How To Soundproof A Mechanical Room [3 Effective Ways]

A Mechanical room is a very important part of your home. It contains machines that make your home air-conditioned and ventilated. A mechanical room is a life savior in winter to keep your home warm and keep it cool in summer.

Apart from all the benefits of a mechanical or HVAC room, the major downside of this room is it creates lots of noise, which is sometimes bearable and sometimes not. 

To soundproof a mechanical room, we’ve to deal with the furnace, water heater, water softener, air conditioner, etc. By using some quality soundproofing materials and working techniques we can minimize the noise level of that room drastically.

Although the equipment of your mechanical room is enclosed, the noise leakage through this room affects your comfort and work.

But don’t worry in this article we are going to share some simple and effective soundproofing techniques to soundproof a Mechanical room or an HVAC room that is located in your home basement or somewhere else.

So without further ado.

Let’s get started…

How To Soundproof A Mechanical Room:[Some Self-Applied Methods]

To soundproof a mechanical room of our house, we need to soundproof these elements that are common in most mechanical rooms such as:

1. Noisy Furnace And Air Conditioner.
2. Noisy generator, compressors, dust collectors.
3. Air Went And Duct

and so on.

1. Soundproof Noisy Furnace And Air Conditioner Of A Mechanical Room

The noise produced by Furnace and Air conditioning system bothers us every day. The main cause of noise generation is the fans and moving parts of those HVAC systems. 

A fast-moving fan creates noise and vibration and penetrates the mechanical room and reaches your bedroom, office room, and so on. We can reduce this frustrating noise by isolating these components. 

Solution 1: Use Isolation Pad 

An isolation pad can absorb vibration produced by the furnace or AC in your mechanical room. 

Installation Guide: 

To install an isolation pad, you need to first lose the screw of your furnace or AC and uninstall the unit from its place. Now cut the isolation pad to the exact measurement that can cover the complete bottom of your furnace or Ac unit. 

Now make some holes so that all the bolts can pass through and then tighten all the screws of your HVAC system to install it. 

Also Read: 8 Easy Ways To Soundproof Furnace Room

Solution 2: Use Vibration Damping Mount

You can also use a vibration-damping mount that is effective to reduce noise generated by a furnace, AC, and other machinery in your mechanical room by reducing the amplitude and frequency of vibration waves. 

A vibration-damping mount can be used in soundproofing air conditioners, air compressors, flushing pumps, generators, etc of your mechanical room. Its rubber shock absorber bracket mounting base can absorb vibration and noise effectively. 

Installation Guide:

You can choose different kinds of vibration damping mounts which are very easy to install. Just screw the vibration-damping mount to the unit and that’s it. 

Solution 3: Wrap The Unit 

Some of the HVAC systems of your mechanical room can be wrapped with some good sound-absorbing materials. This could be an effective noise-reducing solution if you can do this. 

Installation Guide:

The installation is very easy. Just take measurements of your HVAC system and cut the exact size from your sound-damping material to wrap it. 

Note: Make sure not to wrap the ventilation system of your HVAC system otherwise, your HVAC system will not work properly. 

Also Read: Ductwork Makes Noise When Walking [Reasons & Solutions]

Solution 4: Keep The HVAC system Inside A Closet

You can not wrap every machine in your mechanical room with sound-damping material. Some big machines are hard to cover with such type of soundproofing material. 

You can use a dedicated closet to keep those machines inside it. To make this closet make sure its walls are dense, the door should be heavy, and its ceiling and walls are covered with insulation material. 

Don’t forget to seal the unit properly so that air can’t pass through otherwise you will face the noise of your HVAC system in your home. 

Also Read: 7 Effective Ways To Soundproof Furnace Closet

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2. Soundproof Air Duct And Went Coming From The Mechanical Room

Cold air coming from the AC installed in your basement mechanical room is circulated to the entire house through a hollow metal duct. Any noise generated in your mechanical room will circulate to all rooms of your house connected through this duct pipe. 

It means you have to soundproof the air duct and went from inside and outside.

Solution 1: Wrap Duct With Sound absorption Material 

You can cover the outside of your ducts with some good sound-damping materials to minimize the distraction caused by noise traveling through the duct. 

This will minimize the vibration but it can not do anything for the noise traveling inside of the duct. For this, you have to utilize acoustic lining inside the entire duct pipe to minimize the noise in a good manner. 

Note: Here, you should use sound-damping insulation specially designed for duct. These sound-damping insulations are porous in nature and absorb noise effectively.

Also, check the following quality of a sound-damping insulation material before buying it:

• They are made of non-toxic material. 
• Must check if the insulation material is non-inflammable.
• Check if the material comes with water vapor absorption property or not. 
• It must be bacteria resistance. 
• It must be corrosion-resistant.  

Solution 2: Install Duct Silencer Between The Unit And Duct Pipe

If you want more effective noise cancellation in your bedroom, office room, or guest room then you can install a duct silencer between the HVAC unit and ductwork to prevent noise from entering the ductwork. 

This setup is also helpful to prevent personal conservation from one room to another and ensure your privacy. 

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Replace Old And Outdated HVAC System In Your Mechanical Room

Your love for your old HVAC system is not beneficial to you and your family if it is creating an unbearable loud noise. An old system not only generates too much noise but also consumes more electricity from your home.

You have to pay extra money for your electricity bill as well as have to live in a loud environment if you don’t replace it as soon as possible. 

Modern HVAC system comes with improved design and spare parts that are quiet and more energy efficient than the older HVAC system. 

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Conclusion 

Soundproofing a mechanical room is not a tough job, you only need the right guidance and the right tools to make the job done. Even this task is so easy and you don’t need professional help for this. 

If you did some kind of soundproofing earlier or even if you are a novice, you can do this on your own. I personally prefer to use sound-damping materials and insulators to soundproof the HVAC systems in my basement mechanical room. 

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FAQ