With any penetration in the ceiling, noise separation should be an aspect that is considered. Unfortunately, for many in the fire safety industry, it often gets overlooked.

On the 30th of August 2023, iMist undertook comprehensive acoustic sound testing of the nozzles at Southampton University. This was to give our customers the peace of mind that our ceiling penetration will minimise noise transmission.

The testing found iMist to be successful in minimal decibel escape due to the nature of the nozzle and the fitting.

Unlike other mist and sprinkler providers, iMist can almost completely seal any penetration in the ceiling. When combined with the appropriate fire-stopping measures, the result is an imperceptible ceiling penetration. 

The traditional systems on the market have a space within/around the nozzle to allow heat transfer and therefore, from a fire-stopping and acoustic point of view they cannot match our results.

Impact on passage of sound of installing an STN12 nozzle

The iMist STN12 nozzle was recently tested by the noise and vibration specialists at Southampton University.  The below excerpt from page 8 of the report should allay the concerns of any acoustician that the installation of an iMist nozzle will detrimentally affect the passage of sound to a noticeable degree through any floor layer:

From these tests it is reasonable to say that fitting an STN12 fire suppression nozzle does not adversely affect the acoustic performance of this type of floor/ceiling construction.

Following the sound testing, we believe iMist are the only fire suppression system (watermist or sprinkler) manufacturer in the world that can accurately confirm the acoustic impact of installing one of our nozzles into a separating floor structure.