What is the best-value way to cut traffic or generator noise?

For exterior noise coming through windows, secondary glazing is almost always the best value. It adds a second, decoupled pane behind your existing window with a deep air cavity, which blocks far more than replacing a window with a single sealed unit — and it usually keeps your existing window in place. We design it to a measured target and verify the reduction before and after.

Why does secondary glazing beat a normal double-glazed unit for noise?

Standard double glazing has a very narrow air gap tuned mainly for heat, not sound. Secondary glazing works on the decoupling principle — mass-spring-mass — using two independent panes with a much deeper air cavity between them, often 100 mm or more. That wide gap is what gives it far stronger noise performance than a sealed unit with a thin cavity. The depth of the air gap is doing the heavy lifting.

Can you fit it without replacing my windows?

Yes — in most cases secondary glazing is fitted on the inside behind your existing window, which stays in place. That makes it far less disruptive than a full window replacement, and you can usually stay living or working in the room. It is one of the reasons it is such good value for exterior noise.

Will it stop generator noise completely?

It will significantly reduce generator noise entering through the window, which is often the main path into a bedroom or office, but we will not claim total silence. A generator also sends noise through the wall and, if it is close, through the ground, so the best result treats the window together with the wall path — and, at source, an acoustic enclosure around the generator itself. We measure and set an honest target rather than overpromise.

Acoustic Windows & Secondary Glazing

The best-value fix for road, traffic and generator noise — a decoupled secondary pane set behind your existing window with a deep air cavity and high-performance seals, designed to a measured target and verified before and after.

Road traffic, a neighbour’s generator, the roadside spot that never sleeps — most exterior noise reaches you through the window, the weakest surface in any external wall. Secondary glazing is the best-value fix: a decoupled second pane with a deep air cavity, fitted behind your existing window and verified before and after. Book a free noise assessment: +233 20 531 3333.

What Acoustic Windows & Secondary Glazing Actually Are

Secondary glazing is an independent second pane of glass installed on the room side of your existing window, separated from it by a deep air cavity and sealed tightly around the perimeter. It is not a replacement window; your original window usually stays exactly where it is. The two panes and the air gap between them form a mass-spring-mass system — the same decoupling principle that makes a well-built wall block so effectively — and it is the depth of that air cavity, often 100 mm or more, that gives secondary glazing its strength against noise.

This is why secondary glazing beats an ordinary double-glazed unit for sound. Standard double glazing has a narrow gap optimised for heat insulation, not acoustics. Widen the gap and decouple the panes and you block far more noise. The window is almost always the weakest surface in an external wall, so treating it is usually the single most cost-effective thing you can do about traffic, generator and general urban noise.

When to Specify Acoustic Windows & Secondary Glazing

Specify secondary glazing when the noise disturbing you is coming from outside and entering mainly through the glass. The typical Accra, Tema and Kumasi cases include bedrooms on busy roads where traffic and horns break sleep; homes and offices near a standby generator, a transformer or a roadside spot; apartments in dense urban blocks exposed to constant street noise; shift-workers and light sleepers who need a night-quiet bedroom; consulting rooms and offices on noisy frontages; and studios and home cinemas where exterior noise leaks into a quiet recording or viewing space.

Because it is fitted inside and rarely disturbs the existing window, it is also the right choice when you want a strong result with minimal building work — including in rented or finished properties where replacing the windows is not practical.

The Method — Which Pillars We Use

Secondary glazing is a Decoupling solution first, supported by Mass and airtight sealing.

Decoupling (the deep cavity) — the second pane is mounted as a physically separate unit with the largest air gap the reveal allows. Two masses separated by a wide air spring block far more than a single thicker pane. It is like cutting a taut string in the middle — the vibration on the outer pane struggles to cross the gap to the inner one.
Mass (the glass) — we select the glass thickness, and where useful laminated acoustic glass, to add mass and to shift the panes’ resonances apart so they do not reinforce each other. Using two different glass thicknesses across the cavity broadens the range of noise blocked.
Sealing — the secondary unit is sealed airtight around its full perimeter, because a window that is not sealed simply leaks air-borne noise around the edge. As with every path we treat, even a small gap can cost around 10 dB, so the seal is as important as the glass.
Ventilation — sealing a window tightly changes airflow, so where the room relies on that window for ventilation we design in acoustic venting or coordinate with AC, so you gain quiet without losing fresh air.

Frames and seals are specified for durability in Ghana’s humid coastal climate, and openable secondary units are available so you retain access and ventilation without giving up the acoustic benefit.

Typical Result Ranges

A single-glazed window, or a standard double-glazed unit with a thin cavity, lets a great deal of exterior noise through — which is why the window, not the wall, is usually what wakes you. Well-designed secondary glazing with a deep air cavity and good seals delivers a substantial, immediately noticeable reduction in traffic, generator and general urban noise entering the room, and is consistently the strongest improvement per cedi spent on exterior noise. Deeper cavities, laminated acoustic glass and mismatched pane thicknesses push the result further where the noise is severe. Low-frequency noise — heavy trucks, a large generator’s rumble — is the hardest to block and sets a realistic ceiling on any window solution, which we quantify at the survey rather than gloss over.

Honest Boundaries

We will never claim secondary glazing makes a room “completely silent.” It reduces the noise entering through the window to a measured target and we verify it. Its ceiling is set by the low-frequency content of the noise, the depth of cavity your window reveal allows, and the other paths in the wall. Where a generator or road is very close, noise also travels through the wall and the structure, so the window alone will not carry the whole result — the best outcome treats the window, the wall path, and, at source, an acoustic enclosure around the generator. We tell you honestly, at the survey, how much of the problem the window can solve on its own.

Window treatment is often paired with wall work and source control to close every path exterior noise takes:

Wall Soundproofing — the wall around the window, for the noise the glass alone cannot carry
Soundproof Doors & Seals — the other weak point in an external wall
Ceiling & Floor Impact Soundproofing — footfall and impact between floors
Acoustic Treatment & Echo Control — for echo inside the room, a different problem from blocking exterior noise