Ventilation

[robinbrown]

OK,, I just read something in my paper that made me nervous.
This guy not too far from me, has died in his garage working on his car. OK,, the garage door was open, and he died of carbon monoxide poisoning!!!

My "studio" is in my basement garage. I raise my door when I work, and have a fan circulating air around.

I'm not making but 1 or 2 beads at a time since I'm not that good. Am I ok, or should I go ahead and get a ventalation hood?

Thanks
Robin

[MikeAurelius]

You do not have ventilation, you have air circulation.

Lampworking requires the exhausting of combustion by-products from the torch. To do this safely and efficiently requires the use of an exhaust fan, usually some ducting, and some kind of hood or other enclosure to trap the combustion by-products.

You will also need a source of fresh air to replace the exhausted air - this can be accomplished by opening a window or door to the outside. Simply opening an inside door is not enough.

I've written a fairly complete "white paper" on ventilation requirements, it can be found in the Technical Forum of the AGF (Art Glass Forum). http://www.artglassforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1357

Generally speaking, you are going to need somewhere in the area of about 450 CFM (cubic feet per minute) of exhaust, coupled with incoming fresh air from outside (usually from a window on the other side of the house or side wall, provided it is at least 10 linear feet from the exhaust outlet).

This is a topic which is much discussed, and you will find tons of information here in the safety forum on LE, as well as the Safety forum of ISGB, and as mentioned above, AGF.

Please start working safe - get some ventilation! You are not only putting yourself at risk, but those who live in the house with you.

[Julabula]

Mike, thanks for posting this link....my hubby and I are building a vent hood soon, and I knew you had written something, but didn't know where....THANK YOU!

~ Julie

[FlameDancer]

Hi Mike, I have a question for you. I do have a commercial hood and it pulls around 650cfm's and is ducted through my ceiling. My neighbor, who lives across the street, works for Trane and installed my gas line and my hood. He told me that I didn't need to open an outside window because the house wasn't air tight and it would pull every crack throughout the house. Is this correct or not correct? It's been so hot here, like in the upper 90's and I haven't wanted all that heat to come in but on the other hand, I want to be safe. I haven't experienced headaches or anything that would make me believe that it was making me sick. What's your view on this? TIA:)

[MikeAurelius]

Krissa - absolutely incorrect.

Whether a house is air tight or not is not the factor. Your neighbor has absolutely NO IDEA how tight or not tight a given house is, just by looking around. You have to pull away siding or wall board or remove window casing to see if there is insulation around the windows.

Most houses built post 1970 (after the first energy crisis), are built with much tighter insulation standards.

Current building code, accepted across the country, calls for fresh air to be supplied for all exhaust type applications, whether it is a hot water heater or a furnace or a down draft Jenn Aire cook top. Lampworkers are no different.

I'm astounded that a so-called mechanical engineer would make a statement like this - it files in the face of not only the building code, but good ventilation design.

Failure to provide equal fresh air to exhaust air will result in negative pressure in the structure. This will cause back drafting on any exhaust ducting, such as the hot water heater or furnace or clothes dryer. If these appliances are in use at the time, carbon monoxide will be pulled back into the house...

[robinbrown]

WOW,,, This sounds like "rocket scientist" talk.

I'll get my stuff together before I go back to the flame.
Thanks for this GREAT info....

Robin

[FlameDancer]

Ooooh, that doesn't sound so safe to me. He even went so far as too start the fan, which is in my front room studio and told me to put my hands over the cracks in the front door to feel the air coming in. I have to admit, I didn't feel that much air coming in but he seemed to know what he's talking about, so I took his word for it. I'm sooo glad I asked this question and you came to the rescue. In my studio, I have three separate windows. Do I just need to crack one, say about 6-8 inches, or does it need to be more? I actually DO open a window when it's nice outside but it's been like an oven...add the kiln, the lights, the torch...well, you get the picture, lol.

Oh and one more question, if you don't mind. Do I need to close the french doors that I have leading to the studio, while the windows up? Will this help with the fan and the pull direction?

Thanks so much Mike...I really appreciate all your help:)

[MikeAurelius]

Oh gawd...even trying to "demonstrate" it...#-o

6-8 inches "should be good", but the best thing to do is just open it as wide as you can. The fan will draw the air that it needs and nothing more (although a breeze will probably "help").

You can also open a couple of windows half way - but, keep in mind that you need to keep some separation between the exhaust duct on the outside of the structure and the incoming airflow. Code calls for a minimum of 10 linear feet in any direction, 15 feet is better. What I try to recommend is a window on the opposite side of the room from the exhaust duct. This practically guarantees that the air will be totally fresh and free from exhaust contamination.

As far as the French doors -- as long as you have plenty of fresh incoming air available, the doors don't enter into the equation much at all. Off the top of my head, I'd say that if you need some physical separation from the other members of your family (grinning), then close the door and enjoy the peace and quiet!
Glad to help! (and feel free to ask - there is no such thing as a stupid question, although stupid answers are fairly easy to come by :p )

[ecila@well.com]

I've written a fairly complete "white paper" on ventilation requirements, it can be found in the Technical Forum of the AGF (Art Glass Forum). http://www.artglassforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1357

Please start working safe - get some ventilation! You are not only putting yourself at risk, but those who live in the house with you.

Hi, Mike.
This link is no longer working. Can you re-post here?
Thank you!
Alice

[Cornbread]

great info. thanks, mike. Well worded.