I don't have Tinnitus, but I do wear a hearing aid and have since I was 4. One of the best makers of hearing aids is Phonak. I have had 2 of them, the first lasted me 17 years, and when it died on me, I chose Phonak again, but this time I got a digital. It is awesome. The great thing about digitals, is they can be programmed to your specific hearing loss, as far as volume and tones. I have a hard time hearing the 'high notes' so to speak. I went with a stronger aid so that as I lose more hearing I can adjust the 'strength' and be able to keep using the same one. The cost of them can vary depending on the different models they make. You can even get them in colors too. When I was younger I never wore ponytails because I didn't want any of the kids to make fun of me. Now I don't really care, and I ordered one in PINK. :) They do have to be programmed by the audilogist, but it is very simple and doesn't take long. You can go back and have it readjusted if needed. Sometimes it takes a while to adjust to wearing one, and learning to notice the differences in tones. The type I wear is the BTE (behind the ear) where the mold goes into my ear, and the rest fits behind my ear attached by the clear tube. They are SO much smaller than they used to be. You should have seen my first one, it was HUGE and there was no hiding that one. Good luck, Vickie

I'll give this a shot although I am no expert with whole house fans. If you set the fan to blow air into the house you will be pulling in humidity, noise & exhaust fumes into the space you live in/ If the windows are unopened when you turn this fan on this will create a positive pressure on your home that far exceeds the positive pressure we design for in a healthy home. If you set the fan to remove air from the house with windows closed the effect will be a negative pressure with make up air entering through any unsealed holes in your home. This would not be a good thing either. If you set the fan to remove air with windows open (which is the way the one house I lived in as a kid with whole house fan) it is comfortable when temps are mild and negative pressure is not an issue as makeup air is entering through the larger unsealed holes..in this case your open windows. The down side again is the amount of humidity that will enter your home. La. isn't much like Hawaii (unfortunately for me...) but humidity is a big issue here. Adding more humidity to your home on these mild days will add to the humdity load that the air conditioning will have to remove. I don't know of any way offhand to insulate a whole house fan for noise..and I wonder what the insulation value on one of these fans would be in relation to the rest of the insulated wall.... I'll turn it over to the pros now... Best of luck & aloha!

@Windows on Washington Ltd I agree that the secondary window is the best solution for sound insulation but I am not really comfortable with it because of the aesthetics issue. Also installing a secondary window requires me to remove my blind and install it again plus as I said my remaining sill width is just 7.5 cms. Is there no way I can get good sound insulation by replacing windows? P.S.: I don't want to completely 'soundproof' my room, just reduce the sound to such a level that it stops being a distraction/nuisance. When I open my window, the sound level is around 70 db. After closing the current window, it comes down to around 60 db. I would like to reduce it to at least 45 db. (all these measurements are taken by the android app 'sound meter') @oberon476: I would also love to have your suggestion on this..

I'd begin by removing hedges next to the house. Remove the mis managed topiary. They have been poorly sheared and some lean. The thin trunk trees near the foundation need to be removed. Major trees need limbed up and maybe thinned. This is the most important step, in my opinion. I am not a pro. I'd remove the shrub near the mail box. I would also transplant the grass like plants near the street. Not sure where you can use them. The bed along the foundation does not seem deep enough for shrubs. Can you tell us how deep it is? Your house has nice brick and interesting low windows. I don't think it will need an elaborate landscape. How would you feel about something less complicated? A courtyard would have to be part of your overall new landscape design.