Sound Absorption and Acoustical Panel FAQ's

Quietnest acoustic panels will improve your at-home office experience by reducing noise and distractions, allowing you to focus on the tasks that matter to you most.

WHY ACOUSTIC PANELS IMPROVE YOUR LIFE

Most rooms suffer from poor acoustics. Sound bounces off hard surfaces - like glass, drywall, and hardwood flooring - creating echoes. These echoes then bounce off other surfaces, combine and distort into a mess of sound known as reverberation.

Echoes and reverberation interfere with the normal sounds in a room, making it difficult to hear conversation and music.

Hard reflective surfaces are the main trouble-makers: Windows, bare walls, exposed flooring, glass furniture. A typical meeting room with a wall of windows on one side and a whiteboard on the other is practically an echo chamber.

Acoustic panels absorb this extra sound.

Our panels "trap" the echoes and reverberations, leaving the sounds you care about clearer and easier to hear. Home offices, boardrooms, home theatres, and shared or communal spaces will all be made more pleasant and comfortable with the addition of acoustic panels.

What makes Quietnest panels so special?

Quietnest panels are sustainable, biodegradable, all-natural, and locally manufactured. They are easy to mount, durable, and offer superior quality to those cheap and toxic plastic knock offs. We use wool, which is a natural air purifier, inherently fire retardant, contributes to LEED, is safe to produce, and is sustainable!

We take pride in offer a renewable resource that increases the quality of your work environment.

DETERMINING NUMBER OF PANELS

How many acoustic panels do I need in my room?

Although it depends greatly on a number of factors, there are some general guidelines to achieve optimal acoustics in your space. Essentially, the larger and more hard surfaces in the room, the more acoustic panels required. Our goal is to achieve a 0.40 to 0.60 seconds reverberation time at 1000Hz.

However, even partial coverage can see exponential acoustic improvements. We recommend setting up panels in sets of 4 in 'noisy' areas, generally starting with 8-12 panels.

Home Office - Bedroom: a 10'x10'x9'high carpeted home office with bare drywalls, and one large window would see exponential acoustic improvements with 8-12 strategically placed panels placed. However, to achieve optimal scientific results, 36sq.ft of acoustic coverage is required, (that is, around 12-36 panels).

Home Office - Basement: a 15'x12'x8'high basement, with concrete floors, basic ceiling tiles, and painted concrete block walls would see exponential acoustic improvements with 16-24 strategically placed panels. However, to achieve optimal scientific results, 44sq.ft of acoustic coverage is required, (that is, around 44 panels).

Home Office - Living Room: a 15'x15'x9'high converted living room, with 50% hardwood floors and 50% carpet, drywall walls/ceilings, and windows, would see exponential acoustic improvements with 24-36 strategically placed panels. However, to achieve optimal scientific results, 108sq.ft of acoustic coverage is required, (that is, around 108 panels).

Where should I place the panels in the room?

In general,the location of placed panels in the room is not critical. You may place them where you think they look most pleasant. However, you'll need slightly fewer panels in your room if you place some of them in or near corners. The most important thing is simply to get the total square footage of panels into the room. No matter where you place them, the panels will soak up the extra sound that is bouncing off every surface in the room.

Second, if there is a primary source of sound in the room, such as speakers, it's a good idea to place panels at first reflection points. These are places where the sound can come from the source, bounce (so place your panel here!), and reach the listener. For example, on the side walls of a listening room approximately midway between the listener and the speakers, because the sound that reaches the listener after traveling an indirect path arrives just a little later than sound that came directly. This means your brain has to sort out multiple copies of the same sound, making things sound less clear and making speech more difficult to understand. Adding panels at the first reflection points reduces the late-arriving sound so your brain can focus on one clear copy of the sound.

How do you clean Quietnest panels?

Cleaning of the panels isn't required often, but perhaps every few months a light vacuum is all that is needed.

INSTALLATION

Standard installation is very easy. Each panel comes with adhesive pads that allow you simply peel-and-stick. However, there are alternative methods of installation as described below:

Can I cut the Quietnest panels?
Yes. Just keep in mind that if you are going to cut them down to size to use a straight edge.

Can I custom order sizes?
No, not unless the quantity is quite significant. Because we mass produce to keep costs down, making small runs of custom panels is difficult. Please consult our sales associate should you have a special need.

Can I hang Quietnest panels like an acoustic cloud on my ceiling?

We recommend installing the Quietnest panels on walls only. The adhesives included are meant to allow for adjustment on walls and are not strong enough to hold on a ceiling long-term.

I have heard that some acoustic panels emit a smell.
Not Quietnest panels! We make our panels locally in Mississauga, ON, and use all natural, sustainable sheep's wool. Our panels are made from organic material, and therefore do not 'off-gas' like all those mass produced chinese acoustic materials. If there is a slight odour (likely from shipping), it will dissipate in a few days.

I'm allergic to wool, can I still have Quietnest Panels in my home?
Although wool allergens are quite rare, most people who are allergic to wool are actually irritated by the large fibres of wool on their skin, or the dander and dust that are captured in wool sweaters, instead of the actual wool itself. Additionally, people who are allergic to wool are often unbothered by the ultrafine wool, with one study supporting that merino wool actually produced less irritation in infants than cotton clothing! Plus, our panels are manufactured so as to not release fibres.