Question regarding shed/studio ventilation

[Nemesis379]

Hello all,

I have a studio which we’ve built below are the specs

Internal ceiling height: 2.2m
Length: 3.05m
Width: 2.67m

External > internal
Roof Make-Up (sloped roof)
Felt > plywood > 100mm metal studs > 50mm air gap with 50mm Celotex > plywood > 2 layers of 12mm plasterboard (not installed yet)

Both ends of the roof have soffit vents all the way along so the roof is ventilated above the Celotex

Wall Make-Up:
cladding > plywood > 100mm metal studs > 100mm isover sound insulation > plywood > 2layers of 12mm plasterboard (not installed yet)

Do I need to add some kind of ventilation for the inside, if so what’s the best option for sound.

During the summer I was looking at building a diy server enclosure which has two vents that lead to the outside of the studio (hot air vented outside).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Maccapacca]

Yes you do just to keep it dry. Would suggest some sort of cross flow vents. Only need be small.

Our cabin has 2 100mm circular vents at the ridge line that keeps it dry and its 9m x 5m.

 

[Nemesis379]

If I put two vents above the windows then one and the back won’t they leak too much sound?

(Front and sides are painted and fascia has been added along with vents, this is the only pic I have currently)

I’m going to put the vent below the single window and another vent higher up on back wall.

 

[Nemesis379]

I’m going to have 2 computers, tv, AV receiver, multiple monitors, and plenty of speakers.

Do you reckon I will need active exhaust or will a couple passive vents good enough. (Especially for summer)?

 

[Semple]

How well is it insulated? I'd be more concerned about the heat running all that in there if we go through a heatwave of 30C+ for some length of time.

Either way, you'll probably get away with passive during colder months, for summer months i'll be amazed if passive airflow doesn't cause it to heat up a lot.

 

[samcat]

Roof insulation is your single most important thing. If you have none, get some. Kingspan or similar would be the best.
Flat rooves soak up the heat on a hot day.
Second to that is the windows, depending on orientation it could be a bit of a greenhouse.

Better to keep the heat out than fight to remove it.

 

[Nemesis379]

There’s 100mm Isover insulation in the walls and 50mm Celotex in the ceiling with air gap above that (and vented both sides).

The floor is suspended above ground level with 2x12mm ply, underlay then 18mm flooring.

The only other option is to buy Air Conditioning but I don’t fancy spending £1k+ on unit and installation.

Also thanks for responses.

 

[samcat]

Which way do the windows face, do they get blasted by full sun all day or is it facing away from direct sun?

Exhausts high, intakes low (and in a shaded area if possible). I would be inclined to intall a pair of extractor fans, keep the air moving. These can be run off a 2 way thermostat (so they switch ON when it gets too hot)

I think you will probably be okay, so long as you are exhausing hot air from all the kit... But without actual measurements/experience its hard to know.

 

[Nemesis379]

On the right side (the bit you can’t see is also a shed attached).

The roof and the front are the hottest parts, the left side is shaded and is quite cool. There’s a wall in front of the right side and back. (Brick)

I was going to create a baffle box for both intake and exhaust to reduce noise.

And install a vent intaking cool air bottom of the left side and exhaust out the back mounted high up and see how that goes.

As you said I won’t know till I do it and go from there.

Pic of where the vents would go:


(Still needs to be plasterboarded)

 

[samcat]

If you have the space/option dont mess around with in wall bathroom vent fans, get something a bit better, RVK or similar inline fan. Can get good baffles etc for them. Huge generalisation - Bigger fan turning slower with larger duct is quieter than smaller fan with smaller duct work. Keep it simple, less bends etc is quieter. Can get inline duct silencers/noise reducers.

Fan isolator then thermostat that can do cooling is probably a good idea, will turn on/off automatically based on preset temp.

Suitable mesh/vents to stop insects/rodents/birds getting in will be need on both inlet and exhaust.

Jealous of the shed btw, looks ace!

Get some nice tall plants outside to provide a bit of shade, anything you can do reduce solar gain makes your life easier from cooling.

 

[pp111]

Just a note here. I had a wood sun-lounge that suffered badly from condensation. The problem was the walls were really thin so the solution needed to be thin as well, and I needed a low power solution - not least because the plan was to leave it on pretty much 24/7 for the winter. I experimented with various fans but actually ended up using a 200mm Noctua PC fan. It is an inch thick so it's easy to fit in a thin wall. It only takes 1W yet because its on all the time its very effective. You just need a 12V LED power supply to drive it. It's absolutely silent yet packs 150 meters cubed an hour. I use a standard plumbing thermostat to turn mine on when the temperature is below 9 degrees. It works a treat, I literally don't get any condensation in the room at all now. The only question is can this be adapted to suit your needs?

 

[Nemesis379]

@samcat
Thanks again for your post, I’ll post some updated pics as well (soon).

@pp111

I'm assuming you only had 1 as exhaust?

Also what thermostat would you recommend?

@both of you
Do you reckon I would need one for intake and exhaust? or just exhaust and passive vent for intake.

That does sound a lot cheaper than the solutions I've been looking at.

For example "Ultra quiet inline duct fan TD 250/100 SILENT S&P - 4" - up to 250 m3/h" is £150 for two for two of them.

I don't mind building a DIY muffler/noise reducer box and mounting it on the outside like:



And have the fan on the inside exhausting/intaking air connected to a thermostat.

Thanks again both!

 

[samcat]

If building a box on the outside, put the fan out there..

https://shop.systemair.com/en-GB/rvk/c43680

Looks expensive. They are awesome, bargains can be had on ebay, my last 150mm one used for PIV ventilation on the house was an 150e2-l (low noise) and was about £30 delivered. Works perfectly.

If outside you could run a pollen/dust filter and have it as the intake with passive exhaust. Positive pressure. Keeps the dust and allergens to a minimum, really nice!

Most simple thermostats (the dial ones like on the wall in your hall) can switch on heating or cooling. Check the manual. Cost about £20

Another option would be an inkbird controller:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inkbird-Te...hild=1&keywords=inkbird&qid=1585254072&sr=8-8
Set a temperature at which point the heating turns on. Great for an oil filled radiator/panel heater.
Set a temperature at which point the cooling turns on.
Set a hysteresis temprerature, this controls how long it waits before switching the heating/cooling back on. Avoids it going on-off-on-off rapidly and being really annoying. So if cooling was set to start at 25oC and hysteresis was set to 5oC it would wait for the sensor to cool to 20oC before turning it off.
Can set schedules etc as no point cooling/heating between midnight and 7am (or whatever you choose)

A lot of this sort of kit crosses over with people growing dodgy stuff... So bargains can be had!

 

[samcat]

And for silencing it, duct attenuators work well and are not expensive.
https://www.ductstore.co.uk/acatalog/150mm-dia-attenuators.html

 

[Nemesis379]

And for silencing it, duct attenuators work well and are not expensive.
https://www.ductstore.co.uk/acatalog/150mm-dia-attenuators.html

I've been looking at this also:

https://www.rhinofilter.com/fans.html

Seems like a better solution for a few quid more I can also set it to be thermostatically controlled (temp+fan speed).

What do you reckon.

I've decided I'm going to mount a box on the side with felt on top, then have Vent > HEPA Filter > Fan > Ducting > Attenuator > Ducting > Vent in a well insulated box placed on the side of the studio.

 

[samcat]

Perfect. Rhino are very good.

Put it all outside, plastic ducting is cheap. Make sure the felted lid is removable /hinged for access and ensure that you have spare space in the box.. Makes it easier to maintain/work on in the future.

Good luck!