A typical doorbell chime is about 70 decibels (dB). That's usually loud enough to rouse you from whatever you're doing and summon you to the front door. When your doorbell is making you jump out of your seat or drop your glass of milk, you might have a doorbell that's too loud.

Is your indoor chime making you clap your hands over your ears? Here are a few tips for reducing your doorbell sound, compiled by

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Wired doorbell chime

Many houses come equipped with a wired doorbell system. When someone rings the wired doorbell, a circuit is closed and a transformer is activated. This lowers the voltage of the doorbell to between 10 and 20 volts.

As the doorbell button is released, the circuit is broken once again, causing the chime to ring. There are a few ways to reduce the noise the chime makes with a wired doorbell system.

Use duct tape to lower the sound

Wired doorbell systems either have a chime on the wall in a central location in your home or operate through an intercom system located near the front door. Place a piece of duct tape over the grill of the doorbell chime. This should be enough to muffle the sound.

While effective, this method doesn’t work well if your chime operates through an intercom system, and it may prohibit communication using these types of devices (it also doesn't look too great, either).

Acoustic foam can quiet a doorbell

Just like the previous method, acoustic foam works best with doorbell chimes that operate separately from an intercom system. Cut a piece of acoustic foam that matches the size of the vent on the chime. You can find acoustic foam at most music supply stores or online.

Next, apply some double-sided tape to the foam and secure it over the vent. This should muffle the sound produced by the chime.

Install a chime cover

For especially loud chimes, you may want to cover the whole chime with a chime cover. Originally designed to make a doorbell chime a little more attractive, they also have the side effect of drowning out the sound the chime produces.

Wireless doorbell chime

If you have a wireless doorbell chime, controlling its volume is a little bit easier. For a wireless doorbell, all you need to do is access to the control panel—or an app in some cases.

If your doorbell has a control panel or an app, follow the steps below to reduce the sound.

Step 1: Open the app/control panel. Start by opening the app on your smartphone. Once open, look for the device you want to control. In this case, it would be the volume for your doorbell. In the case of a control panel, look for the volume controls.

Step 2: Adjust the volume. Once you’re in the right menu on the app, slide the volume slider (usually to the left) to reduce the volume of the chime. For a control panel, push the appropriate button to reduce the volume of your chime.

Step 3: Test the doorbell. Finally, test the doorbell to make sure the volume is adequate. You still want to be able to hear the doorbell, but it shouldn’t be too loud. Adjust the doorbell chime sound if necessary.

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