Part 2: RESULTS of quieting a water heater direct vent exhaust with muffler

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Published 2020-12-07

This part two of my video, shows the results of installing a muffler/resonator in your direct vent exhaust - dropping the decibels (dB) from 70.5dB to 47.9dB on the outside! This was where all the noise was coming from - for us inside the house on the second story and for neighbors. In the basement it really didn't change the noise much: from 62.5dB to 58.4dB.

I used an app on my phone called "Sound Meter" to measure the sound from 3 feet away, for 30 seconds to get the average. When I measured it first (with the resonator in, I was a bit lower and it measured 52.3dB. When I took the resonator out, it was 70.dB. When I reinstalled it, and measured it again from from 3 feet away about 6"-12" (inches) above the vent, it registered 47.9dB - really quiet!

In just over a week, I had forgotten just how noisy this thing was without the muffler!! Hope this helps to to make your own resonator and install it!

All Comments (7)

@robertklacza1160 3 years ago

WOW !! Over 20 dB reduction in noise !! What a fantastic result !!!! I am going to try to duplicate this on my NOISY HOT WATER HEATER EXHAUST FAN !!!!! Thank you again for posting this video on youtube.com/ !!!!!!!
@003Notloc 5 months ago

@justayoutuber1906 Do you live in a cold climate and, if so, have you had any issues with condensation? I would like to try this but am concerned condensation would build up inside the pipe.
@ericduvall2459 3 years ago

I was contemplating putting one of these in to replace a atmospheric vent/chimney HWH in preparation for moving the entire HVAC system to high efficiency but now I’m second guessing my decision. We live in a very old neighborhood where the houses are close and people are very opinionated. I don’t see noise like this being accepted very long. Is this so loud because the installation was incorrect? If done correctly with the right size PVC, would it not be this loud? I didn’t expect any noise so reading and hearing videos is making me think of electric or trying the go the route of a liner in the chimney and sticking with atmospheric venting.
@incognitotorpedo42 2 years ago

Thanks for posting this. That's a huge improvement! I got here from your previous video where you made the suppressor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB1sxsmz3Vk I have a power vent water heater, and plumbed it with 2" pipe. The noise is not too bad, but yours sounds quieter with the suppressor.
@trinito97 3 years ago

Where do buy the resonator?
@adamyenser 2 years ago

Lame. No wonder you are only quieting direct vent water heaters in backwater towns.