Help with windowless home theater room - remove toxins
Help with windowless home theater room - remove toxins
(OP)
I hope that this is the correct forum (came across it via google).
I have a windowless room that in my basement that I've converted into a home theater/exercise gym (I exercise while watching). The room is approx. 12x26' and does not have any windows. Further, I've insulated it well to keep the sound from the movies trapped inside the room so as to not disturb those outside of it.
As mentioned unfortunately it doesn't have windows (came that way) and today I broke 2 CFL screw in bulb in the room - so naturally I'm worried about mercury exposure.
Please see the attached pic as to the layout.
How can I ventilate this room - being that there aren't any windows in the room?
Preferably something which is (a) inexpensive (b) can be covered/plugged so that sound doesn't escape the room while watching a movie (3) Preferably (though not critical, just trying to save costs) something which I can install myself (though I don't have much more than screwdriver skills) - despite being used as a home theater - it doesn't look pretty so aesthetics aren't an issue.
Thanks!!
I have a windowless room that in my basement that I've converted into a home theater/exercise gym (I exercise while watching). The room is approx. 12x26' and does not have any windows. Further, I've insulated it well to keep the sound from the movies trapped inside the room so as to not disturb those outside of it.
As mentioned unfortunately it doesn't have windows (came that way) and today I broke 2 CFL screw in bulb in the room - so naturally I'm worried about mercury exposure.
Please see the attached pic as to the layout.
How can I ventilate this room - being that there aren't any windows in the room?
Preferably something which is (a) inexpensive (b) can be covered/plugged so that sound doesn't escape the room while watching a movie (3) Preferably (though not critical, just trying to save costs) something which I can install myself (though I don't have much more than screwdriver skills) - despite being used as a home theater - it doesn't look pretty so aesthetics aren't an issue.
Thanks!!





RE: Help with windowless home theater room - remove toxins
RE: Help with windowless home theater room - remove toxins
For ventilation, you can add air channels with acoustic labyrinths, one for air going in, one for air going out.
They can be similar.
A simple but effective acoustic labyrinth looks vaguely like a simple periscope; a rectangular tube of some length, say floor to ceiling, with openings on opposite faces at opposite ends. The one for incoming air can have a fan on the regular basement end, say at the bottom of a plywood tube. You could put an air diffuser on the home theater end at the top to spread the air out. Similarly for the one removing air from the theater, but it may not need a fan. It still needs a hole, of course.
The trick is the acoustic lining. Good stuff comprises 1/2" of urethane foam, 1/8" of lead-loaded plastic sheet, and another 1/2" of urethane foam, bonded to the inside faces of the plywood tube with contact cement. A cheaper alternative would substitute ordinary galvanized steel sheet for the lead-loaded plastic. It can be in pieces, without rigid corner connections, i.e., it doesn't have to be a proper duct all by itself; it just has to cover most of each flat surface.
The net inside cross sectional area at any transverse section of the tube should equal or exceed the flow area of the fan. A rectangular section is probably better than a square one, and takes less space away from the actual basement.
If the sound absorption of the tube is insufficient, add baffles parallel to the airflow, comprising galvanized steel sheets with foam on both sides. In the limit, they would form a number of parallel air passages about 1 or 2 inches in transverse/least dimension, resembling a commercial bread slicer with thick soft blades.
Such baffles/grillages are sold commercially for yacht engine rooms, where they allow almost unimpeded flow of combustion air, and suppress engine noise (that's at a nearly painful level) to levels that allow a conversation with ease just outside the bulkhead. They are typically not more than a foot 'thick' in the axial direction.
Sorry, I have no design data for such stuff, so it will have to be cut and try unless someone else comes up with equations or numbers.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Help with windowless home theater room - remove toxins
RE: Help with windowless home theater room - remove toxins
Mercury permissible exposure level(TLV's) can be obtained from the American Industrial Hygienist pamphlet on PEL's; also research the internet for that value.