Need to vent my home theater

A

arnemetis

2[H]4U
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Aug 2, 2004
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Hello everyone,

I finished up my theater in July, and occasionally I had an issue with it getting pretty warm in there. I didn't do anything particular with regard to soundproofing, so of course I also forgot to consider ventilation. During the winter it wasn't an issue, at most needed a blanket on your legs. But as warmer weather approaches again, we've already had it get pretty warm in there when used for several hours.

I'd like to vent some of the hot air out of the space, without adding noise as I'm pretty happy with how the space came out. I've done some research into it, and I think an inline fan connected to 6" ducting will work. The adjacent basement space is open and connects to my office, where I have an AC in the window for when it gets real toasty down here. There's also a dehumidifier in the open space, which the air would pass by before returning to the theater.

The only source of intake would be beneath the door, which I think would be ok. Ideally of course it would vent back near the dimmer, which is where the projector is hanging and is the source of all the heat, however I am worried about hearing the noise from the fan if it is that close. In the attached layout, I've shown the intake in the corner of the room over the avr equipment stand. This should be far enough away to not be an issue, and should also be far enough away from the server so that it's noise doesn't come back in (the small wall in front of the server is on a sliding track for access, and does a good job of masking it's noise with just a single layer of gypsum.) I can then run the flexible 6" vent hose back towards the other corner of the basement to the fan, and exhaust it back into the space.

So I'm open to suggestions. I've seen some people make the duct work slither back and forth, I could do similar by having it dip down towards the drop ceiling and then go high into the joint bay (about 13" between the top of ceiling tiles and the bottom of flooring above.) I could also consider venting it neat the projector if this snaking method would be enough to eliminate the fan noise, and then dump it out close to the dehumidifier. The ceiling isn't installed yet on the left side of the basement, so I'd rather do this (including the electrical wiring for the fan) before that.

I also could use some suggestions regarding the fan. There seem to be a LOT of options out there. I've seen Fantech mentioned a lot, but I don't really know what's appropriate. I realize that I'll likely have to use a switch neat the fan to turn it on and off, and this won't be in the theater - that's ok by me. A remote control would be neat, but not a big deal.

basement vent initial idea.png 0519181224_Pano.jpg
 
get a bigger fan for lower noise. can you go straight across from the projector into the other room? that way you vent it directly.
 
pendragon1 said:
get a bigger fan for lower noise. can you go straight across from the projector into the other room? that way you vent it directly.
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Do you have any suggestions for a fan to use? My limitations are 13" high (between bottom of subfloor above and top of installed ceiling tile) by 14" wide (space between joists.) I'll be using 6" flexduct to connect to it, 8" won't fit over the center beam. Here's an alternative layout to try and draw air in directly near the back of the room, flanking the projector. I figure by pulling from two locations, it will reduce the noise?
basement vent second idea.png
 
pendragon1 said:
since youre limited in size yeah I would try like that and maybe something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-CLOUDLINE-T6-Thermostat/dp/B074XBXFPD
read the q&a for more info like cfm, db, power source etc.
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While that one looks pretty good, it has one major flaw - it's powered by a typical outlet. The fan will be installed above the drop ceiling, so the rules change a bit. I don't know if running the wire from the fan back to the controller through the ceiling would be acceptable. I figured I'd be using one that would be wired more traditionally to the junction box the lights would be on, and then maybe a controller could run down. Any thoughts?
 
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You said that this is all down in a basement right? And that a portion that's currently NOT in the theater room is unfinished?

I would look for something similar to that vent fan, but could be hard-wired.

Then install the actual fan outside of the theater room, closer to the point where you're going to vent it from the building.

This will cut down on noise inside the theater significantly. This way, all that's running through your ceiling is the ducting.
 
^ what he said. and you can find other low noise inline fans similar to this but hard wired if you really want. I did see another unit that is 120v but it was $90 then all the control stuff was extra. ended up working out to the more $$ than the one I posted.
 
Chas said:
You said that this is all down in a basement right? And that a portion that's currently NOT in the theater room is unfinished?

I would look for something similar to that vent fan, but could be hard-wired.

Then install the actual fan outside of the theater room, closer to the point where you're going to vent it from the building.

This will cut down on noise inside the theater significantly. This way, all that's running through your ceiling is the ducting.
Click to expand...

pendragon1 said:
^ what he said. and you can find other low noise inline fans similar to this but hard wired if you really want. I did see another unit that is 120v but it was $90 then all the control stuff was extra. ended up working out to the more $$ than the one I posted.
Click to expand...

Chas,

Thanks for the feedback. The ceiling on the other side is currently unfinished, but I am planning on putting the ceiling in this year. So the fan would be above the as yet installed drop ceiling, thus limiting my electrical options. As my second layout showed, I'd be installing the fan itself near the dehumidifier, well outside the room proper. However, I am not looking to vent it from the building. I would just be dumping it into that part of the basement (with the washer/dryer) so that the dehumidifier could do some work, and then the AC in the office could help cool it off before it's brought back into the room.

pendragon1,

Thanks again. Yeah I really like the unit, I'll have to do some more hard searching later to try and find one that is hard wired. I didn't mind running low voltage stuff above the ceiling across the joists (cat 6, speaker wire, coax) but I didn't mess around when it came to lighting or outlets. Having flexible cable up there is a no go, because it can decay much faster than romex, and it wouldn't be noticed because it's hidden by the tiles.
 
I think if you find a fan like the first one mentioned, and place a vent near the projector, you could let the heat rise naturally to the vent, than run the ducting wherever to the outside, and just place the fan closer to the outside rather than closer to the projector and you should be just fine. just my two cents
 
ChRoNo16 said:
I think if you find a fan like the first one mentioned, and place a vent near the projector, you could let the heat rise naturally to the vent, than run the ducting wherever to the outside, and just place the fan closer to the outside rather than closer to the projector and you should be just fine. just my two cents
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Yeah I've been busy and haven't had time to look into this again. Just gotta find a good one designed to be hard wired so it can be mounted above the drop ceiling outside the room.
 
arnemetis said:
Yeah I've been busy and haven't had time to look into this again. Just gotta find a good one designed to be hard wired so it can be mounted above the drop ceiling outside the room.
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Or you could buy one that isn't hard-wired and simply pay an electrician to splice it for you.
 
Chas said:
Or you could buy one that isn't hard-wired and simply pay an electrician to splice it for you.
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Yeah I was hoping to not immediately void the warranty. I know that's an option, seems like a better idea to just find some that are designed for it.
 
there are some designed for hardwiring but all the ones I could find were the same cfm but twice as loud, 70db+. the quiet one I post has like a 12 foot cord to the brick. so you could run it out of the drop ceiling and to a socket. if you dont like the look cover it with trim maybe.
 
pendragon1 said:
there are some designed for hardwiring but all the ones I could find were the same cfm but twice as loud, 70db+. the quiet one I post has like a 12 foot cord to the brick. so you could run it out of the drop ceiling and to a socket. if you dont like the look cover it with trim maybe.
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Against code, would deny me any claim on home insurance if anything happens. You can't have flexible cords like that in a drop ceiling, even if there's no tile there.

I might have to look into having the duct drop through the ceiling, and mount the fan on the wall. That's a lot more work than I planned, and will likely be pretty loud if not concealed a little bit. Will have to consider options for that now too.
 
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