Going through our deep energy retrofit in phases has allowed us to fine tune along the way where needed.
One example is the ventilation closet, which on the 1st and 2nd floor borders along the bedroom. On the 1st floor the access doors to the ventilation closet are on the bedroom side. To better manage the little noise the ERV emits, we shifted the access doors for the 2nd floor ventilation closet to the living room side.
But the sound management doesn’t have to end here. We can further soundproof the wall between the ventilation closet and bedroom with the magic material I alluded to in my last post: rock wool.
I started the process before we installed the ceiling drywall by blocking the small attic space. That should prevent most of the ERV noise from travelling across the bedroom ceiling. The next step was to fill the wall framing cavities.
The beauty of rock wool is that it doesn’t only provide sound insulation, but also excellent fire protection and thermal insulation. We used rock wool for these latter two properties in the ceilings and all exterior walls. But for the wall between the bedroom and ventilation closet, we were mostly after its sound insulation properties.