WINDOW SAVER COMPANY Interior Storm Window Kits

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Acoustical Applications

Rooms facing a playground or a busy street can often benefit from heavier Plexiglas in their Window Savers. Our magnetic system will handle any thickness up to 1/4" with the simple addition of hanging pins to support the extra weight. See "Oversized Windows" in the FAQ section.

By our actual test, standard 1/8" Plexiglas achieves 9.5 db noise reduction. This is equivalent to 45% sound reduction. When 3/16" Plexiglas is used, further reduction to 14 db occurs, equaling a 67.5% reduction. The best acoustical performance is attained by using 1/4" thickness.

To check our figures, we queried two leading manufacturers of acrylic sheet. With a 2" air gap, they reported decibel reductions by frequency, as follows:

Frequency	100 Hz		500 Hz		1000 Hz
Acrylic Thickness	1/8"	1/4"	1/8"	1/4"	1/8"	1/4"
Sound Reduction (db)	11	16	22	26	33	45

A friend of ours is an acoustical engineer (retired) and he accounts for the differences between ours and the manufacturers results in this manner:

1. Our test methods and equipment were primitive.
2. Manufacturers sometimes stretch their data.
3. We are very conservative in our claims.

Please note the good and bad news:

1. Bad news: Your Plexiglas cost will most likely rise in proportion to its increased weight. Second, even heavy Plexiglas can't stop the low-frequency rumble of a truck. It takes a masonry wall to do that.
2. Good news: The noise reduction you will achieve will be almost entirely at the mid-to-high-frequency end of the spectrum. These are the children's squeals and rushing traffic sounds that jangle ones nerves.

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