Crazy Ventilation Question

[butterblum]

This may be a stupid question: if I am just doing a 60-minute boil in my basement using an electric element, do I need good ventilation? All I really have are small vents in the privacy glass that sits in the windows in the basement wall.
If it is critical, does anyone have a cheap solution? I will not be living in this house for more than a year or two.
Thanks

 

[BeardedBrews]

You can put a small window fan in front of the window to push out some of the steam:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Comfort-Zone-326202-Reversible-Twin-Window-Fan-with-Remote/36779699

Brewing a full batch probably puts 1-2 gallons of water in the air. That'd be like a room humidifier on max for 24 hours or so. Even a standard fan blowing around in the basement would mix the air and keep you from getting a wet spot where you brew, but getting the moisture out of house is generally a better plan.

 

[Smellyglove]

No reason to do damage to the house caused by humidity even if you'll only live there for a year or two. If you boil off 2Liters every time, it would be like splashing 2L of water on the walls and ceiling.. when you see how much it is, I guess you'd go mop it up.

I'm using a hood for a kitchen stove, then connected a flextube which leads the steam out through a small vent high on the wall.

 

[itsnotrequired]

it depends where you live as well. excessive humidity is much less an issue in an arid climate such as arizona compared to a humid climate like florida.

 

[butterblum]

Maybe I can hook up a blower to the dryer exhaust and just use that?

 

[ancientmariner52]

There's a lengthy thread here about boil kettle condensers. They use a few gallons per hour of tap water to condense the exhaust steam and send it down the drain or to a bucket. There's even a commercial model available. I'd give you a link, but I can't make it work on this phone.

 

[butterblum]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WW4H8X...t=&hvlocphy=9014900&hvtargid=pla-316165403257

 

[enormous13]

There's a lengthy thread here about boil kettle condensers. They use a few gallons per hour of tap water to condense the exhaust steam and send it down the drain or to a bucket. There's even a commercial model available. I'd give you a link, but I can't make it work on this phone.

@butterblum I believe this is the thread that ancientmariner52 is referring to: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...denser-no-overhead-ventilation-needed.636955/

It's an add-on to your kettle that completely replaces a hood, fans, or other conventional means of getting rid of condensate via ventilation. Lot's of info in there, and the thread is still evolving quite a bit.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WW4H8X...t=&hvlocphy=9014900&hvtargid=pla-316165403257

Hmmm...I wonder if that could be used with the dryer vent. Then I could brew in the laundry room using the drying 220 plug and the dryer vent by adding a 'T' with a valve to the dryer vent.

 

[mongoose33]

Not that you'd do this but it may give you some ideas....

I brew in my garage. In the winter, even. Very cold outside. I do not want to dump a gallon-plus of water vapor into that garage, as the garage is insulated and if that moisture settles in the insulation, it'll condense and cause...issues.

So I use a fan in a window to exhaust the steam to the outside. I made up a kind of "exhaust hood" out of panels that help direct the steam outside.

I do need to open the service door a crack to admit makeup air, otherwise it doesn't work well. I put a small propane heater inside that door to heat up the incoming air. I can get the garage to 55, even 60 degrees doing this, so it's comfortable.

This may give you some other ideas, but if I were you, I'd get as much of that moisture out of there as you can.