Sound Proofing Recessed Lighting to RW38

Sound Proofing Recessed Lighting for RW34 & 38

Sound Proofing recessed lighting for RW34 installations is possible, and doubling up (Stacking) the downlight cover can assist in achieving RW38. There are “official” tests in the industry that require the testing of downlight barriers for the commercial industry in a scenario where a concrete slab is the fitting.  There is no actual test focusing primarily on the soundproofing capabilities of a fitting or downlight cover available in the industry other than our testing which tries to prove that our products can maintain sound proofing when downlights are specified to be installed in a dwelling.

We undertook some testing in insertion loss and transmission loss and compared these tests with products available in the market.

• Testing with a Basic Fitting (No cover installed/Perforated Tin Can installed)
• Testing with no downlight installed (No hole in plaster)
• Testing with a traditional Plastic Downlight cover
• Testing with Basic Mitt and Halogen Mitt (Ventilated and non-ventilated Tighthouse Product)

What do the different test results represent?

Imagine you have two spaces, so in a downlight installation scenario, you have a ceiling cavity or Loft (We’ll call this space A) and the receiving room/Living area below the ceiling cavity (We’ll call that space B).

Transmission Loss is the difference of the noise level between Space A to Space B. This difference is a result of all the building elements you are testing through (i.e. the ceiling, the light, the downlight cover, etc.). So, think of Transmission Loss as the comparison of noise between 2 different spaces.

Insertion Loss is the difference to the noise level in Space B only after you change something. (i.e. before you add a cover and after you add a cover, what is the difference?). So, think of Insertion Loss as the comparison of with and without a downlight cover.

The conclusion from our ViPAC report.

The Downlight Mitt and Basic Mitt with a 90mm gimble downlight perform very similarly to 16mm fire rated plasterboard at frequencies above 500Hz.  The difference in weighted sound reduction between no downlight installed at all and a gimble fitting installed with both our covers was 1dB.

To Achieve RW38+CTR 2 of our downlight covers must be stacked on top of each other.  We strongly recommend using an IC rated fitting to achieve this level of sound proofing.

If you are looking for a product to help you achieve an RW34 or 38 +CTR installations of our Speaker Mitt and Small Basic covers are the product you are looking for.