Ventilation ideas for upstairs studio please!

tracidawn78 · #1 2009-06-13, 3:26pm

I'm working upstairs in my gameroom loft. A very crude and laughable diagram is below.

Currently, I open the window behind my computer for fresh air, and I have a box fan in the window directly in front of my torch for ventilation. I know I know, it's not good enough.

It is INCREDIBLY hot up here when I torch since it's now summer. I opened the windows and started torching and after 4 beads it was 85 degrees up here. I turned everything off and started looking for either a window A/C unit or a portable A/C unit online, then searched for it on here and read that it's not good enough for make-up air.

Someone PLEASE tell me what I need to buy so my ventilation is better and to help with the heat problem up here. I work in a room with 2 computers, a kiln, and my torch all running so even if everything was closed it would still be pretty hot up here. I need something to help with the heat issue, because at this rate I won't be torching again til October or November when it cools down. I've searched for Barley Box, squirrel cage fans, A/C units, anything you can think of. I've read Mike's blog, looked at Paul's suggestions, looked at Dale's suggestions, and I still don't even know where to begin. Ideally, I'd like to keep the set-up under $400 or so, and it's very important to both me and my husband that the solution help keep the room as cool as possible.

Diane (clarus) · #2 2009-06-13, 4:05pm

Traci, are you able to cut any holes in walls? If so, I'd bring in your makeup air from below your bench, and if possible vent out the ceiling to keep it 10 feet away from the makeup air intake. I don't know what kind of A/C you're thinking of, but as long as the intake for it is 10 feet away from the output of the ventilation you should be fine.

Dale has an excellent drawing of how to do under-bench makeup air on his artglassanswers site.

-Diane

NMLinda · #3 2009-06-13, 5:45pm

If you have the 10 feet separation between your windows, you could put an a/c unit in the window above your computer and take the vent pipe for your hood out the top of the window above the torch (if you have double-hung windows, this is pretty easy). Otherwise, venting out of the wall above the kiln, or up through the roof as Diane suggests will hopefully give you the separation you need.

Barley boxes aren't difficult to make. A hood enclosed on all sides except the front (which is all the barley box is) lets you get away with a somewhat smaller fan. Folks have posted here on LE that a barley box roughtly 3' wide with a 2' high open face and a high quality fan can be made for ~$400 or less, including the vent pipe pieces to take the exhaust out. The barley box is nice, also, because they can be made sturdy enough to mount the fan directly to the top, which makes setting the whole thing up easier. I made one out of 2x4's as a frame and then screwed pieces of backerboard and sheets of stainelss steel to it, then used a thick piece of plywood for the top to support the weight of the fan. I then vented it with smooth-walled vent ducting - the sections just push together and are easily sealed at the seams with aluminized vent duct tape. Took me less than a day, but only because I got a bit carried away adding 2x4 shelves to the inside to hold things like frit and bead presses.

Glad you read Mike's blogs and Dale's postings on Art Glass Answers. There is a wealth of info on those sites. There are some very nice barley box designs folks have posted in safety and in studio (wish I had the links handy for you!). If you poke around and look at some of the pictures, especially of those where folks have taken their vent pipes out windows, you should get some great ideas.

Linda

Linda

laserglass · #4 2009-06-16, 6:32am

since you are using a single 5 l/m concentrator for your torch, its heating power is capped out at about 6000 BTU/hour. because of this relatively low amount of combustion byproducts, you could get by with a lower CFM flow rate to avoid pulling in more hot outside air than you need to. that way an air conditioner might give you some benifit. use a funnel on the end of a short straight 6 inch ventilation duct, in reasonably close proximity to the flame. you must use a good squirrel cage fan to get enough head to drive the duct probably in the 400 to 1000 CFM range. this will give you the required throat velocity. this is not good enough ventilation if you have a bigger torch, or if you plan to do any fuming or use powders.

beadgirl · #5 2009-06-17, 1:56pm

Hi Tracie,
I have this model a/c 10000 BTU http://www.brilliantstore.com/portab...er_arc10d.html
My studio is 10 x 12 ceiling height 8 feet.
Grainger Fan 875 cfm with a reastat switch to control the draw of exhaust.
My exhaust is a slotted box with plexie glass baffles on the sides and top.
I have my make up air coming in under the bench. I thought this would just move the bad air out and leave the cool air in, ha, ha.
I have a sm GTT bobcat on a 5 ltr oxy concentrator
And with the kiln on and the torch running it is at still very hot in there but at least my back is getting a cool breeze. It is about 82 degrees in the studio.
If I directed more flow from A/C the flame will move around to much.
Remember that your a/c has to have someplace for the hot air to exhaust outside.
Best of luck..Marie Ann

beadgirl · #6 2009-06-17, 2:04pm

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54894
This may help

AVC-Ed · #7 2009-06-18, 6:16am

What I'd do is to run the air conditioner in the evening to cool down the space. By doing this before the heat of the day kicks in you get a head start on keeping the room cool. At the very least, turn it on at least two hours before you start working in the room.

When the air conditioner is running and you are not working in the room, close all the doors, keep the exhaust system off and set the air conditioner to closed cycle, so that it is recycling the internal room air. (most window units have a dual setting, either open cycle which uses "some" outside air, and a closed cycle which uses only internal room air.) I would also set up an oscillating fan in the room to keep the air circulating inside the room.

Up here in Minnesota, we get similar weather as you: hot and humid. You need to remove both the heat and the humidity, and allowing the air conditioner to run in a closed room will do both.

Dale M. · #8 2009-06-19, 6:26am

See second graphic in this thread......

http://www.artglassanswers.com/forum...opic.php?t=150

The through the bench concept allows you to keep a huge percentage of summer cooling in room (AC) while still having good ventilation for torch ...

Also in winter it allows you to keep heat in room while still being able to use torch/ventilation....

Also air conditioning is not a good source for makeup air, it is mostly a recycle of room air with and just adds a really small percentage of outside air to keep room air "fresh", not near enough air for ventilation needs.... With through the bench concept it does allow you to keep room cool and yes precooling room or working early in day before heat cycle reaches top will be best...

Dale