If you live near a busy road, railway line or under a flight path you might wish to use glass to reduce the noise to an acceptable level. There are various ways this can be achieved depending on the reduction required including the use of specially developed laminated glass. Fitting new insulating glass units is an opportunity to improve the noise levels in the home.

Most new windows can be expected to seal out draughts much better than the original windows. A good air seal can make a marked improvement to noise levels. Two panes of glass do not necessarily improve the acoustics because of sympathetic resonance between the panes but by selecting the glass to have different thicknesses can make further improvements.

Not every window can accept thick glass to reduce noise so NSG Group make Pilkington Optiphon™ glass that can achieve superior performance whilst keeping the thickness and weight of the glass down.

A common mistake when selecting the acoustic performance is to try and reduce ambient noise to zero. Even in a bedroom there should be a level of background noise otherwise other sounds within the house like central heating pumps can become intrusive.