Exhaust?
- Thread starter mux
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ive seen anything from a fan blowing across the top of the BK and someone using a 48qt rubbermaid bin as a hood with sum clothes dryer ducting out the side with a small fan pulling the steam out!!
Hoosier-Brewer
Well-Known Member
I'm planning my electric brewing setup now as I rebuild the room it will be in. I have read Kal's stuff on theelectricbrewery.com and he is using around 420cfm's for his setup. I have seen another guy on here, his name escapes me, and he used a bath fan (guessing 70-90cfm) and said it didn't work well. It's going to depend on what size boil, how long you boil and how long is the run to the outside, as well as how many bends you end up with as to what will work best. I will be able to direct vent right out of my hood to the outdoors. I think, but I'm not certain yet, that I can vent that I should be okay with around 250cfm's. I also have a fresh air intake within 3 or so feet of the hood. I hope someone with more knowledge stops in here and shares it with us.
Hoosier-Brewer
Well-Known Member
Sorry mux, I couldn't remember. I saw someone on here today that made a wood framed hood with a vortex fan, they covered the interior of the hood with FRP. I think this is what I will be doing for the hood, but I may look for a slightly smaller fan to save a few dollars.
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I use a ~200 cfm bath fan over my 11 gal eBIAB setup and it works pretty well.
Hoosier-Brewer
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking along the lines of this for my direct vent, Amazon.com: 6-Inch 110VAC 250 CFM In-Line Duct Fan: Electronics
It does say use as a super quiet bathroom exhaust fan which would lead me to believe it would work for condensation.
It does say use as a super quiet bathroom exhaust fan which would lead me to believe it would work for condensation.
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I just installed and tied together a couple of 100 cfm bath fan vents over my eBIAB set up. It's directly vented to the outside. (Went through a couple 15 inch masonry bits getting through the stone foundation) I like that I'll have a light directly over the kettle.
Still working on the brew space (Build thread HERE), should have it completed by this Sunday and brewing the next weekend
Still working on the brew space (Build thread HERE), should have it completed by this Sunday and brewing the next weekend
bullywee
Well-Known Member
I brew in 30g pots usually to capacity in the workshop of my garage. I have a 8" Active AIr 720CFM fan ducted out through the wall via 8" ducting. I don't have a hood, just a section of ducting over the BK and really only run the fan during boiling. This set up has worked great for me and I have had zero problems.
shortyjacobs
Well-Known Member
I have this:
It's a 200-300 CFM squirrel cage fan sucking up through that "cone" and exhausting through my dryer vent.
On a first run a couple days ago, I had some decent water buildup inside the ducting at the low spots just before the fan and just before the exhaust port in the wall. Had to punch holes in the low points to act as condensation drains so it stopped sucking water into my fan....other than that it works extremely well, no condensation escapes.
It's a 200-300 CFM squirrel cage fan sucking up through that "cone" and exhausting through my dryer vent.
On a first run a couple days ago, I had some decent water buildup inside the ducting at the low spots just before the fan and just before the exhaust port in the wall. Had to punch holes in the low points to act as condensation drains so it stopped sucking water into my fan....other than that it works extremely well, no condensation escapes.
I saw the Active air fans along. They are kind of expensive, but I believe you get what you pay for. I will most likely go that route. thanks for the response.
I'm worried about condensation too and my first choice would be a hood, but my brewery is in the basement with a low ceiling made even lower because it was necessary to fir down to cover old piping (real old, likely wrapped in asbestos) and wiring. A hood would be too low to the keggle.
I went with two bath vents to double up on the CFM's. I have a buddy who says he boils big batches of crawfish on a gas cooker in his basement and he put in this setup and it worked for him without any problems.
Keeping my fingers crossed it works. If not, the cone hat looks like a cool project.
bullywee
Well-Known Member
mux said:
The active air fans are worth the $$$, solid construction and great performance and I think a 5 year warranty.
I think a hood with a vortex type fan will do the trick. I brewed today- and just used a box fan blowing across the kettle/ HLT, worked better than the bath fan. but the whole house still smells like a brewery.
NattyBrew
Well-Known Member
When I was completing my Kal clone I decided to build my own hood out of a couple of stacked 2x6s and lined the inside with an FRP panel. My setup works fantastic and saved me a bunch of bucks compared to Kal's shiny stainless steel one (though I still am envious of that damn thing!) Here's a couple quick photos of mine. If you want more pics and/or details you can check out my build thread linked in my signature.
Matt
Matt
Hoosier-Brewer
Well-Known Member
I like the hood idea there Natty, and that is what I will be doing as well. I haven't decided on the fan yet though, I want something cheaper than the Vortex and since i will be direct venting out the wall I should be able to come up with a solution. Do you have a cost on your hood less the fan and duct? Looking at materials I think I can build a similar hood for $40-$50 plus the fan.
wilserbrewer
BIAB Expert Tailor
old window fan I already had...falls behind a bit during the boil but clears out the room quickly after flame out...or switch out...simple, cheap and effective
NattyBrew
Well-Known Member
Hoosier-Brewer said:
I think it might have been right around 75 bucks or so. It's made of 3 2x6s and one FRP panel and then some plywood sheathing, screws, and stain.
There are plenty of ways to save money on a build, but I wouldn't advise skimping on the ventilation. If you are direct venting out the back you could probably get away with a smaller CFM fan like the 4 inch model from vortex, but honestly a quality inline fan is only $150 bucks. If it were me I'd buy a quality fan and save that money elsewhere like on the hood, or kettles. But that's just my opinion!
Matt
NattyBrew
Well-Known Member
mux said:
Yeah, I used PVC versus metal ducting because it was just a little easier to work with for me. I was able to push the pieces together without glue, and make the connections air tight by caulking the joints. The stuff works great, is super smooth on the inside, so it barely slows the fan speed down.
Matt
SeanGC
Well-Known Member
Here is my rubber maid exhaust hood. Its hanging from the beam with s hooks and chain. I am not happy with the metal ducking but I was stuck trying to figure out the weird angle i have.
P.s. Quick Q for natty (not to thread jack). Whats the best way to get straight cuts when working with pvc of that size? Thanks
P.s. Quick Q for natty (not to thread jack). Whats the best way to get straight cuts when working with pvc of that size? Thanks
NattyBrew
Well-Known Member
I struggled with it initially trying to use a circular saw and multiple cuts, but they never seemed to line up the right way. I came up with a pretty good system to get flush cuts and that was to put the PVC in between a set of two coffee can on the ground so that you can spin or rotate the pipe as you cut and keep your tool in the same spot.
I first measured my cut in several locations all around the diameter of the pipe, put the PVC into my coffee can rotating jig, and then using a jigsaw instead of a circular saw, did my best to "connect the dots" on my previous measurements. It worked out well enough for me and was much better than the spiral cuts I was getting earlier where the ends of my cuts wouldn't line up.
If you have any more questions just shoot me a PM and I can try to answer better rather than continue on the thread here.
Matt
I first measured my cut in several locations all around the diameter of the pipe, put the PVC into my coffee can rotating jig, and then using a jigsaw instead of a circular saw, did my best to "connect the dots" on my previous measurements. It worked out well enough for me and was much better than the spiral cuts I was getting earlier where the ends of my cuts wouldn't line up.
If you have any more questions just shoot me a PM and I can try to answer better rather than continue on the thread here.
Matt
ClaudiusB
Well-Known Member
I am a gas brewer and we have the same problem as your electric friends.
My setup is similar to shortyjacobs' setup without a fan, slightly larger hood and a 10' run.
shortyjacobs said:
To prevent any condensation from running back into the brew kettle I installed a condensation trap close to the hood.
Condensation trap
NattyBrew has a very simple system that looks good and is very functional. I seen his before I built mine and went with the wood lined with plastic as well. Nice Job! You will need a good blower to remove the steam. If you don't you have a good chance of feeding mold, then you'll say I should have gotten a bigger fan. Cheers
