Acoustic ceiling panels come in many forms and serve various use cases, making it difficult to determine which one is right for your space. Let’s review some examples of acoustic panels and the environments in which they work best.
Acoustic Drop Ceilings
The most common type of acoustic ceiling tiles you’ll find are installed in drop ceilings. It’s important to note, however, that not every drop ceiling tile is an acoustic tile. Acoustical tiles are designed specifically to absorb sound, while standard ceiling tiles aren’t created for that purpose. Drop ceilings are common in offices, classrooms, and other rooms with lower ceilings but extensive infrastructure. Utilities like electrical wiring, internet cables, and plumbing fixtures can all be hidden behind them for aesthetics, but they are still easy to access for repairs. Since many buildings that need acoustical ceilings already have drop ceilings installed, a common design for them works with existing drop ceiling systems. This makes drop ceiling acoustical panels the most budget-friendly option for many commercial spaces. For these spaces, acoustic panels are generally created to absorb sound and keep it from echoing within a room or leaving the room.
To determine which ceilings work best in preventing sound transmission, consider their CAC rating. CAC stands for ceiling attenuation class, and it should exceed a rating of 35 to properly prevent noise transmission between rooms.
Drop ceilings aren’t notable for their beauty or elegance, but you can find designs and colors that can suit your aesthetics. So, for commercial spaces with pre-existing drop ceilings or spaces where you need to access utilities in the ceiling, you can’t get a better value than acoustic drop ceiling panels. In almost every situation, the impact that acoustic drop ceilings have on productivity and noise in an office, hallway, or learning environment far outweighs the issues some take with their appearance.
Panels and Other Form Factors
Acoustic ceiling panels differ from tiles in that they can be mounted without a full-coverage support structure, such as drop ceilings. Instead, panels often have their own mounting equipment, which is created to optimize their sound-damping effects in a space. Panels are commonly fabric wrapped or made of materials like wood or metal, and they look quite different from drop ceiling tiles. These panels are best suited for environments with high ceilings, such as auditoriums, theaters, or gymnasiums. While these areas are also prone to issues with echoes, they’re often large enough to stop noise transmission to other rooms.
In big environments, you need to be aware of an acoustic panel’s NRC or noise reduction coefficient, which should exceed .60 at the bare minimum. Higher NRC ratings indicate better echo and noise reduction, resulting in more pleasant-sounding spaces.
Choose the Right Acoustic Panels
Acoustic panels for ceilings come in many shapes and sizes, and they often don’t fill a space like a drop ceiling would. Instead, they need to be installed strategically by experts to ensure that they’re doing their job correctly in a given area.
No matter what type of acoustic ceiling solution you need for your commercial space, you are going to want expert installation. Call Ozburn-Hessey today, where we’ve got decades of experience installing acoustic ceilings across the Nashville region.
