“I really want to buy an authentic soundproof room (like Avitecs), but due to my budget and room size, I can only fit a 0.8 to 1.2 tatami mat size. But the manufacturer told me, ‘We cannot install a wall-mounted air conditioner in a room this size’…”
This is one of the most despairing walls many people face when trying to introduce a soundproof booth into an apartment room. You absolutely cannot survive summer in a soundproof room without an air conditioner, but using a spot cooler with its roaring noise will ruin the precious silent recording environment you paid for.
In this article, we explain the “smart air conditioning design techniques” to reap the benefits of cooling and heating without breaking the silence at all in “ultra-small soundproof rooms” where you cannot drill holes in the wall to directly install an air conditioner.
1. Why Can’t Air Conditioners Be Installed in Rooms Under 1.2 Tatami Mats?#
The “wall-mounted air conditioner installation” recommended by soundproof room manufacturers typically requires a space of 1.5 tatami mats or larger. The reasons are as follows:
- Lack of Physical Space (Wall Width): The manufacturer cannot secure enough space not only for the air conditioner itself but also for the hole (sleeve) to run the piping and the surrounding maintenance area.
- The Wind Hits Too Directly (Overcooling/Drying): If the cold air from a room air conditioner blows directly into a space smaller than 1 tatami mat, not only will a person freeze, but there is also a danger of abnormal drying and rapid cooling condensation occurring on instruments and equipment.
2. Smart Air Conditioning Strategy ①: Draw in the Parent Room’s Air Conditioner via a “Duct”#
The most realistic method that perfectly maintains silence is “branching the air from the air conditioner in the parent room (the room where the soundproof room is located) into the soundproof room using a duct.”
An Approach Like Whole-House Air Conditioning#
Inside the soundproof room, only “heat sources (PC, human)” exist, while the “refrigerant (compressor)” is outside, meaning the driving noise of the air conditioner (the low hum or wind noise) does not echo inside the room at all.
- DIY Implementation: Fix one end of a flexible duct (like an aluminum bellows hose) to the outlet of the air conditioner in the parent room (or create a cover and place it over it). Connect the other end near the ventilation intake port of the soundproof room.
- Advantage: Absolutely no noise enters the room. This completes the “ultimate silent air conditioning” perfect for vocal recording or ASMR.
- Disadvantage: Because you need to cool the entire parent room, the electricity bill will be slightly higher. Additionally, routing the duct might look a bit clunky.
3. Smart Air Conditioning Strategy ②: Utilize the Forced Ventilation Power of “Lossnay”#
If it is a soundproof room equipped with a “Lossnay (simultaneous intake and exhaust ventilation fan)” as standard, like Yamaha’s Avitecs, you can utilize that powerful ventilation system as your “air conditioning.”
- Cool down the parent room thoroughly (e.g., set to 20°C).
- The Lossnay plays the role of “pushing the air inside the soundproof room outside (to the parent room) and bringing the outside (parent room) air inside.”
- The cold air from the parent room is aggressively pulled into the soundproof room by the Lossnay’s “forced intake.”
[Key Point] If you adjust the airflow direction so that the wind from the parent room’s air conditioner directly reaches (or use a circulator to send it to) the vicinity of the Lossnay’s intake port, the room temperature will drop surprisingly efficiently.
4. Don’t Do It! The Worst “Simple Cooling Devices”#
Bringing the following items into a cramped booth to get cool will lead to disastrous results.
- ❌ Cold Wind Fans (Evaporative Coolers using water or ice): These rapidly increase humidity and form mold colonies deep within the sound-absorbing materials in just a few days. They are strictly prohibited in a soundproof room.
- ❌ Peltier-Type/Small Compressor-Type Dehumidifying Coolers: They do dehumidify, but because they emit intense exhaust heat from the back, the room temperature actually rises.
- ❌ Placing a Spot Cooler Directly Inside: As mentioned earlier, the “roaring noise” of the compressor completely destroys the greatest value of a soundproof room: “silence.”
Conclusion: Air Conditioning in Small Soundproof Rooms is Decided by “Coordination with the Parent Room”#
- For spaces 1.2 tatami mats or smaller, do not try to complete the cooling/heating within the soundproof room alone.
- The grand prize solution is to either “send cold air directly via a duct” from the parent room’s air conditioner or “draw in cold air via Lossnay.”
- Cold wind fans that raise humidity are absolutely strictly prohibited as they will destroy the equipment and building materials of the soundproof room.
You do not need to be pessimistic about the small size of your soundproof room. Depending on how you think about it, an ultra-small booth where the heat source (air conditioner unit) can be placed outside can become the “world’s quietest private studio with the least noise.”
