Homemade Ventilation

I really do not need much ventilation right now because I brew in my garage and just open the door and turn on a box fan(all electric kal clone, no propane isses). My BK is like 1 foot from the outside. The steam just rolls out. But I have been thinking about winter and I do not want the door wide open. I was thinking I might just open the door a foot or so and put a fan on the ceiling pointing out to push out the steam. So here is a prototype of what I was thinking. This is 3/4 plywood with two circles cut in it. I had two server rack fans. These are the fans you see mounted to the top of a 4 post server cabinet. I got a 5 dollar dimmer switch so I could adjust the fan speed. I just fired it up and these things move a lot of air. What do you think? I will finish the box and secure all the cables.

Don't stand directly under that thing with a hat on.

Ha, going to put the grates back to save my hat.

I brewed in the dead of winter, in my unattached, unheated garage. It was the suck. A fan would take care of the moisture but with that moisture goes your heat. Brewing in the winter sux. It was so bad SWMBO has agreed to let me do small batches inside. Thank the brew god's the freezing temps are just about all done for!I am planning my next brew day, since that wonderful experience, this weekend. I really miss my keggles!!!

I just looked these fans up, 180 each. Should sell them and buy a hood. But what fun is that. Love DIY stuff

how will these hold up to moisture? I want a few of those to make a quiet whole hose fan.

You seem to be pretty handy. Why not make your own moveable hood? You could put it right over the pot and the steam would be sucked out without removing all of the heat from the burner.

I think you might be overdoing it. How many brew days are you going to lose because it's too cold? In a semi enclosed area, like an open garage, with a propane burner I bet you could brew well into the 20s and stay warm.

I just like projects, I am all electric, so no burner to keep me warm. I am thinking I will do a hood eventually. I wanted to play with these fans to see how they work. I also might be moving by winter, so I did not want anything permanent.

btw here is a pic of the brewery.

That control box had to be quite the undertaking. My head was spinning when I looked at the parts list for that. Kal's got a nice writeup on everything but it almost looks overwhelming. How long did it take you to get all the parts and put it together?

I hope those fans work out. They might not be super effective under the door but if they're moving a lot of air they might be more effective than I expect. You could turn the fans into a hoverboard if they don't work out like you hoped.

Love the hoverboard idea.

Took 4 months for everything. I was an undertaking. It is awesome though.

Going to put the fans near the roof, above bk.