So I've got the majority of my studio designed, in terms of the layout, and isolation, but I'm having trouble designing the ventalation.
It is being built in a detached garage. The studio is 21 by 21 with a main tracking/control room,, a 7 by 10 iso booth, and a 5 by 5 iso booth(no the walls are not parallel.)
I will be building a room with in the existing room the proper way, to sound proof it, so I don't want my ventalation to be my weakest link.
I Know I have to chamber the inlet and outlet, but I'm not sure exactly how. but I would love some insight or links on exactly how to go about it.
thank you.
soundproof ventalation
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cchord59
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koberlin1
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cchord59,
I too turned a single car garage into a control room. I live in San Diego where the climate is not too extreme...however being that it is a "sealed" room that is inside a garage it can get a little stuffy.. However with all I ended up doing I would assume the studio would survive in Indiana as well as California equally well ( ; Anyway hear is all I learned/installed after about 5 months of research/installation:
For the ventilation system I installed a Fantech heat transfer unit using sheet metal piping lined with fiberglass for all the ducting. There is one 90 degree turn on each of the four duct runs going to the studio interior and going to the house exterior (intake and exhaust). For the climate control system I installed a ductless Hitachi mini split. At the fan unit's lower cooling/heating settings it keeps the room temp controlled fairly quietly. The compressor is located outside the garage and is also very quiet.
The Fantech ventillation duct runs are all about 7-10 feet. On its low recirculation setting it is dead quiet and works extremely well. It is a heat transfer unit so if the air is cool/hot in the studio it can usually maintain that temperature without help from the mini-split. If I have the computer running or more than a few people are inside the studio I need both systems going...which is about 60 percent of the time and if I am not recording it is not a problem. I also mix (music and post) with both units on at their lower settings without a problem.
The unit is located at the rear of the garage behind my rear studio wall. The walls in my studio are nothing special except that they are all insulated with the standard house fiberglass and double dry-walled. The rear wall with the Fantech unit behinid it also has 1 layer of drywall on the Fantech side. There is a door on the rear wall as well which I think I could upgrade to isolate the studio more from the Fantech.
There are two 5.5" duct vents inside the studio...one for fresh air and one for exhaust...located strategically behind my acoustical panels to minimize and noise coming from them. I can hear the Fantech unit (either the unti itself through the rear wall as well as the air blowing out the interior duct openings) if I turn it up to a medium/high recirc setting enough where I could not record with mics in the studio without picking up that noise. I have a feeling most people would put the box physically in another room so it would not be an issue....however I did not have that choice. You could probably build a little shed on the outside of your detached garage to house it along with the minisplit compressor. With all the turns and lining in the ducting no noise travels in or out of the studio at all. Overall considering the unit and ducts are about 15 feet behind me
the noise level is impressively low.
For parts and installation for the Fantech and the mini-split it cost me only $4k. I did receive quotes for 8k but shopped around and found a small company looking to get themsleves off the ground. In the end they said I got a steal as their profit margin was non-existent after all was sadi and done..
I also have a separate room across the hall from the garage that will eventually take over all the instrumental/VO recording. I am thinking of just buying a custom pre-fabbed booth with a system attached to it...I could not go through another custom HVAC install...would be too brutal!
So that is my home studio DIY HVAC novel! I can post pics f you want some visuals.
I too turned a single car garage into a control room. I live in San Diego where the climate is not too extreme...however being that it is a "sealed" room that is inside a garage it can get a little stuffy.. However with all I ended up doing I would assume the studio would survive in Indiana as well as California equally well ( ; Anyway hear is all I learned/installed after about 5 months of research/installation:
For the ventilation system I installed a Fantech heat transfer unit using sheet metal piping lined with fiberglass for all the ducting. There is one 90 degree turn on each of the four duct runs going to the studio interior and going to the house exterior (intake and exhaust). For the climate control system I installed a ductless Hitachi mini split. At the fan unit's lower cooling/heating settings it keeps the room temp controlled fairly quietly. The compressor is located outside the garage and is also very quiet.
The Fantech ventillation duct runs are all about 7-10 feet. On its low recirculation setting it is dead quiet and works extremely well. It is a heat transfer unit so if the air is cool/hot in the studio it can usually maintain that temperature without help from the mini-split. If I have the computer running or more than a few people are inside the studio I need both systems going...which is about 60 percent of the time and if I am not recording it is not a problem. I also mix (music and post) with both units on at their lower settings without a problem.
The unit is located at the rear of the garage behind my rear studio wall. The walls in my studio are nothing special except that they are all insulated with the standard house fiberglass and double dry-walled. The rear wall with the Fantech unit behinid it also has 1 layer of drywall on the Fantech side. There is a door on the rear wall as well which I think I could upgrade to isolate the studio more from the Fantech.
There are two 5.5" duct vents inside the studio...one for fresh air and one for exhaust...located strategically behind my acoustical panels to minimize and noise coming from them. I can hear the Fantech unit (either the unti itself through the rear wall as well as the air blowing out the interior duct openings) if I turn it up to a medium/high recirc setting enough where I could not record with mics in the studio without picking up that noise. I have a feeling most people would put the box physically in another room so it would not be an issue....however I did not have that choice. You could probably build a little shed on the outside of your detached garage to house it along with the minisplit compressor. With all the turns and lining in the ducting no noise travels in or out of the studio at all. Overall considering the unit and ducts are about 15 feet behind me
the noise level is impressively low.
For parts and installation for the Fantech and the mini-split it cost me only $4k. I did receive quotes for 8k but shopped around and found a small company looking to get themsleves off the ground. In the end they said I got a steal as their profit margin was non-existent after all was sadi and done..
I also have a separate room across the hall from the garage that will eventually take over all the instrumental/VO recording. I am thinking of just buying a custom pre-fabbed booth with a system attached to it...I could not go through another custom HVAC install...would be too brutal!
So that is my home studio DIY HVAC novel! I can post pics f you want some visuals.
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bmikiten
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Studio air conditioning
I'd like to hear more about this - any photos or diagrams? From what I can see, there is a remote unit which can be ducted using 5" lines providing both physical and acoustic isolation from the main AC unit. Does anyone have a set up like this?
Brian
Brian
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koberlin1
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John Sayers
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The mini split system is nice and cheap - I can pick up a Chinese one for under $500 at my local wallmart equivalent. BUT if the studio is soundproof it is also airtight so eventually you will run out of oxygen.
I have working in studios where they just open up the doors after awhile and let fresh air in. - that's the cheapest system but I'm sure it wouldn't pass any codes yet many people do it..
Feeding fresh air into the room is therefore vital but need not be expensive. A couple of simple MDF boxes lined with insulation with a fan on the intake would do the job and the long length of MDF Box would act as a silencer.
cheers
john
I have working in studios where they just open up the doors after awhile and let fresh air in. - that's the cheapest system but I'm sure it wouldn't pass any codes yet many people do it..
Feeding fresh air into the room is therefore vital but need not be expensive. A couple of simple MDF boxes lined with insulation with a fan on the intake would do the job and the long length of MDF Box would act as a silencer.
cheers
john
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sharward
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Awesome, koberlin1! 
I hope you'll update your "Is this overkill? Studio AC wiring layout " thread in the "Installation and Wiring" forum with more details.
--Keith
I hope you'll update your "Is this overkill? Studio AC wiring layout " thread in the "Installation and Wiring" forum with more details.
--Keith
"Converting a garage into living space requires a city permit . . . homeowners insurance won't cover a structure that's been changed without a building permit . . ." --Sacramento Bee, May 27, 2006
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koberlin1
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John,
Yes, I realized that my airtight room would get stale rather fast (thanks to a few members here pointing it out to me). The MDF silencer idea seems like a great idea...would be a fun project. Don't think I would have had the real estate needed for such however. The minisplit was around $700 (just like the Fantech) the install/parts was around $3000. I think I could have done the Fantech myself but def not the minisplit.
Sharwood,
thanks! You were very helpful regardinig the HVAC install when I was designing it. As I posted in my other thread, that Fantech unit is great. I can have the doors shut all day and feel like I am not enclosed in an airtight studio with stale air. Only problem is the fiberglass in the acoustic paneling is s alittle stinky.... (*;
Yes, I realized that my airtight room would get stale rather fast (thanks to a few members here pointing it out to me). The MDF silencer idea seems like a great idea...would be a fun project. Don't think I would have had the real estate needed for such however. The minisplit was around $700 (just like the Fantech) the install/parts was around $3000. I think I could have done the Fantech myself but def not the minisplit.
Sharwood,
thanks! You were very helpful regardinig the HVAC install when I was designing it. As I posted in my other thread, that Fantech unit is great. I can have the doors shut all day and feel like I am not enclosed in an airtight studio with stale air. Only problem is the fiberglass in the acoustic paneling is s alittle stinky.... (*;
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John Sayers
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koberlin1
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I do not know of any self install units (aside from the window-mount units). My unit consisted of the two parts...the compressor (outside the studio) and the "fan" unit (inside the studio). Interconnecting B/T the two are two copper lines, two high voltage lines, and 1 condensation line... Seemed fairly complex for someone who had never done it.
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sharward
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Yeah, I too was unable to find any "homeowner DIY friendly" mini splits.
There are pretty strict environmental regulations here in the USA regarding charging and discharging air conditioning systems.
I found this little tidbit about HVAC work in general: "If you choose to install this equipment yourself, the work consists of two primary parts: what you can do on your own, which is about 90% of the project, and what your local heating and air conditioning contractor should do for you. Due to laws pertaining to handling of Freon (R-22 refrigerant), as well as special tools needed, the completion of the project is to be done by an air conditioning professional" (source).
--Keith
There are pretty strict environmental regulations here in the USA regarding charging and discharging air conditioning systems.
I found this little tidbit about HVAC work in general: "If you choose to install this equipment yourself, the work consists of two primary parts: what you can do on your own, which is about 90% of the project, and what your local heating and air conditioning contractor should do for you. Due to laws pertaining to handling of Freon (R-22 refrigerant), as well as special tools needed, the completion of the project is to be done by an air conditioning professional" (source).
--Keith
"Converting a garage into living space requires a city permit . . . homeowners insurance won't cover a structure that's been changed without a building permit . . ." --Sacramento Bee, May 27, 2006
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camistan
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koberlin1
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Stan,
Yes it is a (wired) remote control unit for the Fantech. Like I said it can control basically all the functionalities the Fantech offers remotely..one of which is the humidity. However I have just been using the remote to turn it on each morning to its lowest air recirculation mode. If I am feeling any sort of moisture or see the humidity level is high on the remote's digital display, I usally just put my mini-split into its "dry" mode. In other words, I have only been using the air recirc functionality on the Fantech so far...could probably have gone with the less fancy remote and saved myslef the $100 it cost.
Hope that helps!
Yes it is a (wired) remote control unit for the Fantech. Like I said it can control basically all the functionalities the Fantech offers remotely..one of which is the humidity. However I have just been using the remote to turn it on each morning to its lowest air recirculation mode. If I am feeling any sort of moisture or see the humidity level is high on the remote's digital display, I usally just put my mini-split into its "dry" mode. In other words, I have only been using the air recirc functionality on the Fantech so far...could probably have gone with the less fancy remote and saved myslef the $100 it cost.
Hope that helps!
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camistan
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That's great to hear. I picked up one of those remote control units (Model# EDF5) on ebay. I'm planning on getting an ERV (due to the cold weather here at times). I was REALLY wondering if those units aid in dehumidification as they say they do. I'm tying my ERV unit into my HVAC (air handler) system to bring fresh air in that way. From what I read from Fantech, I'll have to run my air handler fan along with my ERV to dehumidify. I believe there is something with the remote control that allows you to have the Fantech unit and your air handler (blower) to BOTH turn on when your preset humidity level dips above your setting. Did you by chance use this feature with your minisplit system? Also, when you put your minisplit into "dry" mode does that mean that only the fan is running?
If it's ok, I'll be checking with you to see how your HRV unit is functioning/progressing. It would be helpful to know how well the remote control and the unit are working to circulate the air in your studio along with dehumidifying.
If it's ok, I'll be checking with you to see how your HRV unit is functioning/progressing. It would be helpful to know how well the remote control and the unit are working to circulate the air in your studio along with dehumidifying.
Take Care and GOD Bless
Stan
Stan
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bmikiten
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koberlin1
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It is a very small room...only around 300 sq ft. I keep the Hitachi minisplit on its lowest AC fan setting and at around 24-25 degrees C at all times. It runs, on these settings, about 50% of the day, maintaining that temperature. I have yet to go through a winter season with this new studio so that will be interesting. The studio is inside a garage so without the AC on it gets hot in here fast.
I leave the Fantech ventillation system on its lowest recirculation setting all day keep the air fresh. I was hoping to only have to use the Fantech most of the time, using its fresh air to keep the studio cool but the air outside has been so hot/humid that it is impossible.
I am still trying to figure out what settings both systems should be at for optimal results. The combination of the two systems means that there are a ton of variables/options I have. The Fantech has different vent modes and the Hitachi has different airflow/cooling/heating modes...
The only adjustments I currently make are:
- turning to Htachi b/t 24 and 25 degrees C (which there was 24.5!) for temperature adjustments.
- I also put the Hitachi into its "dehumidifying" cycle about once a day as the room will get humid...once again, I need to figure out the right combination on both units so I never have to touch either..
Hope I did not confure you any..
I leave the Fantech ventillation system on its lowest recirculation setting all day keep the air fresh. I was hoping to only have to use the Fantech most of the time, using its fresh air to keep the studio cool but the air outside has been so hot/humid that it is impossible.
I am still trying to figure out what settings both systems should be at for optimal results. The combination of the two systems means that there are a ton of variables/options I have. The Fantech has different vent modes and the Hitachi has different airflow/cooling/heating modes...
The only adjustments I currently make are:
- turning to Htachi b/t 24 and 25 degrees C (which there was 24.5!) for temperature adjustments.
- I also put the Hitachi into its "dehumidifying" cycle about once a day as the room will get humid...once again, I need to figure out the right combination on both units so I never have to touch either..
Hope I did not confure you any..