keeping a garage cinema cool

M

mardale

Guest
In the winter it was easy - I bought a 3kw oil filled radiator with a climate controlling remote control. Having the remote in the house kept the cinema (converted garage) at the same temperature without resorting to extending the central heating.

Now it's getting warmer outside I'm finding (particularly this warm weekend) that the room goes up to 28 degrees before we're even in it. Add the amp, HTPC, projector and two bodies to that and it goes up to an unbearable 32 degrees. Heaven knows what it will reach in the summer. :(

The question is, then, how does everyone else using a converted garage keep it cool?

The obvious solution is air conditioning, but the last thing you need in a cinema is a b****y great fan in the corner of the room and the neighbours complaining about the volume because I've had to drill a great hole out for the exhaust vent.

HELP!

Matthew
 
Hi Mathew,
I think the only real solution is air con - there are some different designs that are very quiet (similar to that of a DLP/LCD projector) and have venting shouldn't 'leak' too much noise. It probably won't be cheap though. A friend of mine has one and I think it came in at £1,500 :eek:
I have a detatched double garage conversion (see link in sig), with oil-filled rads, and it's not too bad. Last summer it was actually a bit chilli on ocasions. Okay, it does get stuffy after a long session with equipment on and people in but that's to be expected without a balanced heating/cooling system.
How did you insulate? I went for thermal over sound (it's still pretty good though - the window's still the worst point for sound escaping) with celotex in the walls and 200mm fibre in the loft.
Got any windows that let the sun in? I have and keep the blinds down on mine - that helps too.
Hope you can sort it.
Cheers,
Hatch
 
I am fast approaching my first Summer with the HC :D

An oil filled rad is my solution for warmth too and so far we still have it on low 24-7.

As for the hot Summer I am hoping the fact that I carpeted straight onto the concrete base will have the benefit of keeping the temperature down....maybe. I was also advised good insulation helps keep the heat out as well as in so we will find out soon enough :confused:

Worst case scenario if it gets too hot I will just have to convince my wife to watch things naked I 'spose :devil:
 
B and Q do AC now i have heard , maybe b worth a look

that or i`l come round and be the fan waver in the corner :hiya: i wont look honest :eek: :smashin:
 
Although air con is the tendy thing at the moment, there are some important issues with cost - actual purchase/running costs and costs to the envirnonment in terms of energy consumption and use.

There are some alternate methods suitable for HC in the form of passive ventialtion systems. A passive stack in the roof space and some [acoustic] wall vents may be suitable.
 
what about air coolers, they have them in the Argos book and they start at £49.99 ish I think. They work by putting ice cubes in a compartment and air is blown over them. There are more expensive models in there too. I dont know how loud they are when running but they do have a returns policy as far as I know.
 
i'm with Hatcher on this one
in the summer i often find it a little chilli in mine.................
have you still got windows in yours cos i would have thought that wall isulation would have kept out any heat mine is only a concrete sectional garrage with a six inch cavity filled with rock wool and studded covered with 18mm chipboard and then carpeted over all this may very well be the reason its so cool brick built garrages may retain more heat in a similar way to coal fires and chimney breasts.
 
Jamiroquai78 said:
Worst case scenario if it gets too hot I will just have to convince my wife to watch things naked I 'spose :devil:

We'll expect your HC thread to be updated with pics of course :D
 
Rayfin said:
We'll expect your HC thread to be updated with pics of course :D

Have you met the wife??? :eek:
 

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Jamiroquai78 said:
Have you met the wife??? :eek:

Now I understand why you always have that white stick with you :D
 
Best get that air conditioning sharpish! :eek:
 
I'm putting together a website as we speak - but no pictures of the missus naked I'm afraid.... :rolleyes: www.coolwebsitedesigns.com/cinema

There's little substance there now, but the photo gallery is up so you can see around the room. The rest'll follow in the next day or three. I'd be REALLY grateful for comment on design, layout and thigns to include - I'm trying to put a site together to allow innocents to consider doing what the rest of us have done.

Thanks for everyone's advice and suggestions on this. The room is double skinned with plasterboard and no windows. I think Gaz is right - the bricks are designed to keep warm and it's them coupled with direct sun for nearly the whole day that turn it into a greenhouse.

I've tried an aircooler - they seem to have all the downsides of aircon with the noise, but little cooling benefit.

I've tried keeping the curtains drawn over the doors - this does help, but not enough.

£1500 for dedicated aircon is well out of the question. The missus would have my testicles in a jar when she found out.

Standard aircon in the room is out because of the noise.

I do like Woody67's suggestion though - fitting a self draining (ie no maintenance) aircon unit in the roof space and venting the cold air down via a long feed pipe should reduce the noice to little more than the wind movement noise. It means major redecorating as I haven't left a loft access hatch in the ceiling, so I may well wait until it gets unbearable later in the summer, but I think for the money that option is by far the best comprimise of cost against functionality.

Thanks all. I'll report back about what I actually end up doing.

Matthew
 
Was looking at the B&Q air con last night - £499 for the 9000BTU split unit. ie. proper internal unit/outside inverter. They had a display model running and the internal unit was very quiet, I didn't hang around long enough for the inverter to fire up though.

They come with pre-gassed tubes to link the two so fitting is a DIY job, they even have a CD with instructions and a video.

IMHO, forget air coolers / evaporative coolers etc, they just don't cool enough.

I'd also forget those stand alone air con units, because they have the the condensor in the same unit as the evaporator they are very inefficient, not to say noisy.

I'd say go on - buy the B&Q one and let us know what it's like in action :devil:
 
If its any help I'm a joiner and i was working in a conservatory last summer full mid-day sun windows and doors closed and I was freezing well not quite but was very cool and that wasn't an expensive air-con unit the customer said it was £1000 fitted from the conservatory people so I doubt it would have been a better unit that the one offered at B&Q
 

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