Expert: Henry Boyter - 10/26/2006

Question
I am having a Halloween party this weekend and am faced with fog that rises too quickly.  I need to cool the fog so I purchased a fog machine that allows you to put ice into the fog solution but I have thought about using dry ice instead of regular ice.  Do you think this is wise or will the extreme cold cause the machine to stop working?  If dry ice in the machine isn't the answer do you have any other suggestions? Thanks for any input!  

Answer
This could be very dangerous to your machine AND guests.  Dry ice could break the machine, it could burn anyone touching it, and most of all dry ice vapor displaces the air in the area reducing the oxygen level and possibly causing your guests to get light headed and in the worst case pass out.  What you are trying to do with the regular ice is about the best you can do without hiring a special effects person.

What might help some is cut the ventillation back (not off) in the room and keep the temperature on the cool side.