Another Inline Fan Question

[simondetroit]

Hey guys, I have a 12x13' room in my basement divided into 2 separate rooms. Smell and ventilation is Priority #1. I have a bit of an issue: My only way to vent out is to run a "T" into the existing 4 inch exhaust pipe for the furnace which vents out the chimney (which also only has a 4" hole). I would like a minimum of 400cfm blowing out and I can't find a 4" fan that powerful? Will there be any issues if I just go with a bigger 6" or 8" fan and just use a reducer? Is this gonna create a ton of noise? And finally if I have lets say this fan setup 6" HYDROPONIC INLINE AIR CARBON FAN FILTER COMBO, What will happen when that air blows straight into that "T"? Will some of that exhausted "stinky" air go the wrong way and go towards the furnace and let some smell out? Whats the most CFM's you guys would go with if you had to use a reducer and only had a 4" exhaust out like I do?

[Weed420]

I think you would be better off to use another vent rather than your furnace vent.

[simondetroit]

Originally Posted by Weed420

I think you would be better off to use another vent rather than your furnace vent.

Well the grow room will be in the basement. If I dont hook into the furnace vent that goes into the chimney the only other option that I can foresee would be creating a dryer vent like setup. I really don;t want to do a dryer vent setup because in my case it really won't hide the smell enough. All a dryer vent setup will do is blow the stinky air into the back yard where everyone outside will smell it. Plus the vent would have to be right under a main level window which would let the air back into the house? So now I'm really stumped. What if I chiseled out another hole in the chimney right above the existing 4" furnace vent? I really don't know how I would go about it but I'm sure I could make it happen. Plus I could make it a 6" hole to allow more airflow? Any other alternatives you can think of?

[Screwnuts33]

Simon,
Try your furnace vent idea and see if it works. If it does you are good to go. If not then worry about other options.

[LabRat]

IMO using the furnace vent is a bad idea. If you can find an airtight back-flow valve maybe. Otherwise you risk your furnace venting carbon monoxide into your basement. This would not be good for your girls or any other living things. At least invest in a good CO detector if you try this.

Why not install a 6" dryer vent and spend your money on a decent ozone generator. Get 30' of 6" flexible dryer tubing. The stuff like a plastic coated slinky. Mount the fan right up against the vent so it draws air out of the room. Attach the 30' of tubing and put the O2 gen at the far end. This way the O2 has time to mix with the air before it's blown outside and burn off all the stink. Make sure you can adjust the level of O2 as it has a suspicious odor too. You could run the tubing around the room at ceiling level and it won't be in the way. I used a similar set-up when I lived in town and never had a problem with odor.

A good vortex in-line fan can be whisper quiet and some are speed adjustable as well.

Lots of luck but the furnace vent sounds dangerous to me not to mention 4" is pretty small for a shared vent.

[simondetroit]

Originally Posted by LabRat

IMO using the furnace vent is a bad idea. If you can find an airtight back-flow valve maybe. Otherwise you risk your furnace venting carbon monoxide into your basement. This would not be good for your girls or any other living things. At least invest in a good CO detector if you try this.

Why not install a 6" dryer vent and spend your money on a decent ozone generator. Get 30' of 6" flexible dryer tubing. The stuff like a plastic coated slinky. Mount the fan right up against the vent so it draws air out of the room. Attach the 30' of tubing and put the O2 gen at the far end. This way the O2 has time to mix with the air before it's blown outside and burn off all the stink. Make sure you can adjust the level of O2 as it has a suspicious odor too. You could run the tubing around the room at ceiling level and it won't be in the way. I used a similar set-up when I lived in town and never had a problem with odor.

A good vortex in-line fan can be whisper quiet and some are speed adjustable as well.

Lots of luck but the furnace vent sounds dangerous to me not to mention 4" is pretty small for a shared vent.

Thanks for the reply LAb. So let me see if I got this. The ozone gen does its thing with the stinky air and then it's hooked up to a hose that will go to the inline fan that will blow out the dryer vent? My main issue is I don't really have the ability to discreetly vent a dryer duct outside of the house(if that is what your saying)? What do you think about me making a 6" hole in the chimney right above the existing 4" hole used by the furnace? Thanks Again

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by simondetroit

Thanks for the reply LAb. So let me see if I got this. The ozone gen does its thing with the stinky air and then it's hooked up to a hose that will go to the inline fan that will blow out the dryer vent? My main issue is I don't really have the ability to discreetly vent a dryer duct outside of the house(if that is what your saying)? What do you think about me making a 6" hole in the chimney right above the existing 4" hole used by the furnace? Thanks Again

I think trying to put a 6" vent into a 4" chimney is going to come to no good. Then again, I'm not an expert in gas flow dynamics just a lowly chemist/truck driver.

Is this your own home or a rental? Is there any way to vent to the attic and install a vent in the roof-end gable that will look like a normal attic vent?

Sounds like a toughie. I'm trying to figure out how best to configure a 4" vent with Ozone (O3 by the way, my bad for calling it O2 before), that won't blow snow when it's -40. My grow space is smaller than yours. Only 7Wx8Lx7H and cold even in the summer so I just need fresh air for the CO2 not cooling. My nearest neighbour is a half mile away so noise is not a problem. Odor is a bit of a concern as the air goes dead around here in the winter and we do have an occasional visitor that might notice the smell. Especially from the batch of stinky kush girls that are up and coming. They're only a few inches high at the moment and already stinking up the house. Good girls! Good babies I should say. They're all from seed and not sexed yet.

I wish you luck with figuring something out and wish I could be more help.

Cya l8tr