How to Measure Sound Dampening
03/06/2019
As urbanization spreads, sound mitigation becomes more important. Sound-dampening windows are a key consideration when building or remodeling. But how can you measure sound dampening, to ensure you achieve your optimal sound mitigation?
Elisabeth Leamy of The Washington Post recently dug into sound-dampening windows and offered some guidelines we can apply to residential and commercial windows alike:
There are two systems for rating how effectively something such as a wall or a window stops the sound.
– STC stands for sound transmission class and is used more for measuring higher-frequency noises such as voices and barking dogs.
– OITC stands for outdoor-indoor transmission class and was developed to better measure low-frequency noises such as airplanes and traffic.
– The higher the STC or OITC rating of a barrier, the better it is at preventing noise from coming into your home.
Ms. Leamy shares that sound suppression is not really on the radar of the average window salesman and to better understand noise transmission, sought help from Michael Kerr at Bay Acoustics and Casey Mahon at St. Cloud Window.
Our president and CEO, Casey Mahon offered some practical advice to The Washington Post, “Always verify a window’s sound rating by reviewing the acoustical test report performed by a certified lab. Don’t take the salesperson’s word for it. Ask for a copy of the test data.”
As Mr. Kerr states, the key is to purchase windows with STC and OITC ratings as close to that of your walls as possible.
Both said, to spend money on new windows only if you can improve the sound rating and offered these suggestions: storm windows, double-pane windows, thicker glass, dissimilar glass, laminated glass, triple-pane glass, and wider air space.
At St. Cloud Window, our acoustic windows can all be independently certified through test data. We provide both STC and OITC ratings for all our windows.
Knowing how to measure sound dampening is vital when choosing windows for your project. Have a project in mind, but still have questions? Request an estimate for specialized recommendations.