Home Theater HVAC and Room Finish
Now we get to the one item, HVAC, that I considered, but ultimately was too lazy (or cheap) to call in a specialist, e.g., an HVAC installer. The first section on this page outlines the background and special considerations for HVAC in a home theater, as well as the decisions made regarding what should be implemented.
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The second section is entirely unrelated. It covers some typical finish options for a home theater and then discusses the finishes and color trade-offs considered for this room.
HVAC Considerations
Last Updated: 03/02/2025
There was no preexisting HVAC system for this home theater room. So, if this room had been properly designed, I would have implemented a proper ventilation system. Perhaps one of my larger omissions was not spending the funds to add appropriate ventilation, even though we did explore options for adding ventilation.
The room is usable, but it can get a "bit stuffy" after a couple of hours, mainly because the soundproofing further restricts any natural airflow.
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Again, because I skipped doing anything HVAC-related, I don't have direct experience with any of the different options. However, some research was done to assess what would have been required. The following summarizes the gathered information regarding an HVAC design for this room.​​
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​HVAC performance goal:
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Introduce fresh air to the room.
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Airflow of about 4-6 ACH (air changes per hour). One can calculate airflow using - airflow (CFM) = room volume x ACH / 60
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Advantages of a separate HVAC system for a home theater:
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An independent, dedicated HVAC system can independently address the theater's unique heating/cooling demand from the rest of the house.
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Cooling requirements are based on room occupancy.
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Keep ductwork separate from the rest of the house, eliminating sound leakage.
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The existing house HVAC is sized for the existing house and would have additional capacity to support a new room.
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​The only choice for this room was a dedicated system. There are two general categories of air conditioning systems: ducted and ductless. A short comparison follows.
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Ductless versus Ducted dedicated room systems:
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A ductless system has an air handler unit installed inside the room.
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A sizable (typically white) air handler unit is hung on a wall, which can be distracting and make placement difficult.​​
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One must carefully review the equipment's sound level specifications for the air handler. A quiet model should be chosen. Not much else can be done to mitigate noise.
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Relatively easy to install, typically with a lower installation cost.
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Ductless mini-splits are more readily available than ducted systems and come in more configurations.
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Ductless systems are typically less expensive to purchase and install.
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A ducted system has an air handler outside the room, so only vents show within a room.​
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It is more complex to run ductwork and maintain sound isolation.​
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There are fewer options for a ducted system tailored to a single room.
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More expensive equipment and installation.
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It has a much better ability to control noise via duct design.
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If one's requirements are to have a very quiet room, then one can further optimize the noise reduction of a ducted system as follows:
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Ducting with very low air velocity to reduce vent noise.
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Use internally/externally padded and flexible ducting to muffle the sound.
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Utilize longer ducting with several turns to control equipment noise.
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Consider building a dead vent to muffle the air return sound. (See soundproofingcompany for more details.)
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Use equipment with low operating pressure and variable speed motors to minimize start and stop noise.
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Consider oversizing the system to run more quietly below the max rating.​
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If I were to pick a system today, I'd choose a ductless mini-split. Even though it wouldn't be the quietest option, the lower cost and easier installation win out. To get an idea of how powerful a system is needed, I used an online calculator (from servicetitan.com). For a 230 sq. ft. room area, the result was a recommended equipment capacity of 9,000 BTU / 0.75 Tons. (​Note: The conversion between WH - BTU is - 1Wh = 3.412 BTUs. Conversion to tons is - 1 ton = 12,000 BTUs)
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Wall Finish and Coverings
Last Updated: 09/02/2024
There are several options for wall coverings and finishes one can choose for a home theater. The two that I considered were (1) Paint with wood trim and (2) Fabric. Other wall coverings, such as wood paneling, were not considered due to costs, complexity of installation, and poor acoustic properties.
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Fabric Wall Covering
​I did not choose to use fabric wall coverings to finish the walls. Using fabric has some positives. It is not reflective and is typically less reflective than paint. If one uses acoustically transparent fabric, absorption and diffusion can be hidden underneath it. This gives the theater a clean look and can be implemented to allow the placement of acoustical panels and speakers to be easily adjusted. Kits/systems are available to simplify the installation somewhat. However, this type of wall covering is more expensive and labor-intensive than simply painting the walls. For these reasons, a fabric wall covering was not strongly considered. However, in a theater where clean aesthetics and acoustics are a priority, a fabric wall covering system is an excellent choice. ​​​​​​
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Paints and Finishes
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A technically correct color for a home theater interior, especially a projector-based room, is to paint every surface flat black. Doing so minimizes reflections from the screen, walls, or other light sources impacting the screen image. However, doing so is usually not aesthetically pleasing, to say the least. (Plus, it can be annoying to have difficulty seeing even with the lights on.)
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The next best recommendation for painting the home theater is a color-neutral gray shade. The technical reason to avoid non-neutral colored finish on walls is that light from the screen reflects off the walls back to the screen and then to the viewer. The color of the reflected light can (in theory) distort the color of the original impact. Using a neutral color reflects light evenly across the color spectrum and thus reduces color shift from the screen.
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The wall paint color is usually a tradeoff between aesthetics and technical color purity. Room aesthetics are usually the priority, and they were a consideration for this theater design.
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When using paint to cover the walls, the paint sheen should also be considered in addition to the paint color. The paint's sheen is its reflectivity. The less reflective, the better for home theater use. Typical paint sheens are:
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Flat - Least reflective, but difficult to clean. I'd recommend it for ceiling and screen walls.
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Eggshell - It is a little reflective and a little easier to clean. It is useful on the side walls, back walls, and molding.
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Satin - More reflective than Eggshell; use if Eggshell is unavailable.
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Semigloss - It is more reflective and easier to clean. I'd only use it on moldings out of the viewer's field of view or behind the viewer.
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Gloss - Pretty darn shiny, and I would not use it in the theater.
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If using natural wood trim, its finish has a similar reflectivity consideration, so generally, a flat or satin varnish is recommended and was used in my theater room. Even though a shiny wood finish may be preferred, it can be distracting.
Unsurprisingly, these same color considerations apply to wall coverings, curtains, carpet, and acoustic panels. So, ideally, the colors should be kept to shades of neutral gray to black. Again, aesthetics usually determines the color. Unsurprisingly, darker and less reflective is better for projector-based theater viewing.
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Figure 1. Gray wall with a row of black acoustic panels
Figure 2. Black curtains were added on both sides of the screen, each with an acoustic panel behind.
Finding a Neutral Gray (Paint)
This may get a little too picky, but a couple of gray color families are recommended if one wants to go with a very "neutral" gray paint for a wall color (Figure 3). Many other shades of gray have some color tint.
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Sherwin Williams Gray Screen (SW 7071-7076) is a recommended color family. (Reviewing the Sherwin Williams RGB color information indicates this family has a slight blue emphasis.)
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Another Sherwin Williams color family sometimes recommended is Passive (SW 7064-7674). This family's RGB values look slightly more neutral than Gray Screen's. Passive has a very slight blue de-emphasis.
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Finish Choice for this DIY Theater
Even with all this information, when I selected the paint for this room, I did not try to find a perfectly neutral gray;
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A medium grey was chosen for the walls. It was not color-neutral.
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The acoustic panels are black and take up most of the wall space. The combination of black panels and grey walls reduces wall reflections.
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The screen wall, ceiling, and underside of the soffit were dark navy blue—not neutral, but very dark. The eggshell sheen used has some visible screen reflection. A flat would have been better.
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The ideal choice for the carpet is a medium or dark neutral gray. Instead, I picked a dark navy blue shade to match the ceiling. The darker shade contributes very few reflections into the room.
Figure 3. Gray Screen (left) and Passive (right) are two neutral gray color families