Traffic noise from bedroom air vent

I have a problem with traffic noise coming from the air vent in the bedroom.
The road is the concrete ridged type rather than tarmac which makes a lot of noise and the gap between our house and the next one has an echo effect which amplifies the noise even more.

I don't want to block up the vent so is there anything you can buy to dampen the noise but not not restrict the air flow?

I experienced the same noise whilst living in a flat beside a busy city-centre street. I bought a charcoal filter (for a deep-fat fryer or extractor fan) and cut a few pieces to fit the hole in the wall behind the vent. It sort of helped with the noise, deadening it slightly. It did help especially to prevent the draught coming through however, without affecting the ventilation aspect, resulting in a cosier room.

Was thinking of something like that alright but wasn't sure of the possible health and safety implications...

Would putting an angled cover outside be another option - e.g. one that slopes away from the source of the noise/echo but still leaves the vent to do its job?

The problem with that is that sometimes the final rendering is done after the cover is up, so it's basically cemented to the wall.

I'm talking about a "post construction" modification.

I used expanding foam in mine and it's breathable, did this mainly for the cold draft, my room is warm now

I used expanding foam in mine and it's breathable, did this mainly for the cold draft, my room is warm now

Click to expand...

I put in an empty kitchen roll holder in the centre and blocked the rest of it with expanding foam, effectively reducing the width of the air hole to the width of a kitchen roll holder !

why not fit a hit and miss vent internally and close it at night.

Thanks for the advice, i think i might try the extractor fan filter idea, sounds good...

dieseldave said:

I used expanding foam in mine and it's breathable, did this mainly for the cold draft, my room is warm now

Click to expand...

I posted recently looking for a similar solution to my sitting room vent. My problem is noise rather than draughts.
The expanding foam sounds perfect. Would this be breathable enough to allow the vent to work? I wouldn't like to upset Duncan.

To be honest I don't think so, there isn't enough airflow but what Havealaugh said about the kitchenroll is a good idea, it would be a smaller hole reducing niose but allowing some airflow, I'm sure Duncan wouldn't hold it against you!

Deadwood,

Hope you havent a gas fire in the livingroom, or you may live up to your name if you block or restrict that vent opening!