I can hear grow room up in my living room. What can I do?

Meast21

Well-Known Member
My fresh air return is at 56 dB it doesn't sound like much but it accumulates over time. Got it from concussion. I hear ya, I have a sunshine basement so the winter is the only time i have real issues with furnace, wake up and my ears are screaming. I used to turn the heat down to 61 just so I don't have to listen to it all night. That changed when I rerouted two of my ducts into grow room, now I gotta keep my girls warm, lol. It sucks but that's the least of my problems.
Thinking about re routing my one duct that runs 3 feet and is loud as fuck to my other part of the living room which would now run prob closer to 20 feet and covering up the old duct so the furnace isnt' in my ear.... My question is I want to convert the 8" duct off the furnace into a 6" duct bc my basement is tight. Will this cause less air to come up to my living room bc of the smaller duct??
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member

Comes in different thicknesses and densities, stuff for lofts is pliable so you can wrap it round stuff.
@coreywebster my buddy said he will relocate the duct 18 feet across the room which should quiet the room and will charge me $250... Like I said and have a pic of the duct that is loud runs only 3 feet and is the loudest all the other ducts run at least 15 feet and you hear more of a air noise and not the damn loud furnace. I think relocating the duct and covering up the old one will reduce the noise??
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
It's worth a shot. I also put a storage bin up against where the vent is, it covers the vent but still allows air flow from sides. Reduced noise by a good bit.
I take it you're nets are on the wall?? Did you drill any holes into the bin? My vents are on the floor so I would prob have to drill a hole or 2 into the bin I guess?
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Holy shit you guys are the best with all those answers, I guess everyone is bored with this lockdown...I'm prob gonna skip doing all of that bc it really isnt bad. The problem with my hearing is I have re-active tinnitus and my buzzing in my head goes up with noise. Stuff like the tv being on, furnace turning on, etc.. My next question is there a way to reduce noise when the furnace comes on?? My house is very small and the duct that runs from the living room to the vent is literally a 3 foot right angle (pictured). Is there a wrapping on anything simple that would reduce the noise some?
It is hard to see what is going on exactly in this picture but I install residential hvac for a living. Lets see a few pictures of the whole system, an explanation of what’s happening and I can help with how to correct the problem

to me the first issue is that duct is taken off the end cap of the system, but there is also another duct off the end cap. There could be a lot going on with how it was designed and installed so a real run down of your whole duct system would help before making any decisions on re routing duct for noise.

that wrap stuff will not help the noise at all, that is for stuff like drain pipes so you can’t hear trickling through the wall when you flush a toilet as loud. If you were to put that around the ducT, all the sound still carries through
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
It is hard to see what is going on exactly in this picture but I install residential hvac for a living. Lets see a few pictures of the whole system, an explanation of what’s happening and I can help with how to correct the problem

to me the first issue is that duct is taken off the end cap of the system, but there is also another duct off the end cap. There could be a lot going on with how it was designed and installed so a real run down of your whole duct system would help before making any decisions on re routing duct for noise.

that wrap stuff will not help the noise at all, that is for stuff like drain pipes so you can’t hear trickling through the wall when you flush a toilet as loud. If you were to put that around the ducT, all the sound still carries through
Message #22 on this thread has a pic of the ducting running 3 feet and being a right angle... Could the blower just be loud for some reason?

Tons of air comes out that duct to because its only 3 feet long.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Message #22 on this thread has a pic of the ducting running 3 feet and being a right angle... Could the blower just be loud for some reason?

Tons of air comes out that duct to because its only 3 feet long.
its not that it's 3 feet long, it's that it may be very close to your furnace/air handler and it is also took off the end cap of the system. The end of a trunk line is supposed to be capped so there is back pressure, but moving a duct may not be helpful because it may cause problems somewhere else, so it is good to have an overview of the entire system before moving things around
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
its not that it's 3 feet long, it's that it may be very close to your furnace/air handler and it is also took off the end cap of the system. The end of a trunk line is supposed to be capped so there is back pressure, but moving a duct may not be helpful because it may cause problems somewhere else, so it is good to have an overview of the entire system before moving things around
What do you want to know?
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
its not that it's 3 feet long, it's that it may be very close to your furnace/air handler and it is also took off the end cap of the system. The end of a trunk line is supposed to be capped so there is back pressure, but moving a duct may not be helpful because it may cause problems somewhere else, so it is good to have an overview of the entire system before moving things around
Yeah it is right next to my furnace thats why the duct only runs 3 feet.
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
When i got central air 2 years ago and a new furnace, he didn't move anything around.. He did a great job, but he didn't sit there and try to make my system balanced and perfectly efficient.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
I just need some pictures of the system and a description of your plan and I can help

just trying to help a fellow save a couple bux!
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Thinking about re routing my one duct that runs 3 feet and is loud as fuck to my other part of the living room which would now run prob closer to 20 feet and covering up the old duct so the furnace isnt' in my ear.... My question is I want to convert the 8" duct off the furnace into a 6" duct bc my basement is tight. Will this cause less air to come up to my living room bc of the smaller duct??
6” will deliver about half the air as an 8” duct you don’t want to try this
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
Thanks. First pic is the pic of the right angle duct that runs 3 feet right up to the living room next to me. By far the loudest duct in my house I'm guessing bc its by far the shortest... I plan on movie the right angle duct (wrapped in the white stuff) 20 feet west I guess. Is there any difference in using the metal ducts ( not flexible) vs the flexible ducts??
 

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Meast21

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When I got the new furnace 2 years ago did it prob come with a new blower? Maybe the blower is too big??
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
The furnace could have been oversized, but since it is there already now you just wanna make some adjustments to your system to reduce noise and not reduce your comfort..

the system was well installed for an older system

So on that first pic, the ducts come out ... what is the one on the right for and how far away does it run?
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
My house is very small and I got the smallest furnace. Also there are 2 short ducts coming out of the furnace blowing cold air into the basement... The 8" circular duct on the right runs about 20 feet and then goes from a circular duct to a small rectangle one.

Can you please answer my previous questions from a few posts back?
 

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Nizza

Well-Known Member
In order to change blower speeds you should be referring to the manual for heating because if you don’t keep that heat exchanger the correct temp it can crack.

this can also happen from poorly designed systems

I am trying to figure out your plan but it’s tough to see from the pictures
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Typically with newer installs we line the main plenum off the top of the furnace to help with noise, as well as the return drop with sound dampening material. This is either fiberglass acoustical duct liner or rubber acoustical liner

since this is an old install something else would be more appropriate . I would consider taking a 10” pipe off that first picture out 10’ , or to save 2” headspace run 12x8 rectangular. If you want to increase that a little and line that with sound material.

just separating it from the system a little will help a lot, as well as eliminating the pipes off the cap.. but the way the whole system was installed it may now just push that air somewhere else because of lack of back Pressure. If it is a small enough house it may cost 2-4K to redo, with a brand new insulated system

it would suck to fix the one problem only to create a new one somewhere else
 
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