Extreme sound issue in the grow room, urgent :/

Hey guys,
I have finally set up my entire grow room, and once I plugged everything in, the combined sound of my ballasts, fans, air pumps and ac is deafening. Even with the door closed I can hear it 20 feet away, so the neighbors must think a jet engine is next door. I also bought my clones already, spent $180 and really don't want them to die before I solve this problem. So my question is, can I do something simple like line the walls and ceiling with MLV or something cheaper? I need to figure this out asap as I don't want to lose my clones. Thanks a bunch!

A duct muffler and insulated ducting is an absolute must. The rest of the stuff is pretty much impossible to do anything about, so you'll want to use sound board and probably foam to reduce the noise that does escape the room.

I use a small Homedics SoundSpa because the constant ambient noise blends in nicely with the noise in the room. With the bird setting it sounds like a waterfall. With the rain setting it sounds like pouring rain on the roof. It makes for an easy excuse at least.

"What's all that wooshing sounds and those tropical birds?"
"Oh it is this SoundSpa I got that creates ambient noise to help me sleep, I'm surprised you can hear it..."

Stupid neighbors.

Thanks for your reply dude.

I'm gonna have to line my walls and ceiling with some soundproofing material, that seems to be the only solution; because muffling each appliance would be impossible. What do you recommend I buy at the hardware store? Homasote, egg crate foam, etc.? Thanks.

Id go woth egg cartons man, like a sound studio, than carefully staple white/black poly to it, should stay up? I find my ballasts and fan are the worst. I have placed my fan in a suspended cardboard box filled with thick blankets, cut holes for each duct. Also you can build a ballast box, measure it out and line it again with egg cartons. Use a small 4 inch fan for exhaust and open up the front for intake. You wil cut noise down by at least 70% or more. I know by experience. GL man!

make sure your fans and everything are not touching the exterior walls. You can get a dimmer (buy a good one not the 35 dollar ones at a grow shop) it slow your fan down and make it much quieter. Foam on the walls will kill a lot of low level noise...Let us know. JR

yeah fans are self cooled so np sealing them but the ballasts get hot, be careful, may wanna run a freash/cool intake. Just a couple tricks I know of.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

My inline fan is hanging and actually isn't that bad when connected to the ducting and carbon filter. I have my ballasts in the closet, sitting on top of an upside-down china bowl on top of clothes, with the closet door closed. That seemed to be okay, but do you think it will get too hot in the closet?

The main noise for me is the ac unit, which is sitting on some books on the ground, and shakes the hardwood pretty good. Also the steady drone from the air pumps is annoying as shit. And everything in the room combined just manages to sound like an orchestra. Looks like I'll be sticking foam all along the walls and ceiling and pray for the best!

sexbobomb said:

The main noise for me is the ac unit, which is sitting on some books on the ground, and shakes the hardwood pretty good. Also the steady drone from the air pumps is annoying as shit. And everything in the room combined just manages to sound like an orchestra. Looks like I'll be sticking foam all along the walls and ceiling and pray for the best!

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Grab some elasticated bungee cords and rig the AC unit to the ceiling with them. Then use another cord connected to the ground or wall to stop it spinning. It works really, really well on a small scale with my PC fans and I see no reason why it wouldn't significantly reduce noise from your AC unit. Low-frequency resonance is quite easy to combat with lots of bungee cords but you'll struggle to get rid of high-frequency noise from the motors and ballasts - that's where your other soundproofing methods come in.

Be careful trying to soundproof your grow room, you'll more than likely trap in heat as well. If you need silence in the house, you may need to consider growing outdoors.

Are you in an apartment? If so, maybe not the best idea. If you are in an apartment I suggest using some kind of system to keep your noisemakers from touching any walls or floors- rubber straps and pads, a duct muffler, and sound dampening material on the walls. An apartment seems ridiculously risky. If not, you should see how loud it is outside. My room is making some serious noise, but outside it is no big deal, no way my neighbors hear anything. Be safe.

one would be amazed what layers of panda plastic and ordinary blankets muffle out...especially when they have a small air gaps in the layers.
ever consider making a box in a box as it were? give up some square footage for multiple dead air pockets.
pretty damn cheap really. heat is indeed the trade off...dead air insulates damn near everything.

I actually like to hear my equipment humming along... it's piece of mind knowing that everything is working.

My fan is only thing that makes any humming noise. It is on the exterior wall but I dont have many other options for it. But I have something under it to muffle the noise some so its not near as loud. Where there is a will there is a way

ChubbySoap said:

one would be amazed what layers of panda plastic and ordinary blankets muffle out...especially when they have a small air gaps in the layers.
ever consider making a box in a box as it were? give up some square footage for multiple dead air pockets.
pretty damn cheap really. heat is indeed the trade off...dead air insulates damn near everything.

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Does'nt having all that "air" trapped between blankets and plastic create a excellent home for bugs, mold, fungus, at best.....at worst its like nice fuel to realy help a fire take hold????? Dude go buy so concrete board and seal it up....Grows make noise...also like serapis said...its good to hear your stuff running especialy the fan. Also...get something better than a bowl and a pile of laundry to hold your ballast.
good luck

im gonna have to figure out the same shit

i had some noise issues myself w my fan making a shit ton of noise.. i got myself one of those speed controllers, and run it a lil more than low speed, and you'd be suprised how quiet that alone got it.. i'm also waiting for my duct muffler to arrive as it was on back order..
there is an excellent thread on here too called something like, shhh, the neighbors can hear you, the noise control thread and it has a ton of good pointers and tips..

racerboy71 said:

i had some noise issues myself w my fan making a shit ton of noise.. i got myself one of those speed controllers, and run it a lil more than low speed, and you'd be suprised how quiet that alone got it.. i'm also waiting for my duct muffler to arrive as it was on back order..
there is an excellent thread on here too called something like, shhh, the neighbors can hear you, the noise control thread and it has a ton of good pointers and tips..

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I heard this advice before and I wasted my money on a fan controller thinking it'd actually make a difference.

Doesn't work.

Sure, as you set it to low you get less of the "woosh" of the air, but the fan itself begins making more noise, a kind of gentle hum.

So then you're moving less air AND making amount as many decibels.
I use my fan controller more for temp control than sound.

If you want a quieter fan the muffler and insulated ducting, while mounting the fan with bungee cords, is the only way.

appreciate the info

digital ballasts are silent but they're not cheap. the humming of a magnetic is really not all that bad though. all my noise comes from my exhaust fan. its about as loud as a bathroom exhaust fan. probably the same thing. if your hydro shit makes too much noise then maybe sell it and switch to soil. i wouldnt worry about circulation fans. lot of people use them on a daily basis. could find out which brands are quieter and replace them. but the only real loud noise should be the exhaust fan. htg supply is an awesome and well known company. i've spend over $1000 on them over the past year. im sure their mufflers are top notch http://htgsupply.com/Category-Duct-Mufflers.asp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK_HiaAOr5o&feature=player_embedded