Quiet Air Conditioner for Summer Recording

[angopop]

Hello. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to keep cool while keeping quiet in those home studios in the summertime. During the dog days, I haven't done much in my home studio because my air conditioners make too much noise while I'm recording, and it can be hard to mix too.

I don't really want to spend the $$s on professional a/c unit, might as well wait till I own a studio for that, no?

Does anyone have any suggestion regarding quiet air conditioning units, noise insulation or a bucket of ice under a real quiet fan?

Thanks,
Arthur

[jrsgodfrey]

I'm sure this is against all AC manufacturers suggestions (and quite possibly dangerous), but we used to tape a big flexible duct to the front of a regular room air conditioner and put the unit in a window in another room, or freestanding in a garage or outside. Then a heavy curtain hung from a door frame or in a window with the flex duct poking through. Worked better than nothing and better than you might think.

[I'm Painting Again]

or run your regular air cond at full blast for a while before sesions and then turn it on durring breaks..etc..

[Recording Engineer]

Speaking of A/C... What about those non window or wall mount A/Cs? I believe they're just stand-alone for small rooms? I've never really looked into them, but I think maybe they're water-evaporation based? You know, just something to switch-on between takes. Would it cause too much humidity in a room with no air circulation except for when the door is open between takes? If so, what about in a room with a noise-less exhaust fan?

[Oliver Straus/Mission]

Short of the real deal there is no ac unit that I have found is quiet enough to use in the same room while recording.But don't despair... It's totally Ok to run ducting from a unit elsewhere: I did it for years.You can get an adapter fabricated at any tin shop.

A couple of things to remember:

Increased size of ducting = slower air flow=quieter.
You don't want to blast air into your recording space at the velocity of a hair dryer... Mics will hear it.

Sound does not like to travel around corners.
Try to put as many corners or curves in your duct as possible


Good luck

[Meriphew]

Well it's not exactly an AC but it is alot cheaper and works pretty well (and no noise). I used to use 'em when I lived in Tucson.
http://www.fitter1.com/hc.html

[goldstar]

The stand-alone cooler units R.E. is referring to are evaporative coolers. They call 'em swamp coolers here in Denver, and they work reasonably well here where the humidity is low, but I don't think they will work well anywhere other than near-desert humidity levels. They don't cool very quickly, either, and still make enough noise you'd probably want 'em off for a take. How 'bout low speed ceiling fans?

Frank

[fireproof]

Hey
The good Sharp units have 2 motors that cancel each other out a bit..
they seem to be pretty quiet as far as window units go

Adam

[ciminosound]

I second Oliver's points. Mine is a basement studio where I built room within a room type construction. I found an AC unit that was small enough to fit in the basement window and used duct work for distro. About three feet before the exit I increased the duct size by 2. It works like a charm for me.

It works well for all the rooms with the exception of the control room. If there are four or five people in there it gets a little warm but not too bad. I'm going to put a small fan out on the exhaust to help draw the air through. It should be the little boost I need.

[knmy]

Has anyone tried the ductless mini-split systems? A little on the pricey side but looks great and cool.

Here's a link descrbing it and brands to buy.
http://www.atrendyhome.com/hitminsplita.html
http://airconditioner.com/MANUFACTURERS ... splits.htm

Later,
Ken

[jrsgodfrey]

Off the cheap-air topic, I'm looking at both a high-velocity mini-duct central air system, or a mini-split system for my house and garage studio right now. I'd be interested to hear any experiences.