My recent activity has been driven by my intent to get to the electrical installation. The last framing item that was standing in the way was the ventilation closet, because of its access doors and the issue of sound management.
To understand the decision making process, let’s look back at the 1st floor ventilation closet, which is directly underneath the 2nd floor closet and about the same size. But the access doors to the closet are on the bedroom side.
Our rationale was that in addition to accommodating the ERV, the ventilation closet would have additional shelf space for clothing and linens. The one drawback was the noise issue when the ERV was running. And it should run during the night hours when you are sleeping, at least during the heating season.
Don’t get me wrong, the ERV doesn’t make a lot of noise. It actually runs very quietly. And most folks would probably think of it as white noise. Nevertheless, the noise could be eliminated – or more accurately – shifted from bedroom to the living room. Because no one would be sleeping in the living room, the little noise the ERV would make wouldn’t bother anyone.
With that lesson learned, I was posed to place the access door to the 2nd floor ventilation closet on the living room side. And once I had scored two very nice salvaged oak doors from the ReUse Depot, I was finally ready to finish up the framing.
I will write more about additional sound management efforts for the ventilation closet in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!