Thread: Info wanted on Dry Ice

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I have always used foggers, and have a garbage can chiller and a cooler chiller. We bought a Chauvet fogger and it is awesome! Used some Froggy's last year and the results were amazing.

I have never tried dry ice, though. And here is why I ask. Our son is getting married next year in April and are having an Elegant Gothic wedding. They were talking about having fog swirl around their feet, but our son has now voiced some concerns about the noise of the machine, it starting and stopping and how effective the chillers will be in holding it down. I am also concerned about any fog juice residue spread out onto the facility floor, don't want anyone falling or make the dance floor slippery. I haven't brought this up to him ;-) because don't want him to worry about an additional concern.

So what I'd like to know is how long does the dry ice last and does it leave anything on the floor, etc. I am planning to build a large faux stone arch of foam for the ceremony and just had the brainstorm of putting a nook in each side to house bowls for the dry ice so that the arch will be the initiator of the fog. Is that too close to their feet? Will it be too cold? My original idea was to create something to go with the arch to stand behind it, a stone wall or something and have the dry ice area in that so that it would cascade down it behind the ceremony and swirl about their feet and spread out toward the guests.

What are your thoughts?

Have I gone completely mad?!?!?

We wasted 40$ bucks a few years ago on Dry Ice for Halloween.. wast of money... it didn't do any mist or fog effect. Maybe we did something wrond, but never again.

Some places have dry ice less than the cost of bags of ice...others are more expensive.
I buy mine at Public's, a grocery store. But I only use, dry ice, If the weather is poor for using the fog chiller.

You'll need to have a continuous supply of large chunks at the ready, when the previous chunk of dry ice finishes vaping.
Make sure you use a big enough bucket of warm/hot water for longer and denser fog hang time.

Cascading fog would be a really cool effect. This year I'm thinking of dong the same, but with it cascading off of my roof.

Os ~ Did you drop the dry ice into a bowl of warm water?
I know you have to drop it into warm water, even have a heating element of some sort to keep the water from going cold, and that it has to be fed more.

I just don't know how far it will travel out from the source while maintaining it's fog, or how much fog it will create.

Originally Posted by Eyegore

Some places have dry ice less than the cost of bags of ice...others are more expensive.
I buy mine at Public's, a grocery store. But I only use, dry ice, If the weather is poor for using the fog chiller.

You'll need to have a continuous supply of large chunks at the ready, when the previous chunk of dry ice finishes vaping.
Make sure you use a big enough bucket of warm/hot water for longer and denser fog hang time.

Cascading fog would be a really cool effect. This year I'm thinking of dong the same, but with it cascading off of my roof.

I want to cascade off the roof sooo bad for our party this year! Hubby wouldn't let me do it last year, but I am going to give it a try!

I have seen dry ice at our WinnDixie, don't get to Publix much but will check both for it. Thanks!
How big was your chunks? How long did they last? How far did it travel from the initial site?

Originally Posted by IshWitch

Did you drop the dry ice into a bowl of warm water?
I know you have to drop it into warm water, even have a heating element of some sort to keep the water from going cold, and that it has to be fed more.

I just don't know how far it will travel out from the source while maintaining it's fog, or how much fog it will create.

depends on weather conditions. I had mine setup with large chunks (about 4-5" in size) per hour.

Not sure how you'd direct it into a particular area. Unless you build a closed lid box, with a duct hole, or large slit at the top to release fog in a general direction.
Another possibility is to just use a really really wide, slightly shallow bowl. That way when if fogs, the distance it falls to the ground will be much less, and at a faster rate = more fog spread out.

This will be in a facility for a wedding. So no breezes.
So if I put a container at the top of something for it to cascade down and another at the bottom to flow out it should be a good effect? Would probably need to float out at least 10 feet for the ceremony to have it effective.

They are either having the ceremony on the Hall's stage or in a corner where there are arched windows.

Originally Posted by IshWitch

This will be in a facility for a wedding. So no breezes.
So if I put a container at the top of something for it to cascade down and another at the bottom to flow out it should be a good effect? Would probably need to float out at least 10 feet for the ceremony to have it effective.

They are either having the ceremony on the Hall's stage or in a corner where there are arched windows.

The closer the buckets/bowls are to the ground; the better the effect!
I would do, two large buckets, of water one on each side of the stage, etc.
With maybe 2 portable mini fans ($1 each) to help direct the fog.

Dry ice works best in hot water. It quickly cools the water down and the effect is slowed. Maybe you can put it in a cooking pot over a can of sterno to keep some heat in there. The CO2 coming out might put out the flames though.

Safety first, as always.

Another option that I think was mentioned, was a hot plate. You can rent those at most party/event places. Or you can buy them for about $30.