Improving acoustics at home

Why improving acoustics is important
Bad acoustics in a class room, living room or office is caused by the lack of soft materials and surfaces, such as carpeting, curtains and furniture. Sound keeps bouncing and reflecting from those surfaces, windows, hard and smooth walls, floors and ceilings. Poor acoustics will eventually cause health issues due to high stress levels and lack of concentration, maybe not at home perse, but it will at work. Gym teachers for example experience bad acoustics on a daily basis and have a higher sick leave than other co-workers in education.

Improve acoustics for better health, more pleasurable stay in a room, higher level of concentration in class room and office and more productivity on the work floor. Good acoustics works!

How to improve acoustics in your home?
To improve room acoustics in any space is to balance out sound reflecting surfaces with sound absorbing surfaces, we call the latter ‘acoustic panels’. Acoustic panels are made of materials developed or adapted to neutralize sound by absorbing it. The answers to the most common questions on how to improve acoustics are simpler than you might think:

Which product is best to improve acoustics?
Thick acoustic panels and products absorb the most frequencies and are therefor the most efficient. The solution however is the amount of sound absorbing panels or products. The dimensions of a room determine how much surface area of acoustic panels is needed.

How many acoustic panels to improve acoustics?
The 'rule of thumb' is a perfect start to improve acoustics in your home. If a room is about of 100 m² than you need to add at least 30 m² of sound absorbing products. In places such as restaurants, pubs and offices this might go up to 60 m². More people equals more sound, equals more acoustic paneling.

Where to place these acoustic panels to improve acoustics?
Acoustic panels should be installed on the first surfaces where sound find reflective surfaces, these are walls and the ceiling. Do NOT mount any product underneath a table or furniture, this is not a sound reflecting surface. Also, these surfaces are to small to install enough sound absorbing products.

Guidelines to improve acoustics
On our tips page you will find an extensive amount of articles that go into more detail about how to improve acoustics.

Reverberation at home: Improving acoustics in your home.
Focused on acoustics in the home: Reverb in the Home.
Offices and workplace: Acoustic improvement at work.

Products that are suitable for improving acoustics in your home