How do I keep my dedicated room & gear cleaner?

Hello Tmsorosk, I wish it were that simple for me. But the big issues for the wife and I are during the summer, when it "bakes" for 4 months solid, we cannot survive with any leval of comfort if we don't run our A.C.-it's an absolute MUST. I don't know about you, but I can't function comfortably once the temperature INSIDE my home rises above 80 degrees Farenheit. It's just too friggin' miserable...and I sweat like Mike Tyson at a spelling bee!! During our sweltering summers it consistently gets 100 degrees or hotter where I live. Some days the mercury will rise to 110, 113, and it's been known to hit 116 degrees. That's brutal. So leaving doors and windows open during the day is simply NOT a viable option. If we run the A.C. all day and night, (which we often do), our electric bill goes right thru the roof. Not at all uncommon to have $1800, $2000, or higher bills per month. It's a killer man! And it cuts into my C.D.,Vinyl, Beer ,& Cigar money! Can't be having that. SO at night when the temp. drops, we open up windows and screen doors, kick on the "whole house" fan, and turn our ceiling fans on high. It works ok, circulates the air, (and all the ebee-geebees from outside too), and the house cools down to an "acceptable" temperature. Like 78 degrees Farenheit. If I didn't run my A.C. during the day, my interior house temp. would very easily hit 95 degress. NO SHIT! It's happened before. I ain't having that! My "whole house" fan, in conjunction with open windows and screen doors, and all the ceiling fans on-is effective at cooling things down but is a BIG CULPRIT when it comes to all the outdoor filth that makes it's way indoors. That's always a problem, always has been. So what to do? Run the air and sell off our first born?, and our gold teeth in order to pay the bill? Or use the "natural" elements, aided by fans, to pull the heat out? Clearly we cannot control what mother nature stirs up outside, nor can we stop farmers from tending to their fields and orchards, so we clean, clean, clean constantly! It sucks man! I have this kick ass dedicated listening room with great gear, killer speakers, artwork all over the place, and it's always so damb dusty. Bums me out. Never was AS big of a problem until recently when I got a brand new pair of MBL 101e Mk2 Radialstrahlers. Paid a small fortune for them. Love em. In no time flat they began to look terrible. All dusty and dirty. They are kind of a pain to clean too. Takes a lot of time and you have to be very careful not to do damage to the (orbs) driver elements, or the high gloss paint finish. I had custom covers made that worked well but are a pain to put on/take off. I am disabled and do not work, so I am home all the time. That allows me to listen to alot of music...all the time! It's really groovy to be able to do that. I love it. My audiophile buddies are jealous as hell and wish they could "immerse" themselfs in TUNEAGE the way I do. SO THAT'S MY STORY, and I'm stickin' to it! Now I am needing to install & employ some kind of TOTAL air filtration/circulation system. Hence, the reason for my starting this thread. Got some good ideas so far. Still looking for more input, and still gotta do more research into different "systems" before making a purchase, or installing anything. Elizabeth suggested those free-standing HEPA filters by HONEYWELL. I plan to buy several of them for starters. They are not terribly expensive and can be moved around as needed. As for moving out of the area, or out of my home? That's NOT an option as we like the area. HATE the friggin' climate during the summer with a passion. So thanks to everybody who has contributed so far. Will keep you all updated as this process moves along. Peace.

Hello Martin ... You must be kidding , $1800 to $2000 per month , Wow , thats about what are utility bills are for a year , and the folks here think were getting hosed . Of coarse in Canada are furnace gets about 7 months use and AC unit is used for about 4 months .
As I mentioned above our furnace/AC unit is equipped with an electronic filter , its far superior to the particle filters that come with those units . The cost was about $900 installed and works whenever the furnace or AC is on . If your close to it you would think there was a bug zapper in the intake duct .
After hearing about the temps you endure it makes 3 feet of snow sound like a tip toe through the tulips . All the best . Tim

Is your room some what sealed so the room can be made slightly positive? Not counting of curse when you open the door to enter. If this can be done, you can add a separate small inline blower to the A/C supply duct that can be switch on and off with a differential pressure switch. This would keep your audio room at a higher pressure than the rest of your house. The air would also be filtered air from your a/c system. This would minimize the dust from entering the room in the first place. This is one of the ways they control the air quality in clean rooms along with very expensive 4” prefilters and 12” 95% HEPA final filters. You can also purchase a make up air unit for the room with all the fixings to control all issues with the room as they do with clean rooms.

Hello Tmsorosk, No kidding about the electric bill. You know I'd almost prefer the snow. Colder climate is much more to my liking, unfortunately we are "rooted" like so many people and must stay in the area due to aging and ill parents, children, longevity on the job(for the wife, I'm all done with the work world now),etc.,etc. Now is not the best time to pack up and move away much as we'de like to. Winters are not too bad here. Summer sucks bigtime. We enjoy the small comforts of life which I'm sure contribute to a high electric bill. 2 refrigerators, a freezer, a beermeister (just gotta have one of those you know), and a jacuzzi help drive up the costs no doubt. Add to that trying to cool a big house down to a (semi)comfortable 78 degrees Farenheit when it's 105 degrees outside. We have an oversized a.c. unit for the square footage (2700 sf) of our home, but it works OVERTIME from May thru September. It NEVER shuts off. God forbid when I sneak over to the thermostat, (when the wife isn't looking), and click it down another 3 or 4 degrees. Run the a.c. at 70 to 72 degrees 24/7 and watch the meter "SMOKE"!! Add to that having all the ceiling fans on full speed. Then my audio gear that stays on 18 friggin' hours a day! I have no idea how much juice my B.A.T. VK600se monoblocks consume when they are doing their thing all day and night. But I know they are suckin' down some power, not to mention generating a signifigant amount of heat, which only adds to the issue of cooling down and comfort. My home is 18 years old, (fairly new construction), No basement. Stucco and brick exterior, Cement tile roof, interior walls are sheetrock. Insulation up in the attic was "blown" in, and appears to be covering up all the beams? (R-30 value I believe its rated). All interior walls are insulated too. R-19 I think? Beyond that is nothing particularly special about it's design. My dedicated audio room does NOT have a door to close it off, so in response to your question Hevac1, I cannot seal it off from the rest of the house or do anything with regard to "differential" pressure. At least I don't believe so, if I even understand what you are suggesting. (I'm definately no HVAC expert). I DO have one of those "HUSH" fans mounted up in the attic, ducting connects to 1 single ceiling mounted vent above the equipment rack, sucks the rising warm air out and blows it into the attic. It's on 24/7 and has never been turned off in the last 4 years. Without it the room would become unbearable to sit in and listen to music during the summer. Oh yeah, house sits oriented east/west, so we get morning sun that "frys" the front of the house 1/2 the day, and afternoon sun that "bakes" the back of the house, and patio the rest of the day. Ah shit, now that I read all the things I just wrote maybe I SHOULD just move to a colder climate! Ha Ha Ha! So that's what it's all about here in my neck of the woods. Still pisses me off that we incur such monster power bills every summer. SO...in an attempt to utilize the "natural" elements (nightly breezes), and the ceiling fans, the "whole house" fan, and open windows and screen doors...my house, my dedicated listening room, my beautiful audio gear and MBL speakers, (and every other cotton pickin' thing), is dirty. Dirty all the time. What to do? What to do? So far Tom6897, and Elizabeth have suggested HEPA filters, Free standing Honeywell type. I plan to buy a few once I find who sells them in my area, but have not done it yet. I'm still taking everybodys input under advisement. Surfing the net. Doing lots of research and homework. Hifigary cautions against the OREK table top air purifier due to the fact that it outputs "ozone" that will damage rubber. That's not a good thing, even if DAVID OREK says he'll throw in a cordless vacuume cleaner and battery operated refrigerator filter all for only $400.00!! (and he will even pay for the shipping! You just gotta love those late night infomercials.) Bjesien has given me a great idea to install some type of "air exchanger" system in the house, which didn't really seem to be all that cost-prohibitive. Although I will need to concentrate more on dust and pollen removal, but not heat exchange. I am awaiting information and/or a phone call from a manufacturers rep. as I write this. Again, I am no HVAC expert and will need info/installation help on something like this, But thanks again Bjesien for gettin' the ball rolling for me on this one! Hevac1 gave me an idea that I've often thought about, but never done, "seal" my dedicated listening room off. I should put a door on the room!! What a great idea. That way I can pressurize the room, (whatever that means?), and run extra ducting into the room from the main a.c. unit? I think? Did I get that one straight? All great ideas. Some of the more complex HVAC applications I will need to have professionals explain, and install. But that's cool. Some of the more simplistic "do-it-yerself" FREE STANDING HEPA filters are an easy fix and reasonably priced too. I think one of those energy usage surveys would also be a good idea. Maybe my home is in need of some insulation upgrades? I am planning on installing some of those THERMAL SHADE SCREENS across all the windows and glass doors on both the front (eastern exposure), and back (western exposure) of my house once spring arrives. That could help huh? Ok folks, I've carried on long enough. Thanks for reading all my posts, and for all the advice and concern. Peace.