Exhaust system for electric brewing?

I am going to be building a house in the near future and want to get my brewing out of the kitchen. I currently use the kitchen for 5 gallon extract and partial mash batches.

I plan to build a finished brew space & pub in the basement. I did a bit of searching, but couldn't find a solid answer for the CFM needed or the type of hood that is recommended. Any suggestions?

One detail I forgot to add is that this will be a custom builder home. They will work whatever request I have into the final product.

Malric said:

One detail I forgot to add is that this will be a custom builder home. They will work whatever request I have into the final product.

Click to expand...

Didn't you mean to say...They will work whatever request I have into the final invoice.

All kidding aside, you can go as upscale as you want IMO. I use a simple window fan and brew in the basement. Sure it doesn't capture all the steam during the boil but clears the room pretty quickly after the boil. A blinging ss hood and power vent would be great, but I have found that just by propping a fan I already owned in the window works very well.

Search around, a few people have installed elaborate venting.

I appreciate the feedback. I figure, I'm building it now, I might as well get it right the first time. And yes, custom request = cha ching.

I would take a look at this link first, just to give you an idea of what can be done, and I'm sure you can find a few threads about your question using the search.

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ventilation

+1 on doing it correct the first time. It may be some money up front, but in the long run you'll be happier and you won't be potentially damaging your great new house.

Type: You want a simple condensate hood with condensate channel (lip) and drain. Stainless looks better and more expensive, but galvanized is fine.

Size: You want a hood with a minimum of 6" overhang on front side, left side, and right side to fully capture all vapor/heat/GAS from kettle. No overhang required on rear side due to wall. Example, if cooking area is 30" x 30" (w/ rear wall), hood size should be 42" x 36". If island style, hood size should be 42" x 42".

CFM: You want to use the least amount of cfm that will do the job. No need to suck out costly AC or Heat from your home. A typical condensate hood will draw 150 to 400 cfm per linear foot of hood, depending on the location and application. If you can locate your brewing equipment in a corner of the room, and thus mount the hood in a corner, you can lower your cfm requirements. Also, as you decrease the distance between your cooking surface and the hood (vertical distance), the less cfm's you will need. I do not know if there is a code for the minimum height that a hood must be mounted above the finished floor in a home. For restaurants, code is 6'-6" or 6'-8", so the cooks don't bang there head on the hood. Lots of variable go into cfm calculations, but nothing difficult.

Make-up air: This could be accomplished by simply opening up a window that is close to your cooking area, or less simply by a second fan and duct work.

Fan Size: First, must know cfm needed at hood. Second, must know length of duct run. Third, must know duct size/diameter.

You should be able to find a used condensate hood for cheap at a used restaurant equipment dealer. If it is stainless, it will clean up nicely.

And, put that fan on a dedicated circuit. We always do, it IS a motor, after all....