The hidden benefit of double glazing

Over the years, double glazing has gained a positive reputation for many reasons and continues to improve homes all over the country in more ways than one. What double glazing gives everyone is the huge benefits of energy-efficiency, thermal performance, style, and easy maintenance. But there’s one hidden benefit of double glazing that deserves far more attention – the improvement of noise insulation.

For many homeowners living in towns or cities, or by busy roads, the hustle and bustle, together with the traffic and road or neighbour noise, can impact heavily on your living standards. And, things can sound even worse if you’re working a night shift and you need to sleep through a large part of the day. But how does noise reduction work?

How Does Double Glazing Reduce Noise?

In simple terms, double glazing consists of two separate panes of glass (hence the name), and just as the additional layer of glazing makes it harder for heat to escape from your home, it also helps prevent noise from getting in. By having double glazing, you reduce the energy of the sound waves from the outside, and it’s the gap in between those two panes which can make all the difference.

Both low and high frequencies can be greatly reduced as they get absorbed in the gap between the two panes of glass. This gap is vacuum filled with trapped air which consists of around 90% heavy argon gas. It also houses warm edge spacer bars that further insulate the window’s seals. The wider this gap is, the more noise and sound frequencies are dampened as they move from one pane to the other, resulting in far less sound entering your living spaces.

How Will This Benefit My Home?

Wherever you live in Somerset, chances are, there are some annoying – and frequent – noises or sounds that you hear on a daily basis. This may be your neighbour leaving early for work, mowing the lawn, local traffic, neighbour noise or even the noise of planes if you live under flight paths (perhaps in areas like The Chew Valley).

Double glazing, and the width of the gap between the panes, helps to reduce the loudness of these sounds, and therefore make your home far more peaceful and quiet. Alongside the other key benefits to double glazing, it’s ability to significantly reduce the amount and level of noise coming into your home is quite exceptional.

You can experience a better quality of sleep, allowing you to function better during the day, or relax in your living room without the sound of road noise going past. Having double glazing installed is the best way to make outside noise a thing of the past. A reduced noise level can seriously benefit your health as well, reducing stress and lowering your blood pressure.

But if you do live close to traffic links, this noise-reducing double glazing will certainly increase the value of your home and make it a more desirable purchase for new buyers – which is great news if you’re thinking of moving on in the future.

How Much Will Double Glazing Reduce Noise?

It is hard for anyone to imagine how much double glazing will reduce noise before it is installed. If we told you that laminated double glazing can reduce noise levels by up to 35 decibels, it probably wouldn’t mean much. We don’t tend to think of everyday sounds in terms of decibels – only whether noise is quiet, loud, or very loud.

However, having something relative to compare it to can make decibels (dB) much clearer to understand. For example, the engine noise from a jumbo jet can reach 130dB (extremely loud bordering on painful), busy road noise from cars and lorries or a vacuum cleaner can be between 70-80dB (loud to very loud), and normal conversation can be around 60db (moderate to quiet) – even something as innocent a rustling leaves outside can be 20dB.

Double glazing can help to reduce noise and increase soundproofing potential by up to 35dB – clearly a serious and worthwhile increase. But the level of noise reduction will always depend on several variables, but many decisions can come down to space.

Some homeowners prefer to maximise the sill space under their windows, but this can limit the width of the gap between the glass and therefore reduce the amount of sound insulation. But it’s increasingly common for people to forgo an extra inch of sill space in order to capitalise on the joy of proper sound insulation for any affected rooms.

More than just double glazing

Installing double glazing in your home is usually about energy and thermal-efficiency for your home. Consuming less energy, spending less money on your energy bills, and helping the environment by reducing your carbon footprint.

While these are all excellent qualities, one of the key hidden benefits of double glazing which is often overlooked, is its noise reducing qualities. A major factor that makes it more than just double glazing – it’s one that improves your overall quality of life, helping you live a healthier and happier life – and gives you more peaceful living spaces.

How Majestic Designs can help you

With over 18 years trading, we’ve received thousands of positive testimonials and Fairtrades reviews, helping Majestic Designs become industry leaders in window design, manufacture, and innovation. All our state-of-the-art uPVC windows are made to measure at our Cheddar factories using the latest in technology to ensure the highest standards for each product.

We also have our own team of knowledgeable lead installers who have years of experience improving homes – each with FENSA and MTC accreditations – whether your priorities are sound insulation, security, style, thermal-performance, or all a mix of all combined.

While all our windows are 100% come with a government-backed guarantee for 10 years, Majestic Designs is proudly accredited by some of the industry’s highest credentials, including BFRC, FENSA, Trustmark, and the FCA, for quality and service.

Choose Majestic Designs to install your noise reducing uPVC windows and you’ll be making a sound investment. For more information on our windows, as well as our doors and conservatories, get in touch with our Customer Service team today on 01934 741 294 or get in touch through our contact form.