NRC is dependent on thickness and density. But before you go rushing out to buy some rockwool, it’s worth understanding this in more detail. ![]() The rest either passes through or reflects back to the source.Īn NRC of 1.0 means perfect sound absorption. It translates to a percentage of sound absorbed meaning a material with an NRC of 0.6 absorbs 60% of a sound wave’s energy. This is a scale from 0.0 to 1.0 that measures a material’s ability to absorb sound waves. We’ll start with NRC, which stands for noise reduction coefficient. It’s worth breaking some of these down to understand why they’re relevant to soundproofing. Here’s a handy comparison chart so you can see these differences clearly. But there are some important differences worth considering. Of course, both products are fairly similar in terms of construction and use. Their open structure and density are fairly effective at absorbing sound waves, which is useful in wall cavities. In short, both glass wool and rock wool help with soundproofing on the opposite basis of how they help with thermal insulation. In this situation, density is less of a consideration because a denser material has more mass to vibrate. Note, however, this is for soundproofing rather than acoustic management. This is because its fluffy insulation is low density, meaning it’s harder for sound waves to vibrate through it. Importantly, though, fiberglass is better from a soundproofing perspective. ![]() Acoustic foam is probably the best example of a specific soundproofing product. Materials with an open structure are useful for absorbing sound waves. Sound absorption happens when sound waves enter a material and expend some (or all) of their energy trying to make the particles vibrate. ![]() Glass wool and rock wool both rely, to different extents, on absorption. Of course, we’re not interested in their thermal conduction properties, but rather their acoustic insulation properties.Īs you may already know, soundproofing works on several core principles, including: They work by trapping small pockets of air between the fibers, and this is what provides the thermal insulation itself.Ĭompared to solids, gasses have very poor thermal conduction, making them great insulators. Importantly, both of these products are primarily thermal insulators. Much like glass wool, the rock is spun into strands (like cotton candy) and then bound into sheets. ![]() But instead of glass, it’s made from spun stone or silica. Rockwool, also known as mineral wool, is essentially the same product. Thin layers are pressed together into a bigger sheet for greater strength and stability. Simply put, glass wool insulation is made from glass that’s been spun into fibers and then formed into sheets using a binding agent. You’ve probably just realized that you’ve heard of this product, as it appears in most homes and DIY stores. Glass wool is also known as fiberglass insulation. To understand their uses in soundproofing projects, it’s first helpful to understand exactly what these products are. Hopefully, by the end, you’ll understand why one is much better than the other. In this article, I’ll go through the important differences between glasswool and rockwool, and how this impacts their use for soundproofing.
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