Absorbing fan noise

[ddunn_home]

I have a large aquarium near my family room. To keep the lights from overheating and mold from growing, I need to run three fans pretty much all the time. My house sounds like a jet airplane.

Is there a recommended acoustic treatment to help cut down on this type of noise? I'm not sure if it's something that should be tackled with base traps or some sort of acoustic foam, or what.

These are three 120mm 70cfm fans rated at 35db. I used some neoprene to stop the fans from vibrating against the stand, so it's fan whine not that buzzy vibration noise. There aren't many fans that are rated at less db for the amount of air I need to move.

Any suggestions on keeping this sound out of the open ended family room? The aquarium is in the entry way which has all hard surfaces (floor, wall, vaulted ceiling). As I move around the house the fan noise peaks and valleys.

Anyway, total newb at this and could use some help on where to start. My wife is highly unlikely to put of with lots of experimentation.

 

[WmAx]

Is there a recommended acoustic treatment to help cut down on this type of noise? I'm not sure if it's something that should be tackled with base traps or some sort of acoustic foam, or what.

You need to provide an illusration of the floor layout and fan locations. The good news: Fans, for the most part, have noise levels primarily limited to higher frequency bands. This is easily absorbed with thin acoustic foam. The bad news: You have to cover the primary reflection points that lead into the room(s) that need to have low noise level(s). Such things placed on the wall(s) can be considered ugly by most people. Depending on your layout, this might require a large amount of materials to be attached to the walls. Perhaps so many, that it is not feasible for you to reduce the noise via this method. Please provide the layout illustration. Nice looking treatments involve high cost(pre-built) or moderate labor(DIY). If cosmetics are not important, you can purchase large quantities of acoustic foam squares from ebay for low cost.The answer me be to install a door or other obstructing device in the doorway.

-Chris

 

[ddunn_home]

Here is a floorplan sketch. Windows are blue. Doors are green. Fireplace is brown. The couch is green and directly across room is the brown entertainment center and the two red tower speakers.

On the right side is the entryway with the blue aquarium and three red fans. The aquarium is in front of an open staircase up to the level above. The entryway has a vaulted ceiling which slopes back at roughly 30 degrees towards the staircase.

I'm trying to imagine where to place absorbing panels to catch the single reflection from fan to the family room area. Other than a couple places where I could place something decorative, it's mostly reflecting off a bunch of small surfaces with closet doors etc. The entire living area is open without doors, so sealing off the family room isn't an option.

Anyway, thanks for the help. I know it can't reach proper home theater type setup, but the fan whine kills any hope of understanding quiet dialog when watching movies after the kids go to bed. And that needs to be fixed.

 

[WmAx]

...Here is a floorplan sketch...

Thank you. You do have a problematic set up!

Any possibility you can find/use lower noise fans?

Here is my solution, which I think you may find unacceptable:

Assuming the fan noise you have is only high frequency(mainly air rushing noise, for example), please refer to my attached image. I used your image and added some items in the color of purple. The units that are solid purple are attached to the walls. The unit that is grey/purple is not a permanent fixture. It is one of those tall, three part decorative folding screens(it must be solid, or you can use 1/4" plywood on one side of it for a backing/blocker). You can attach the acoustic dampening materials to one side. Fold out the panel only when you watch TV, as shown. Not shown, but maybe important, is that you have mounted a dampening panel on the ceiling in the doorway to reduce the ceiling reflections that will breach the screen(the screen is not reaching all the way to the ceiling, but it must reach most of the way). I also assume that the floor has at least a medium to thick carpet and padding. If not, then a small area rug of moderate thickness should be placed in the doorway.

http://www.linaeum.com/images/sounddivider_1.gif

-Chris

 

[ddunn_home]

Thanks. I'll try to set up something temporary like that and see what my wife thinks.

 

[Ainzo]

I will recommend to you to use a ceiling fan because it is not only reducing the heat of using your aquarium, but it also provides a good air ventilation like reducing dirt and others. So I much prepared of using it, definitely, every room in our house has been ceiling fans.

 

[Rickster71]

I have a large aquarium near my family room. To keep the lights from overheating and mold from growing, I need to run three fans pretty much all the time.

I wonder if you shouldn't attack this problem at it's root and take a closer look at the type of lighting.
What type of lighting puts off so much heat that they need cooling fans.
If they are fluorescent ultra violet lights, switching to a fixture with an electronic ballast would drop the temp.

 

[bpape]

If you can't reduce the heat output of the lights, I would first suggest using more, lower speed fans to move the same amount of air.

Bryan

 

[Exit]

I believe fan noise is the kind of steady-state noise that noise canceling headphones can filter out. If you are handy, maybe you could use a low-cost pair of noise-canceling headphones for parts to rig up a noise canceling system. Maybe one speaker by each fan (without a headband) or something along those lines. Some noise canceling headphones are cheap ($10 or less maybe) online at places like slickdeals.net and amazon.com. You could wear the headphones first to be sure they cancel out the fan noise and actually work. I don't know how to set this up myself, but it is a concept someone else may be able to run with. Just a thought.

 

[Alex2507]

I wonder if you shouldn't attack this problem at it's root and ...

... eat the fish.

... what? It's not like I suggested he eat his dog ... like my nephew should have done.

I need to know more about these electronic ballasts. Google here I come.

 

[Rickster71]

I just noticed the OP is from 2005.
By now the fish are probably big enough to pull their trainer into the tank...