Reduce Air Conditioner noise?

[Ariyala]

Hey,

 

I'm a long time lurker here, but figured just lurking isn't enough for my current problem. 
 

I bought a house in the greater Vancouver area recently, a duplex to be precise, that has air conditioning built in. Yay!

 

Unfortunately both exterior AC units (Ameristar M4AC3030C), the one from the front unit as well as the one from the back unit, are both literally right in front of my living room window. 
 

I am not uber bothered by my own, since I can just turn it off when I want some quietness or am in the garden, but sadly I have no control over when the other unit is running or not. 

 

Since they are both standing in my garden, I was wondering what options I may have to reduce the noise output. 
 

I heard there are some sound blankets that can be wrapped around the compressor as well as some fences with sound blankets attached to them. 
 

Does anyone have any more ideas by any chance? Or recommendations for any of those sound blankets?

 

Thank you!

Ari

[atxcyclist]

You would never want to wrap a blanket or anything around a compressor unit, they need airflow to dissipate heat. I realize they sell things that do this, but it would be a really bad idea. Focus on sound-absorbing curtains and sound deadening inside your house, your drywall carries a lot more noise through reverberation than you realize.

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, Ariyala said:

Does anyone have any more ideas by any chance?

Sound proof Windows. They won’t block out all sound but my sister used to live in the landing path of Detroit Metro Airport and it blocked out most of the airplane noises. 

[bondoao1]

As said before, never ever cover your condensing unit or any of it's components (compressor/condenser coil), that would be a very costly mistake.

[Forbidden Wafer]

19 hours ago, Ariyala said:

are both literally right in front of my living room window. 

How far from the window? It can be relevant to choose between reflection/absorption of the noise.
If you have enough space, a reflective surface (e.g. glass panel/brick wall/big rock/something hard) could be enough and you could disguise it as something else.
Is it the compressor and/or the fan and/or vibration you're talking about? If only vibration, putting it on top of a slab on top of high density rubber can solve it.

[Bitter]

Sound is fun stuff. We need to know if the sound is being conducted from the unit into the building structure or if it's just sound that's coming through the air. If it's being conducted then you can isolate the unit with some different mounting options so it doesn't vibrate the building and make noise. If it's just loud then materials can be used to block or deflect sounds. Where is the unit? Is this traditional central AC or a mini-split kind of system?

[BondiBlue]

The best way to lower the noise level in the room next to the units would be to move them somewhere else, though that's likely not an option. Other than that you could look into better windows and insulation, but there's not a lot you could do for noise when outside. 

21 hours ago, Ariyala said:

I heard there are some sound blankets that can be wrapped around the compressor

Those compressor covers actually could make a difference, but it wouldn't likely be a major help if it's right next to the window. 

 

20 hours ago, atxcyclist said:

You would never want to wrap a blanket or anything around a compressor unit, they need airflow to dissipate heat. I realize they sell things that do this, but it would be a really bad idea.

In very hot climates they'd be a problem, but from what I've heard they're not terrible for a compressor unless it's really hot outside for long periods of time. 

[bondoao1]

19 hours ago, BondiBlue said:

The best way to lower the noise level in the room next to the units would be to move them somewhere else, though that's likely not an option. Other than that you could look into better windows and insulation, but there's not a lot you could do for noise when outside. 

Those compressor covers actually could make a difference, but it wouldn't likely be a major help if it's right next to the window. 

 

In very hot climates they'd be a problem, but from what I've heard they're not terrible for a compressor unless it's really hot outside for long periods of time. 

Putting a blanket on a compressor in any climate is a bad idea. With added insulation preventing heat to escape you could easily cause the compressor to go off on thermal overload. 
Do that a few times and it's time for a new compressor, not to mention the possibility of turning the refrigerant acidic causing damaging to other components in the system.

[BondiBlue]

25 minutes ago, bondoao1 said:

Putting a blanket on a compressor in any climate is a bad idea. With added insulation preventing heat to escape you could easily cause the compressor to go off on thermal overload. 
Do that a few times and it's time for a new compressor, not to mention the possibility of turning the refrigerant acidic causing damaging to other components in the system.

I didn't say it wouldn't raise the temperature of the compressor. That's simple physics. 

[bondoao1]

17 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

I didn't say it wouldn't raise the temperature of the compressor. That's simple physics. 

Simple physics or not, if you don't know how something works its best not to make recommendations about it.

[BondiBlue]

2 hours ago, bondoao1 said:

Simple physics or not, if you don't know how something works its best not to make recommendations about it.

I didn't make any recommendations. I simply stated what I know about those covers. 

[Ariyala]

On 8/5/2021 at 12:51 AM, Grumpy Old Man said:

Best way to reduce air conditioner noise is......

  Hide contents

STOP USING AC !!!

 

Well, yeah - obviously. But as I said, I don't control the AC of the other unit. So unless they stop using their AC, I'll have to figure something else out about the sound. 
 

On 8/5/2021 at 6:20 PM, Forbidden Wafer said:

How far from the window? It can be relevant to choose between reflection/absorption of the noise.

About 30-40cm away, so unfortunately really close. 
 

I believe most of the noise I hear is through the air - not vibrations.

[Forbidden Wafer]

7 minutes ago, Ariyala said:

About 30-40cm away, so unfortunately really close. 

Oof. Not sure if there is a good option that will be effective at this distance without impacting the AC.