How to Soundproof and Reduce Heat Gain in a Room

The average home in Nigeria boasts of at least one air conditioning unit or cooling apparatus and the costs of running this equipment often contributes to over 50% of the costs of power. It’s established that a house with an A/C unit consumes almost twice the amount of energy another house uses, even if they’re of the same size.

Also, the effect of global warming adds

to the need for cooling at home. You can hardly find a homeowner planning a building without provision for cooling. Soundproofing the rooms in your house, not just the media room or studio can help reduce your spending on cooling by up to 50%.

This is because most soundproofing materials apart from sound absorption, also act as thermal blankets i.e. they also reduce heat gain or loss in buildings where they are applied. They are best applied in roofs and walls for maximum effect, though adding to floors is also beneficial.

A)     ROOF INSULATION

For new buildings, this is quite straightforward:

You just need to add a layer of insulation material between the roofing framework and the proposed ceiling material. You can use glasswool or rockwool insulation of 1 to 2inches thickness, depending on temperature, population density and budget of the project.

For existing buildings, you may need to add the insulation after the ceiling. Or if there’s sufficient space or a manhole within the ceiling area, a trained installer can achieve same for you.

B)      WALL INSULATION

This is pretty straightforward for both new and existing buildings. You’ll need:

The insulation material- can be glasswool or rockwool. Rockwool rolls or boards is ideal if you want a lot of sound absorption. For industrial purposes, higher density rockwool or polyurethane sheets (Armaflex sheets) are most popular.

Framework for the insulation material- A steel, wooden or aluminum structure divided into 2ft by 4ft studs in which the insulation material will be fit.

Covering for the insulation- there’s no limit to what can be used as finishing for the work. From PVC strips to plasterboards, to plywood to fabric, even cement plastering; anything that gives you the desired aesthetic effect is allowed.

Addendums: Music studios and entertainment rooms/auditoriums often need extra touches of sound material to help for noise buffering or echo reduction. Materials like acoustic panels, acoustic foam, bass traps can be added after the main insulation is done.

Effective soundproofing and thermal insulation that affects energy spending is mainly a function of materials used, budget and the building plan.

For more info on insulation materials or installation support, please call 08150906094 or email info@energymall.ng