Ventilation in my vocal booth?

I'm having a bit of a problem with ventilation in my vocal booth.

I have a 5X6X7 area that I use and it is well isolated. With no air movement.

I have low watt lighting in the room (3-12 watt lights)
It only takes about 10-15 minutes in the room before it gets heated up.

Now, I know ya' want a hot singer in the room, but not this kind of "hot"

Any suggestions on how I might ventilate the room without adding noise?

Thanks for any ideas,
Michael

I installed an inline fan to force ventilation of my basement home studio. It is not dead quiet, but it does move air. It's my attempt to keep the room from becoming uncomfortable while it is being used. However, when I do record, I turn it off.

Having said that, you can probably find some quieter fan (or fans). You could locate the fan some distance away and use insulated (sound) board to make a conduit to the top of your vocal booth; vent to the outside world.

I did take some steps to isolate the fan's vibration; it is mounted on a concrete foundation wall a couple feet outside my studio and I did run some duct into a box that I mostly filled with fiberglas to help kill some of the air movement noise. A good fan is kind of expensive...

Probably a combo of cooler lights and venting would do it.

For cheap and easy lights you could try some "LED puck lights" that just stick on wherever you need them and they run on batteries.

For venting if you can make some slits or small holes near the bottom and an opening at the top for cool air to enter and warm air to leave. Maybe add in a couple of 120mm 115v AC fans to help move things along at either end. Place them at the ends of some ducting if the noise is an issue.

small fans like these: "AC FANS" about halfway down the page.
http://www.action-electronics.com/fans.htm

I am not saying that it is impossible to create a continuous low-noise air conditioning system, but it is almost certainly very expensive. Just moving air itself (regardless of the baffles and noise abatement around the fans and motors) will produce significant noise. The answers that suggest intermittent use of a cooling unit make the most sense for a home studio. With intermittent ventilation, you want to use the most powerful (doesn't matter if they are loud) fans you can fit, turn them off during a take and on immediately after. You should be able to do a take or two before you need to blow out the hot air. Of course if you can afford to line your noise-isolated booth with thermoelectric panels that's cool too.

Fans won't help you in an air tight room. I was in an air tight iso room just recently (about 10' x 10' or thereabouts) and all it took was a single human body in there for a few minutes for it to become uncomfortable. We couldn't stand to work in there for more than 15 minutes at a time.

You need to circulate the air. That's the only way to do it. Air conditioning is the answer but the secret lies in the duct work and how you design it and implement it. Yes it can get expensive. And complicated. There are books on the subject (F. Alton Everest has a few that discuss AC solutions). Done right, you won't be able to hear the air movement.

Saturday, November 8, 2008 (Unbelievable)

Attach 2 vent channels to side of booth to vent air from top, and make-up air near bottom.
The vent ducts will be lined with audio foam
Near opposite end of duct facing main room, will be a large 12 volt fan
(could face to side, but do not have them facing each other)
A frame to hold dust filter material on outside of fans
Use a 12 volt power supply with switch for the fans and the LED lights in the booth

Needed: for each duct

wood panels: 3 (4) 8 x 48"
2 8 x 8

wood frame 4 48" 1 x 1 inch pieces
4 8" 1 x 1 inch pieces

brackets: metal L and/or wood triangles, depending on how all is assembled

drywall screws

foamy to line interior

minimum 120mm dc 12 volt low noise fans
(also could use potentiometer for speed control)

high quality furnace filter material, purchase in roll, or as pieces from good hardware store

switch / strip for power lump

screen material for booth side of holes.

==================

Cut two 7 x 7 inch holes in a side of the box, offset by about 10" center to center
1 AT the top
1 near the bottom

Build two rectangular boxes, about 8 x 8 x 48"
if you wish, one long side open, vocal booth wall will be this side

fasten boxes to side of vocal booth
leaving outside panels unattached until all wires and stuff are tested

Assemble with screws: panel will need to be removed for periodic cleaning


J

===================

Planting and care of Software (programs and utilities)

Soil: Use 2/3 standard commercial hardware mixed with 1/3 aftermarket OEM and off-brand components.

Planting: Moisten outside of computer case slightly. DO NOT WATER after installing.

Location: Software likes a well lighted area. But, do not immediately place in an excess of direct sun light as these types of programs are greenhouse grown and will burn. They will tolerate full sun. But do it gradually. If programs start to elongate it may be due to lack of light. (Or, mory likely, it is the result of very stupid people spending years programming a really bad operating system, and other stuff,..)

Water: Water requirements vary but a good rule of thumb is: Utilities once every 3 to 4 weeks -- Programs and leafy applets every 7 to 10 days. If Programs and Utilities are installed together, spot-water utilities accordingly.

Fertilizer: After Software becomes inextricably established (1 minute to 2 months), a commercial house fertilizer-upgrade (manure is good) may be used at 1/2 recommended strength.

Cleaning: At least once per year, remove cover and place computer into shower. Rinse well to remove dust from heat sinks, fans, and other components, with special attention to flushing the power supply.

EDIT: post removed due to duplicating someone else's suggestions.

An interesting idea would be to use a solid-state thermoelectric device or two, the sort of thing used in those portable beer fridges (but more powerful). See

http://customthermoelectric.com

Some of the larger units there take up to 250W each so a couple of these - they are surprisingly cheap at under 50 bucks each- connected to some larger aluminium plates, say 12 inches X 12 inches, to create a reasonable surface area, should be able to absorb the thermal output from the singer and bring the temperature down a considerable amount. There is no fan and hence no noise. The reverse side of the units needs to be able to dissipate the heat to a heatsink and thence to the outside of the booth. Note that the heatsink on the outside will get quite hot, the heat is being transferred from one side of the device to the other. Don't put them in backwards or you'll cook your poor vocalist instead!

Since heat rises it would make sense to try and install these plates in the ceiling, I'd think. You need a high current power supply delivering around 12V. Possibly a computer power supply might do the job.

ORIGINAL: papa2004

Why would you construct such an area (no ventilation) in the first place?

You know what........."I didn't think of it"



I have a air duct in the ceiling, but I would think that tapping into this might be noisy?