Furnace Noise: My Cold Air Return is noisy...are there grating designs that provide less or no air rush noise?

Question

As cold air returns to the furnace, it passes through the wall grating, which is some sort of a thin vent (louvered) stamped metal. I was just wondering if there are other designs out there that would be quieter in terms of the whistle caused by air going through these thin vents. Of course, it seems like removing the grating would be the quietest, but not very safe or pretty. And does it make any sense to add sound-dampening material in between the grating and the filtered furnace? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you wrap the ducting with fiberglass it may reduce the ammount of noise transmitted....I just got a new furnace, and it moves more air than the old one, and its loud too.