Your home is your sanctuary, it is often where we feel most comfortable, relaxed and at ease. After a long day at work, running errands, or maybe even returning from a trip, there is no better feeling than returning to your home base. However, our homes are filled with noise generating machines. Reducing noise in your home can have many positive benefits for your conversations as well as your overall health and well being.
Unwanted noise can cause stress and sleepless nights, and can also affect our emotional well-being. It’s the invisible enemy that many homeowners simply put up with because they may not know solutions exist. Noise levels in your home can affect conversations, and even the volume you choose to listen to your TV or favorite music. Unconsciously increasing the volume isn’t the answer, as this can lead to overall increase to noise exposure and pose a more significant risk to your hearing health.
What you may not know is how loud your house can be. If you are in a semi-detached home or apartment these sounds can double! Every machine in your home contributes to the ambient noise level. Over time, this constant low level noise can potentially cause harm to your hearing cells. There are ways to test your noise exposure through free apps on iOS and Android phones such as Decibel X, NIOSH Sound Level Meter, and Too Noisy Pro. The best way to curb constant low level noise exposure to soundproof your home. While this sounds like an expensive fix, there are some relatively inexpensive ways to improve the noise levels in your home.
Researchers in the Minneapolis built a room called an Anechoic chamber allowing for complete silence. This room is known as the quietest place on Earth! In our own homes, complete silence is not the goal, rather we’re just looking to dampen the sounds. By following these quick tips and fixes you may find your home quieter than it once was and avoid unnecessary damage to your hearing.
Using heavy fabric as window coverings will reduce the outdoor street noise, as well as act as a sound dampener for sounds produced within the home.
Area rugs, or carpet are another excellent sound insulator. Hardwood can act as a drumhead allowing sounds to reverberate throughout the whole house.
If you do share a wall with your neighbour, it’s best to line the walls with bookshelves and wall decor. The bookcase will dampen the noise further if it’s fully stocked with books, another great sound insulator.
Pictures and Tapestries are another great wall insulator for sound.
The way your furniture is placed can help with sound movement throughout your home. Nowadays, most modern homes are open-concept, however these designs allow sounds to flow freely throughout the whole space with few barriers standing in their way. If your bed or sofa is tucked against an exterior wall or a shared wall, consider moving it to a different wall or slightly inching it away from sitting directly against it.
There are places in our home that contribute to the most noise. The laundry room and the air conditioner. In recent years, laundry rooms have been moved up from the basement and are found on the main floors or near the bedroom. We suggest investing in a soundproof panel for your laundry room door, and potentially even your air conditioner to improve overall ambient sound levels in the house.
Older homes have tons of charm, however sound insulation back in the day wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is today. In addition, depending on your homes age, things may have shifted slightly allowing more airflow and therefor sound to flow freely through cracks and crevices in your home. Here are a few quick fixes around that you can make to provide strong sound insulation for years to come.
Sealing any small opening through which air and noise can enter a room is the cheapest, fastest and most efficient way to block noise. You can test for sound leaks by darkening a room to see where light, and therefore sound seeps in.
As the coronavirus impacts us all, please read how Davidson Hearing Aid Centres is working to create a safe environment for our staff and clients alike. Please note that our policies and office opening may be changing day-to-day as required. Please check back on our website to find the most up to date information.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and certain ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device.
The following Signia product families are compatible with this accessory.
The following Signia product families are compatible with this accessory.
The myHearing app works for all Andoid smartphones (Android 4.4 and newer) and iPhones (iOS version 8 and newer).
Full live remote tuning was tested and works best with the following devices:
• Google Nexus 6P (Android 7.1.1 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S8 – SM-G950F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S8 (USA) – SM-G950U (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 – SM-G930F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 (USA) – SM-G930V (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – SM-G935F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S6 – SM-920I (Android 6.0.1 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – SM-G925F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S5 – SM-G900F (Android 6.0.1 or higher)
The functionality of myControl App was tested and works best with the following Android devices:
• Google Nexus 6P (Android 7.1.1 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S8 – SM-G950F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S8 (USA) – SM-G950U (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 – SM-G930F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 (USA) – SM-G930V (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – SM-G935F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S6 – SM-920I (Android 6.0.1 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – SM-G925F (Android 7.0 or higher)
• Samsung Galaxy S5 – SM-G900F (Android 6.0.1 or higher)
This app can be used with any hearing aids as a guide for your first fit. The following Signia product families offer full conferencing with your professional as well as access to the full range of programming adjustments.
The following Signia product families offer a more limited range of fine tuning adjustments.
The following Signia product families are compatible with this accessory.
The following Signia product families are compatible with this accessory.
The following Widex product families are compatible with this accessory.
*Please note that the mini CIC’s are not wireless and will not function with these devices.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and certain ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device. Not compatible with the Audeo B-Direct.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and certain ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device. Not compatible with the Audeo B-Direct or the Audeo Q-10 products.
*Please note that the Audeo B-Direct, Virto B-Ti, or the Virto nano IIC are not compatible with this product.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and certain ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device. Not compatible with the Audeo B-Direct or the Audeo Q-10 products.
The following ReSound product families are compatible with this accessory.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and certain MIH and ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device.
The following ReSound product families are compatible with this accessory.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and many ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device.
The following ReSound product families are compatible with this accessory.
*Please note that it must be a wireless model. Many of the smaller custom products, including CIC and many ITC are not wireless and will not function with this device.
RC-DEX is designed for basic and easy wireless remote control of your hearing aids.