How Much Fresh Air Do You Need In Your Soundproof Studio?
Vložit
- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- FREE Soundproofing Workshop: www.soundproofyourstudio.com/...
If you have been following my youtube channel, emails or podcast for some time you may know that I am a big fan of having ventilation in your soundproof recording studio. The reason is that when you soundproof a room correctly the room will be airtight. This means you will not have any fresh air circulating in and out of the room. Contrary to popular belief, mini-splits and home HVAC systems do not provide fresh air unless you have a fresh air system in place. Most older homes do not have fresh air systems because they were not necessary. Older homes tend to have so many cracks and small holes that the air from outside can make its way in. Newer homes on the other hand are build tighter, meaning they are similar to our soundproof rooms and need fresh air systems incorporated into the design.
1) How Much Fresh Air Do You Need
According to Rod Gervais, the author of Home Recording Studio: Build It Like The Pros, a good rule of thumb is to provide 15 CFM per person. CFM stands for cubic feet of air per minute. This is equal to 0.42 cubic meters per minute for my metric friends.
Now the best way to provide fresh air to your home is to use either an ERV or HRV. This article will not go in depth into what they are, but just know that an ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator) will help recover moisture and heat during ventilation while an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) mainly helps recover heat during ventilation.
So when you are buying your ERV or HRV you need to know what size you unit you will need.
2) Buying the Right Size Ventilation System
So for my studio I am usually the main person working in my space. I occasionally will have clients and studio musicians in the space, but this leads to a total of 3 people max. I would there for want an ERV that delivers around 45 CPM to satisfy my ventilation needs.
Now if you have a studio that has full bands in the live room or control room you will need a larger unit. For example, five people would need 75 CFM of airflow.
3) Sizing The Unit
When you are looking for the right ERV or HRV for your home studio build make sure to begin your search by sizing the right unit. If we go back to our example before, I would look for an ERV that provides 75 CFM.
Just doing a quick google search I came up with a unit that would work for this example. The Fantech AEV80 provides 80 CFM and would adequately provide enough fresh air for 5 people. I have a Fantech ERV and it has worked wonderfully.
Conclusion
So, it is not so complicated, but you do want to remember that each person in your studio will need 15CFM of fresh air. By incorporating a fresh air system into your studio design you are setting yourself up for success and lasting health in your soundproof studio for years to come.
0:00 - Intro
2:33 - How Much Airflow Per Person
3:24 - How To Size Your Unit
4:48 - Buying The Right System
6:02 - Conclusion
FREE Soundproofing Workshop: www.soundproofyourstudio.com/workshop
Great info on this video!
I have a small walk in closet that I converted into a studio. It has a drum set, guitar amp and p.a.
With the door closed it gets hot with 2 people and oxygen gets slim. I have to eventually open the door.
To solve this without opening the door, I have thought about installing an exhaust fan. Luckily the walk in closet has the roof entrance in the ceiling.
Thinking of just getting a foam 4x4 board and installing an exhaust fan on it. Then replace the existing wood board covering the entrance with it. The fresh air outside the room can go in from the bottom of the door with the help of the exhaust fan sucking the stale air out.
Lmk what you think.
Hard to understand over text, but it could work.
Thanks for this excellent video. I've been going back and forth on this for a while, but I actually have a large window in my control room. Does all this just mean I should just open the window? I know it defeats the soundproofing part of the problem, but when its just me, or a couple of people i'm guessing I should just open the window, correct? Trying not to over engineer a solution to a problem I may not have.
Is the window part of your soundproof design? If not I would go back to the drawing board.
I have a concrete room I want to soundproof for drums. Not to a perfect STC but something to keep neighbors happy (in a townhouse). Should be a space between the inner and the concrete wall? If so, what is the recommended separation.
Yup 1" minimum is recommended.
15 cfm is 7 L/s. 21 cfm or 10 L/s of outdoor (fresh) per person is a better amount. A CO2 monitor would be a handy addition
Sure more fresh air the better. Gervais recommended 15 CFM per person. I have a co2 monitor in my studio.
I was wondering, i read alot about placing such a box of placing separate fans for freshair and exaust.
But why not place just one on the exhaust and add just a vent with a diy sound maze box?
The exhaust fan wil create a underpressure in the room what wil suck fresh air from the vent.
In my country (The netherlands) the is like the normal way to extract air from our houses ( and thus suck fresh in )
Sure that could work too as long as the pressure is right. The ERV as a unit does more than just transfer air so their is the benefit of using it.
With my allergies, yes
Good point
After watching your videos i preety much cleared on how to make it ventilated but here's a small ques... Can we use air purifier instead of ventilation ? little bit confused
The goal is to pull co2 out and fresh air in. An air purifier doesn’t do that to my knowledge.
@@soundproofyourstudio Thanks for the clarification 🙏🏼
Have you seen anyone using a Co2 monitor for something small like a drum room on a budget? When the Co2 builds up.. open up the door and take a break.
Unless the temp is the same outside in which case there would be no air transfer
I have a combination alarm in my studio, smoke and CO. Its also tied to the rest of the house system as the studio is sound proof and would not hear any alarms just in that room
Will outside noise come in through the ERV?
Yes, this is why you need a baffle box.
I started my project then relaised I needed ventilation. On your workshop video you made ventilation from a lined wooden baffle. Is this Fantec system to replace that?
I'm really stuck on how to ventilate my soundproof room as it is inside the house with a dry wall into my garage, and the other 3 walls solid into the house. So the vent will have to go into the garage and out from there somehow.......
Yes it’s a tricky situation. I can help from a consulting side or you can watch my ventilation vids. Here is a link to book a consulting session if you are interested: www.soundproofyourstudio.com/offers/P8zp8ByG/checkout.
@@soundproofyourstudio Hi Wilson, I am based in the UK. Are you familiar with the building regulations for the UK? Do you know of fans etc that I can purchase in the UK, as importing thewm from the USA will be time-consuming and potentially costly paying import duties.
If you can design a system that will suit the uK building regs with parts that I can source in the UK I would sign up.
I installed an air conditioner for fresh cool air. Hope it is enough.
Air conditioners don't give you fresh air 😅
@@iampeeyushkumawat I live in a very hot and humid place.
what type of air conditioner? Most just recycle and cool the air already in the room but do not provide any fresh air.
Just make sure you are getting ventilation
I tried your link. It doesn't work.
Which link are you referring to?
@@soundproofyourstudio the one you refer to in your video. The button at the bottom of the page to schedule a call doesn't work, do you still do that?