Achieving acoustic comfort in the kitchen helps improve well-being and quality of life.
Discover top tips, trends and innovative appliances like Schweigen silent rangehoods to help your clients reclaim the hub of their home.
Investing in a kitchen makeover can be daunting, especially if your client is about to undertake their first kitchen renovation. There are many details to consider in perfecting a mix of form and function – with one important design aspect gaining attention.
Noise has become a major bugbear, especially in increasingly sealed and shared spaces repurposed for work and study at home.
Whilst kitchens have traditionally been the noisiest space at home, it doesn’t have to be any longer – not if leading interior designers and appliance manufacturers have anything to say about it. Modern kitchens can become more conducive spaces for family interaction and socialising with these practical design considerations:
1) False Ceilings & Bulkheads
On top of increasing energy-efficiency of homes by reducing the volume of space that needs to be heated or cooled, false ceilings and bulkheads can also break up large voids and reduce echoes, especially with sound absorption materials like acoustic panels.
This also gives homeowners opportunity to install ceiling cassette rangehoods that integrate flush into the ceiling cavity or bulkhead – where one was not feasible before. Products like Schweigen’s silent ceiling cassette rangehood UM4220-12S provides lighting and silent extraction of cooking exhaust in one majestic unit, and best of all, lets you preserve open-plan views you have across your kitchen, island or peninsula benchtop.
2) Soft-Closing Cabinetry, Doors & Windows
There’s nothing more jarring than the banging of cabinetry opening and closing. Well, that and accidentally getting injured over half-opened drawers. When someone starts to experience the fluidity of soft close drawers and cupboards, the luxury is enough to never look back. It’s silent, peaceful and just plain satisfying.
Another oft-ignored feature is insulated or cushioned hinges, guides and lifting systems for doors and windows – all contributing to soundless operation, noise isolation and a sanctuary from unnecessary noise in the kitchen.
3) Integrated Whitegoods
Integrating kitchen appliances within the cabinetry has become increasingly popular in modern kitchen design. More colour and finish options are being offered by retailers, giving designers complete customisability for kitchen builds or renovations. This also helps maintain clean design lines in a bold yet understated manner.
An added bonus is that integrated appliances can run quieter due to the added noise insulation from surrounding cabinetry.
Whilst this may sometimes add deeper cabinet depth, an increasing amount of appliances are designed with this in mind. Schweigen’s silent UM1390-9SP undermount rangehood integrates sleekly in the cabinetry and leverages the increased depth to enhance catchment and extraction performance.
4) Quiet Appliances
Increasingly, manufacturers are offering products with noise ratings. Notorious noisemakers like dishwashers come with specific modes for quieter, less disruptive operation.
Schweigen sets the bar with silent rangehoods that are so quiet that homeowners sometimes forget that they’ve been left on. By removing the motor from the rangehood and setting it outside the home, all one hears where they cook is the sound of air passing through the filters.
This silence does not come at the expense of extraction power. Schweigen silent rangehoods outperform all other rangehoods because they are uniquely powered by the German-made Isodrive® motor – recognised as one of the quietest, most efficient and powerful domestic air extraction units available today. It is designed to pull, rather than push air through the rangehood against the force of gravity. This prevents the introduction of air turbulence, noise and a drop in pressure prevalent in competitor models.
Having the motor removed from the canopy also means an internal structural design that is focused on airflow efficiency, rather than the need to support an internal motor and to suppress noise. This lower airflow resistance enables the Isodrive® system to run more than 3x more energy-efficiently than a standard rangehood motor.
Available with striking canopy designs, convenient features and peace of mind warranties – it’s small wonder that Schweigen’s catalogue includes both an International Good Design Award winner and Australia’s number one selling silent rangehood.
For more information, visit schweigen.com.au
