New Exhaust For Your ~~Favorite~~ Cigar Smoker
peter4jc
Posts: 16,688 ✭✭✭✭✭
Picked up one of these;
And these two to make it work;
My upstairs bedroom is my cigar room, as many of you know. There's a big window facing west and a door leading to a walk-in attic on the east side of the room. Up 'til now, for 8 months of the year when I can't just open the window and door because of cooler or rainy weather, I've opened the window and inserted a big piece of particle board that has a duct-booster fan mounted on it. It's better than nothing but is a mediocre solution at best; it's clunky and putting it up/taking it down after each smoke sucks; the fan was barely good enough for me, let alone a 2nd smoker; with winter winds prevailing out of the west the fan not only struggled in its fight with the wind, cold air would find cracks between the particle wood and the window frame.
So on to a better solution! This new fan will be mounted in the attic, and it's quiet! And having it at the end of an 8' flexible duct should eliminate any sound it does make. It also has 8 speeds and is controlled via a corded remote, so I can set it at 1 or 2 when it's just me, or higher when anyone joins me for football or a movie. I plan on snaking the remote control through the ducting, into the room, so the attic door can stay closed. It'll be so nice to simply hit the switch instead of messing with the board fan in the window!
I'll play around with where to bring in air into the room, whether it's cracking the window or from the stairwell/1st floor - might depend on the outside temperature. I'm thinking I may have to insulate the ductwork too, to avoid it getting wet inside when I'm blowing warm-ish air into a 0° attic. Hopefully, the roof's ridge vent and the soffit vents will allow enough air movement that moisture (not to mention, smoke) in the attic won't be an issue.
Comments
Sounds like a good plan.
You already know what to look out for
Good luck!
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
Great idea Peter.
Now you just need to call in the FIBS!
@IndustMech for the engineering and @Patrickbrick for the installation.
So, if we come over for a cigar, you’ll invite us to your bedroom?
Well here I was thinking "I need to find an excuse to visit Peter", then this.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
So who besides Peter got an exhaust?
Thomas Edison has nothing on you.
Please take a few pics when you install it. Cool idea! Id like to figure something out where I could vent a room like this... my office/cigar room is in the basement, but on an exterior wall and has a window.
Window mouted exhause does just kind of suck in the winter (exactly when you want to smoke inside).
Is that pulling air through a vent you are installing? And then straight to the attic? Does seem like you could have the output right out by the roof vent.. wonder if you could use a damper or something that shuts when air is not blowing through, like a dryer vent.
Good idea to have an intake filter, keeps the fan blades clean.
I know, You're a big dog and I'm on the list.
Let's eat, GrandMa. / Let's eat GrandMa. -- Punctuation saves lives
It'll be fine once the swelling goes down.
I've used these to exhaust heat out of small server rooms before they work pretty well i think you should be pleased
I'm cutting a 6" hole in the wall between my room and the attic, and installing that 3rd item - they call it a duct starter - and the metal ring will be what you see in the room. I'm going to fashion some kind of cover for it w/ a 6" circle of foam rubber or styrofoam glued to a decorative wood cover (or cigar sign) and it'll stay in place either w/ magnets or just the friction of the insert. That'll cover the hole and prevent cold attic air from entering the room when the fan's not in use.
@Gray4lines They also sell a 4" version that would've probably been fine, but I figured for another $20 I'd make sure it's bigger than what I'll need. They also sell a backdraft preventer w/ two spring-loaded flaps that you could use for your installation.
@IndustMech The fan comes apart very easily if the blades need cleaning, but after 5 years, the one in the window hasn't accumulated any crud yet.
It would only work for on/off but they do sell cordless remotes. They’re used most with hot tub blowers so you don’t get shocked while sitting in the water.
I used one to control an overhead box fan fitted with sawdust filters that I hung above my table saw.
Just a thought.... 👴🏻
@peter4jc I get it now. Thanks for the explanation. Those look really nice. Absolutely always go bigger!
Do you think the vent placement matters? Wall vs ceiling. I guess a ceiling fan could circulate air to make sure the smoke gets sucked up.
You ever notice how smoke will just settle at some level in a still room? Perhaps this unit will be powerfull enough to clear it though.
Now I want to just get one to boost some of our hvac vents that are furthest from the AC unit.
I have noticed that, Gray, when even w/ my window and attic door open, there's no breeze going through the smoke will find a place to just sit. I'm guessing it won't be an issue with intake air coming from a cracked window opposite where the smoke is being drawn out. And for much of the winter, I use a space-heater w/ oscillating fan that should mix things up. A small PC fan rigged up in one of the corners might be a good idea too.
As for the placement of a vent, it seems that unless you're smoking right close or under the vent, too much smoke escapes into the room, which makes the overall CFM rating of the fan more important than the placement of the vent.
Yeah, as long as the unit can exchange the air in the room reasonably fast I bet it wont matter much as for placement.
Hurry up and install it so I can see it work. Light something really smokey too. Or smoke 3 cigars at once.
As long as it doesn't suck the cigar up the vent, you'll be fine.
The hole 🕳 was cut and the duct collar was installed. Then I started sweating and called it quits.
Thank you @peter4jc for your quick turnaround. Looks great!
Now what, climb in the attic and drill a hole in the floor, then run the duct through the wall up to the attic?
This bedroom (ahem) is on the 2nd floor.
I meant "floor" of the attic. Or does that wallspace go straight to the attic?
Either way halfway there! Let me know when I can come visit
Is there going to be a Shades of Gray herf from Peter's bedroom?
Long and skinnies for all
After much contemplation about how to cover the hole and seal it against drafts, the lightbulb went off; 4 or 5 years ago @rsherman24 came across this beer tray with my last name on it and sent it along with nice cigars. I glued some styrofoam packing that came with the fan on the back of the tray which holds the tray in place and is snug enough to seal the hole.
Here's the remote control on the cord dangling out of the duct. It's a little hokey but I'd rather tuck it back in the duct after each use before putting the beer tray cover in place than cutting a hole in the wall for the cord, mounting the remote and having it sit there and look stupid all the time. The only other option was to leave it in the attic and have to open the attic door whenever I turned the fan on or off or adjusted the speed.
This the bracket (the wooden inverted T part) I made to hang the fan from the cross-brace. The fan has basically three pieces; the outer ends which ductwork attaches too (they're riveted to a mounting bracket, so in essence, they're one piece) and the center fan housing. The two silver rings are actually clamps the hold the ends to the center fan housing. It'll be a 10min. job to take it apart when it needs cleaning.
The overall installation...
So.... are you exhausted now?
Peter is handy to have around
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
Neighbors see smoke coming out of attic, fire department is called
It's happened before when Peter is roasting coffee.
Looks great!would love to see a video of it in action. Interested on the volume when it kicks on too. Looks like a nice little set up!