Air Conditioner: Stopping The Noise

10 February 2016
 Categories: , Blog


While air conditioning units are great at making homes comfortable, the noises that they make can become a nuisance. This is so especially in cases where the unit is either large or old.

Large units can produce comfort-ruining noises simply because of their size and the amount of air they handle. Old units on the other hand can make a lot of noise because of worn-out bearings, bent fan blades or loose screws that cause various parts of the unit to vibrate. Whatever the root cause of the noise produced by the air conditioner, it is possible to shield your home from comfort-disrupting noises. And what is even better is the fact that you can do this without ever having to open up your air conditioner. Here are some of the simple tips that can help you to do this.

Use vibration pads

Air conditioners that cool large areas usually come with large compressors. And since compressors are made up of several moving parts, including pistons and motors, the amount of vibrations that this causes can produce enough noise to disturb the peace in your home. As for an old air conditioner, any loose or worn-out parts are bound to cause it to vibrate when it is running.

Vibration pads usually come in handy when it comes to absorbing the vibrations caused by an air conditioner. Placing your unit on top of a vibration pad is therefore an effective way of reducing the air conditioner noise nuisance.

Use a sound barrier

There are times an old air conditioner makes noise even after repairing it. There may also be nothing that you can do to stop non-vibration noises that are usually produced by large air conditioners. In such cases, installing a sound barrier is the best option.

All that this method requires is that you install a fence barrier between the air conditioner and the rooms that are most affected by the noise. To maximize the effectiveness of the barrier, make sure that you build it as close to the air conditioner as is possible. Lining the fence with material that has sound-absorbing qualities, like a sound absorbent closed cell foam, will also boost the effectiveness of your noise-proofing fence.

It is important to note that a straight noise-proofing fence won't be as effective when there are several sound paths to worry about. In such cases, building a U-shaped or V-shaped fence is advisable. The only thing that you should keep in mind when you decide to go with the V-shaped or U-shaped fence is that it can interfere with the airflow of the unit. This can reduce the efficiency of your air conditioning system. In such cases, ensuring that there's ample ventilation is therefore a must. Contact a company, such as Elite Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, for more information.   


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