtains can work wonders in combating street noise coming through thin windows. Use layered, lined curtains made from bulky fabric like velvet, or specialty noise-absorbing drapes.
Think of the bonus point; these layers also reduce dust coming in from outside (meaning: less cleaning time!) as well as help insulate your home in terms of temperature, which can help you pay less for AC and heating power.
Reinforce Shared or Outside Walls with Furniture
A full-width bookcase or storage cabinet against a wall shared with a neighbor (or facing the main street outside) can help absorb some of the sound coming through the walls.
Obviously, if you actually make use of it and fill it with books, clothes, towels or linens, it further reinforces the insulation barrier. Did anyone say extra storage space? Score!
Cover Your Floors with Rugs
If your apartment has hardwood floors, the best way to reduce noise levels is to cover them with thick carpet tiles or rugs. A dense rug can help dampen the noise coming in from the downstairs neighbors, and let’s face it, reduce the noise going through from you to them as well!
Reducing Noise from Inside
Fix Appliances that Make Unusual Noises
Not everything in your home is supposed to make a noise. While some sounds are inevitable (like the whirring of the refrigerator), some are just abnormal and need to be checked for malfunction.
If your air conditioner or heater is creating too much noise, it may be time for you to pay a professional to come over and take a look at what the problem might be. This will not only reduce the noise, but may save you some precious cash by addressing a mechanical problem early on before it gets worse.
Soundproof the Laundry Room
Unless you live with a musician experimenting with a new set of drums, the two loudest appliances most likely to exist in any home are known to be the washing machine and the dryer. If you happen to be lucky enough to have a separate laundry room, then soundproofing it with foam insulation would be a great investment— think the kind used inside music studios.
Turn Off Unused Machines
When not in use, turn off your computer, cable box or gaming console (you may not realize it, but their fans are quite noisy). This will not only allow you to have some peace and quiet, but also listen to your music or watch TV at a lower volume as to avoid damaging your ears. It will also help you be nicer to the environment by decreasing your power consumption. Besides, your utility bill will be a lot kinder!
Invest in “Quiet” Appliances
You now use your existing equipment, but when the time comes to buy a new piece of technology, opt for the quiet type. Reduced noise products are now available in almost every line of machinery there is, so weigh your options and choose well.
As you may have guessed, many of us are actually responsible for compromising our own hearing, thanks to the noise we unconsciously subject ourselves to every single day.
Millions of people now have to live with some level of permanent hearing loss caused by the everyday noise that we just resign to as an inevitable fact of life.
Since we spend a huge chunk of time at home (even sleeping hours count), then this would be a good place to start looking for ways to reduce the background noise instead of simply drowning it out with white noise machines. We hope that some of the tips we gave you today will work for you, helping you achieve a calmer, more peaceful personal space.