In an effort to quiet down the air-flow through the return and supply vents in my home theater, I decided to try an experiment by stuffing a small amount of linacoustic into each of the ducts.
A very generous forum member sent me a nice-sized sheet of linacoustic that he had left over from his theater build, and it was this sheet that I used for my duct muffling experiment.
The results? Well, they're mixed.
First, the good: with just a small amount of linacoustic placed around the bend in each of the ducts, the sound transmission through the vents dropped dramatically. So yes, as a duct muffler, this stuff works fantastically. Of course, the duct muffling characteristics should come as no surprise (since that's what the stuff is made for), but I was still surprised by how much noise reduction I was able to achieve with such small pieces of the stuff.
I had a nice sized sheet to work with, but I could only fit tiny pieces (maybe 1 foot long by 8 inches wide) into the duct without unduly restricting the air flow. And even those small pieces did the trick.
Before I inserted the linacoustic, my return air vent sounded like a friggin' jet engine. Afterwards, it was an ever-so-subtle whisper.
Now, the bad:
I think I'm allergic to the stuff. Immediately after placing it into my supply vent, I started getting all stuffy-nosed, coughing, watery eyes, etc. At first, I thought maybe my sinuses were irritated from working with it, so I waited a couple of days, but no luck. Every time I walk into the theater I am struck with a very stuffy feeling and a thick, unpleasant quality of air. I checked to make sure that the backing is installed facing the air-flow (so tiny particles of the stuff don't blow around the room), and found that it is, indeed, installed in the right direction.
Unfortunately, this linacoustic stuff isn't really meant to be installed like this at all. It's supposed to have its edges sealed (I don't know all the details, but I did read a bit about it), so maybe it's not possible for me to install this stuff the right way.
Anyway, I have just removed the linacoustic from the supply vent and will wait to see if that clears up the allergic reaction. If that doesn't work, it will have to come out of the return duct too. I thought about wrapping the linacoustic in GOM before stuffing it into the vent, but I think that would be destined to turn into a Dust Mite factory.
Summary:
So anyway, the linacoustic does successfully muffle vent noise. In fact, it works great -- a small amount goes a long way. Unfortunately, due to my allergic reaction to the stuff, I may not be able to use it.
A very generous forum member sent me a nice-sized sheet of linacoustic that he had left over from his theater build, and it was this sheet that I used for my duct muffling experiment.
The results? Well, they're mixed.
First, the good: with just a small amount of linacoustic placed around the bend in each of the ducts, the sound transmission through the vents dropped dramatically. So yes, as a duct muffler, this stuff works fantastically. Of course, the duct muffling characteristics should come as no surprise (since that's what the stuff is made for), but I was still surprised by how much noise reduction I was able to achieve with such small pieces of the stuff.
I had a nice sized sheet to work with, but I could only fit tiny pieces (maybe 1 foot long by 8 inches wide) into the duct without unduly restricting the air flow. And even those small pieces did the trick.
Before I inserted the linacoustic, my return air vent sounded like a friggin' jet engine. Afterwards, it was an ever-so-subtle whisper.
Now, the bad:
I think I'm allergic to the stuff. Immediately after placing it into my supply vent, I started getting all stuffy-nosed, coughing, watery eyes, etc. At first, I thought maybe my sinuses were irritated from working with it, so I waited a couple of days, but no luck. Every time I walk into the theater I am struck with a very stuffy feeling and a thick, unpleasant quality of air. I checked to make sure that the backing is installed facing the air-flow (so tiny particles of the stuff don't blow around the room), and found that it is, indeed, installed in the right direction.
Unfortunately, this linacoustic stuff isn't really meant to be installed like this at all. It's supposed to have its edges sealed (I don't know all the details, but I did read a bit about it), so maybe it's not possible for me to install this stuff the right way.
Anyway, I have just removed the linacoustic from the supply vent and will wait to see if that clears up the allergic reaction. If that doesn't work, it will have to come out of the return duct too. I thought about wrapping the linacoustic in GOM before stuffing it into the vent, but I think that would be destined to turn into a Dust Mite factory.
Summary:
So anyway, the linacoustic does successfully muffle vent noise. In fact, it works great -- a small amount goes a long way. Unfortunately, due to my allergic reaction to the stuff, I may not be able to use it.
