:) Hi! Down here in the Sunshine State, especially South East, AC is a given. How big (BTU)? Through the wall, or a window shaker? That's what we call the ones that go in the window.

--Rick

The Sharp library units are very quiet - probably quiet enough that you could record - may require a wee bit of gating - but quiet enough regardless.

HOWEVER - you could have problems with 60 cycle noise fromthe motor assemblies - and even more important - some serious concerns about the penetration through your outer wall assembly.

Placing a baffle of some sort in front of the unit would not be a good idea - you would tend to cause a back pressure on the unit which would cause it to work inproperly = and could cause a motor overload due to the assembly working beyond it's static pressure capacity.

All in all you are much better off using a split system - with sound dampened ductwork between the fan coil unit and the room itself.

But if you have no choice other than a through the wall unit - and will only be working in the room for short periods of time - this unit - along with a custom cover assembly for the shoot itself - would probably be OK

Rod

Originally posted by Rick Hammang:
:) Hi! Down here in the Sunshine State, especially South East, AC is a given. How big (BTU)? Through the wall, or a window shaker? That's what we call the ones that go in the window.

--Rick

Rick, depending on the degree day design - probably 5000 BTU would be adequate for a room this size down south. You have to be carefull not to oversize the unit too drastically - otherwise you won't get enough run time on the AC to dehumidify the space.

Rod

:) Rod, check this. I live in a house built in the late 20's, I am 2000' from the ocean. With an average year round temp in the 80's, humidity @ 70%. :d:

I have (5), 5000 Btu units in smaller rooms, another 12,000 in the living room, and (1) 10,000 in storage just as back-up.

No, we don't run them all at the same time, but a few run 24/7. The Sharp is quiet, and the smaller 5600 through the wall unit is nice. The installation kit must be ordered separate, and is about $50.00.

--Rick

Rick,

80's year round - man i am living in the wrong area........

Thru the wall (or window units) are great for residential use - and if it's 80's year round and RH of roughly 70% - then the 5000 is probably good for up to 350 s.f..

Even if i used split systems i would vote for multiple systems - smaller splits - so i could more effectively handle my cooling needs by area -
The Sharp 12,000 ( i really do like the sharp line of AC) is probably good under those circumstances (well insulated room - 80's etc.) for somewhere of around 850 to 1000 s.f. (assuming max 8'=6" ceiling height here - would guess your house probably has higher ceilings) without having a problem.

Dry (from my perspective) is always one of the highest on my lists of "have to be's"

Rod

:) Rod, and Dig, You see Dig lives in Hell, according to his location. So, I bet it is hot and dry. If you can, for your recording room, there is a 7600 BTU, I think. Made by Maytag, check at home depot, these are pretty quiet.

I found that once you tune into the noise, and you are working on music, after a while, your brain completely seems to ignore the noise. Of course, while recording it can't be on. So your chill down, lay tracks idea would be cool, hee hee pun! Rod, what ways are there to minimize the coupling of the units from their mountings? Be it wall or window. So the vibration of the compressor is not so noisy.

--Rick

uhh living in hell?? I think your BTU value needs to be considerably higher :)

Im in Houston Texas, So hot and lots of humidity...

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/local/77546?lswe=77546&lwsa=WeatherLocalRecreation

So NOW what yah recomend?

Oh yeah its NORMALY about 90-100% humid in the summer...

Originally posted by digdug:
Oh yeah its NORMALY about 90-100% humid in the summer...

:) I say between 6000 and 8000 BTU. The quiet ones are the sharps, and Quasars. Next would be the Maytags.

Keep cool!

--Rick

Thanks a bunch!

OMG - hell doesn't even BEGIN to describe it.......

Still though - for a super insulated room - That 6,000 to 8,000 seems a bit high.

The rules of thumb for a standard home are:

Up to 150 SF 5,000BTU • 6,000 BTU
150 SF - 300 SF 7,500BTU • 8,000BTU

His control room is 132 s.f. - thus a 6,000 would really be the high end.

Like i said earlier - you are better off with a unit running a little bit more - than being so large that it cools you in a very short time - it takes the longer run times in order to properly dehumidify.

As far as isolating the unit - i have never experimented with this from the point of view of a thru the wall or window unit. For commercial units you would use special vibration isolation hangers manufactured for this purpose - but i know of nothing for the smaller residential air conditioners.

ON this one i go "help" - does any one out there know of a way?

cute pun by the way Rick :tu:

Rod

:) :tu: Rod, yea, some kind of neoprene gasket that lines the base, or something.

Dig, How many BTU's of heat does your gear put out, include lighting, and body heat from the amount of people that will be in this room at one time? Also, does any of the walls face the East or West?

Rod, that's the only reason I stepped up the BTU rate. The 5,000's I have do a fair job for a bedroom, but won't do very well if there are things that create a lot of heat. I see the specs on the units too, sometimes I forget that the stove and fridge put out some heat, or the washer and dryer closet really get's warmed up. Or, it's the sunny side of the house.

--Rick

Ah yes...Air conditioning...

Out here we run in the upper 90's to mid 100's most of the summer...humidity at 5-15%...

The 275sqft CR has a 5000BTU wall mounted something or other I was given a fews ago...the 400 sqft tracking room has a 12000 BTU gizmo I got at Home Depot...and while we could deal with the noise OK, the biggest headache was getting dedicated power for them, so when they kick on, things don't dim out for a second...each unit is on its own 20A breaker...

That was a 'gotcha' when we were planning this out...so if you don't have it already, you may want to plan the cost of a dedicated line for each AC unit into your replacement funds.

Originally posted by midlandmorgan:
Out here we run in the upper 90's to mid 100's most of the summer...humidity at 5-15%...OK, the biggest headache was getting dedicated power for them, so when they kick on, things don't dim out for a second...

:eek: That's bone dry out there, how do you keep your AC guitars humidified? Good Points , goes back to where Rod said, it should run most of the time. Maybe 5000 IS just right, at least Dig may not have to add another circuit! If not save the box, home depot will exchange it.

--Rick

Basicly my studio is planned to be a post production/sound design type personal studio with a decent sized Closet as my isobooth...

So MAX I will have is:
3 Full tower comps...
1 Laptop...
======================================
1 Tower runs at 140 degrees (palamino core) 1.7ghz[Recording/editing unit]

1 Tower "will" run at 96 degrees (Barton core) 2.5ghz [gaming unit] :) ]

1 Laptop (make a guess)

16 pieces of Rack gear AT THE MOST.

Halogen Light bulbs for there low heat.

Mackie 624s.

etc etc.

--------------

This will be one toasty box.

Rik...I put a soap dish/container drilled out and a wet sponge in each case...for the acoustics, I have a little gizmo that releases humidity very slowly...looks like a small wet rope...

They both work fairly well

Originally posted by midlandmorgan:
Rik...I put a soap dish/container drilled out and a wet sponge in each case...for the acoustics, I have a little gizmo that releases humidity very slowly...looks like a small wet rope...

They both work fairly well

Now that is an original idea - although there are commercial humidifiers that utilize a pan and wick assembly - we usually try (within the industry) to avoid them. They work well from the aspect of producing humidity - but the pans are also breeding grounds for various types of Bacteria.

Either a hot or cold steam humidifier is preferable if it fits within the budget. The "Resdelux" manufactured by Blejwas Associates, Inc - is a good quality residential unit.

The other advantage to this is the ability to install a humidistat as a part of the system and have it control the humidifier to maintain perfect humidity. With a wick style humidifier it is difficult to maintain perfect conditions.

Happy Hunting

Rod

i dont understand, my room is not a big room, you are talking about 5000, 6000 btu, but, i have a LG 18.000 BTU split system and dont feel freeze...what`s ha`pening? :roll:

Originally posted by Aziel:
....i have a LG 18.000 BTU split system and dont feel freeze...what`s ha`pening?

:) Are you in an area with high atmospheric pressure? AC is most effective when removing moisture. Heat and excess humidity add up to misery.

If it is a dry area with high pressure, the cool is forced out of the room very quickly, and the absence of moisture just doesn't feel as cool on the skin. When there is low pressure, the thing should chill very well.

Besides, cleaning the filter alone, the cooling fins behind the filter may be clogged with dust, fibers or pet hair, etc. If that is so, remove the front and use an old toothbrush, going with the direction of the fins, and remove the build up. This is where the water condenses, so it helps to keep the fins clean.

Another reason could be low or leaking cooling gas. If it frosts over, it may be a leak.

I know how AC's behave, being here in South Florida. ;)

Hope this helps,

--Rick

I live in Maracaibo, a very hot place (around 104 grades F) the city is very low...is almost flat respect the water, i thing humidity is an issue.., :roll:

Originally posted by Aziel:
I live in Maracaibo, a very hot place (around 104 grades F) the city is very low...is almost flat respect the water, i thing humidity is an issue.., :roll:

:eek: Wow! It IS the temp and humidity.
Presently, as of 5:30am EST where you are,
83% humidity
29.88/ N/R millibars

here, in Florida, it is
97% humidity
29.94 millibars

But with 104 degrees, you need lots of insulation, and seal the room pretty tight.

--Rick

Aziel,

Rick is very correct,

When you have a unit running, but it cannot maintain the dehumidification of the space - it will always feel warmer than it is.

And it doesn't need to be 80% relative humidity in the room either. A Natatorium (a room with an indoor swimming pool) is typically kept at 35 to 50% relative humidity - at those levels the moisture on the skin will not evaporate quickly.

The 1st thing you should do is check the humidity level in your room. If you find you have elevated levels (and for your purposes that would be anything over roughly 30 to 35% relative humidity) then you probably have a problem with short run time on your AC unit becuase it's oversized.

If that is the case then you will need to install a dehumidifier on the return air side of the system.

I assume that you have fresh air being provided as a part of your HVAC system - so remember that whenever that fan is running you are pulling that hot moist outside air into the space - this fights the dehumidification efforts of the unit -

Your second comment - regarding the size of your unit and the fact that you aren't freezing... i don't care how large your unit is - the temperature is controlled by your thermostat - so you will not drop below that temperature setting more than 2 degrees F. (2 degrees F is the typical setpoint for thermostats.... this allows them to cycle properly).

Another issue you may have is the sealing of the room.......

Humidity will travel to other areas with lower humidity the same way that high air pressure will travel to equal out a low pressure area..... any cracks will allow this to happen.

But the easiest way to handle this in a finished space is still the dehumidifier.........

Good luck

Rod

THanx a lot!!!
I guess i should buy a deshumi...yada,yada,...(my english stinks! :D