Show some pics of your vent hoods for smoke collecting

[hottubbrad]

I did my time in the volunteer fire department some years ago and I thought my smoke-eating days were over......until I bought my first Outdor Wood Boiler.
I thought I would be smart and install it in a small 8 x 20 shack to prevent heat loss on those 40 below days.....
Now, when I open the door to load, I eat smoke until I manage to slam the loading door shut after I fill the firebox.
Now I know what Camel smokers feel like after a pack.....

I thought of a draft inducer, but most people say they only help a little.

Now I am going to install a 2450 CFM fan and an exhaust hood above the door opening.

Can some of you that have done this on gasifiers or OWBs please take a snapshot of your contraption and upload it. Along with your experiences.
I am sure you will be helping a lot of other people along with myself.

Thanks....

 

[Dave T]

Ok I'll jump in here, have a look at mine it is built of stuff that was laying here taking up space so thats why I used these materials...A single wall chimney pipe,fan,EPDM,metal strapping,couple pices of copper pipe,a wall flange for the connection, and aluminum dryer vent,I wired a plug on the end of it,and silicone to seal various stuff..It works well but I have to finish it on the outside..Dave

 

[antknee2]

This hood works with the natural vent action of the chimney it is connected to or a very powerful squirrel cage blower built in . Even with the vent motor off and the built in air flap closed there is a draw which eliminates any slight upper chamber smelly odors in the boiler room.
Anthony

 

[2.beans]

this helps to make it just really smokey. i need one like the previous post ,thats nice.

 

[SteveJ]

Anthony,

Very cool design (as always...)

Has anyone tied their vent hood into the exhaust chimney? (For the rest of us that can barely afford one chimney )

Steve

 

[stee6043]

Anthony,

Very cool design (as always...)

Has anyone tied their vent hood into the exhaust chimney? (For the rest of us that can barely afford one chimney )

Steve

I think you're asking for trouble if you try to connect an exhaust fan to your flue. Not to mention I doubt it would ever make code. For my "vent" I used 4" flexible hose like you would find on your dryer vent. Finding a place to exhaust that on the outside of your home is a lot safer than trying to tie in to your flue, in my opinion...

 

[pybyr]

For my "vent" I used 4" flexible hose like you would find on your dryer vent. Finding a place to exhaust that on the outside of your home is a lot safer than trying to tie in to your flue, in my opinion...

agreed that tying a non-combustion device into the flue, in a way that could let combustion gases back into the living space seems like it's worth avoiding at any cost

as a suggestion, rather than the white vinyl slinky dryer hose (which has a lot if internal friction for the air due to the corrugations) (and is also sort of a fire hazard) you can get 4 inch diameter aluminum round duct and fittings, also intended for dryer purposes. PVC SDR 35 drain pipe is also great (and cheap and easy to work with) once you are away from the portions of the install nearest the boiler and its flue pipe
one source I've used for the round vent duct (and is a good source for fans, too) is
www.hvacquick.com
(I have no business connection with them except as a prior customer)
an inline Fantech fan to a little hood above the gasifier's doors would be a sweet set up- plenty of air movement, not too much bulk or noise. Alas, it's not in my budget right now...

 

[leaddog]

An idea worth exploring would be to find a cook stove hood that someone is replacing and use that. It has the hood, fan, and ducting hook up. It can be painted the color of the boiler and you are good to go. If you watch I'm sure you can find one for FREE and that makes it even better.
leaddog

 

[pybyr]

Aha- and then there's my Nouveau-Redneck Energy Efficiency discovery of this evening:

smoke from loading boiler escapes to basement ceiling;

wafts to places where warm air is moving up and out of the house;

load boiler

watch where the smoke goes

discover new places to deal with air/ heat loss

focus on those; seal them up

install "hood" only after house is so tight that smoke stays in visible layer and amount for more than a short while

 

[Duetech]

I have a stainless stove exhaust fan/hood just like you guys are talking about and got it at a garage sale. Haven't hooked it up yet because my boiler is in a temporary location. The hood works and cost $10. I'll probably pay that for the ducting to route the smoke out of the new smaller building. There is a store in the city south of us that sells homeowners "replaced" items and sometimes you can find the hoods in second hand stores too.

 

[2.beans]

I have a stainless stove exhaust fan/hood just like you guys are talking about and got it at a garage sale. Haven't hooked it up yet because my boiler is in a temporary location. The hood works and cost $10. I'll probably pay that for the ducting to route the smoke out of the new smaller building. There is a store in the city south of us that sells homeowners "replaced" items and sometimes you can find the hoods in second hand stores too.

thats what im using in the above post and it doesnt work all that well.

 

[Medman]

Is the problem with the range hoods that they lack enough air flow, or that they are not big enough to cover the boiler door?
In my case I think that the range hood will be wide enough, but i am concerned about air flow. I may use the hood and install a better blower. I'm just looking to save a little cash on this job - its in the garage, after all. If my boiler was in the house I would be out by now due to the smoke.

 

[steam man]

Is the problem with the range hoods that they lack enough air flow, or that they are not big enough to cover the boiler door?
In my case I think that the range hood will be wide enough, but i am concerned about air flow. I may use the hood and install a better blower. I'm just looking to save a little cash on this job - its in the garage, after all. If my boiler was in the house I would be out by now due to the smoke.

I would think that you would want just enough capacity to direct the smoke up the vent. Any more and I would think you could make the smoke reversal worse by pulling it out the door instead of up the stack. Thinking along those lines I would also make sure the boiler room had an excess air supply while reloading to prevent it from going negative. I know my downdraft cooktop fan on high will pull the house negative pressure.

Mike

 

[pybyr]

I have a stainless stove exhaust fan/hood just like you guys are talking about and got it at a garage sale. Haven't hooked it up yet because my boiler is in a temporary location. The hood works and cost $10. I'll probably pay that for the ducting to route the smoke out of the new smaller building. There is a store in the city south of us that sells homeowners "replaced" items and sometimes you can find the hoods in second hand stores too.

thats what im using in the above post and it doesnt work all that well.

Stove hoods vary _tremendously_ in their degree of pull and CFM- I looked into them pretty extensively when I gutted and re-did my kitchen 10 years ago. Some, like the one I came across (now discontinued), move a lot of air without being huge or pretentious, others, both large and small, don't. But as someone else noted, if you pull too much air, you'll actually be pulling smoke _out of_ the boiler, by the pressure differential.

 

[antknee2]

Anthony,

Very cool design (as always...)

Has anyone tied their vent hood into the exhaust chimney? (For the rest of us that can barely afford one chimney )

That's not a fare judgement of me I have worked two jobs all my life starting at age 12 and every thing I post on line are projects that I have personally accomplished after working two jobs and supporting a family .
Anthony

Steve

I think you're asking for trouble if you try to connect an exhaust fan to your flue. Not to mention I doubt it would ever make code. For my "vent" I used 4" flexible hose like you would find on your dryer vent. Finding a place to exhaust that on the outside of your home is a lot safer than trying to tie in to your flue, in my opinion...

I can not see how using a separate unused chimney for a vent hood can be trouble . Let me know what problems you see with my hood arraignment .
Anthony

 

[Dave T]

Anthony,
I could be wrong but it looks like you have an exceptional install and probally the gold standard that we all
wanna see in our boiler rooms,the only way it would be a problem is if you tried to tap into an existing chimney
that is being used for something else..Dave

 

[Jackpine Savage]

I don't have the Tarm up and running yet but I have experienced some back draft with the Englander when it is fairly warm outside. Has anyone tried using an exhaust fan to pressurize the boiler room? In my case I can close the boiler room door to seal it off from the rest of the basement. Then I'm thinking of using an exhaust fan to push air from the basement into the boiler room. Thoughts?

 

[antknee2]

Anthony,
I could be wrong but it looks like you have an exceptional install and probally the gold standard that we all
wanna see in our boiler rooms,the only way it would be a problem is if you tried to tap into an existing chimney
that is being used for something else..Dave

Thanks for reply , I 100% agree with everyone about not ever tapping a chimney that is in use for wood ,gas or oil for a forced draft vent hood . The point I would of liked to make clearer is the safety factor built in this design , in the event that sparks get sucked up by the hood , their is no danger of a fire in the piping of the hood and the termination of the flue pipe has a spark aresster screen on the chimney cap . Also since the hood will work on natural draft their is a built in self closing flap , when the flap is closed it maintains a super small amount of natural draft an is just enough to eliminate any smelly gases form the Econoburn . No matter how good your door seals are their is always some leakage . I feel a vent hood should be installed on every basement install , just my 2 cents .
Anthony

 

[Tree farmer]

No matter how good your door seals are their is always some leakage . I feel a vent hood should be installed on every basement install , just my 2 cents .
Anthony

I think (as depicted in the manual) it all depends on how well your chimney drafts. I have had issues since install (gable end chimney) two other people I know put theirs in the basement and have no issues one an eko and one a tarm. The differece is they both have center chimneys and strong drafts, even no smoke out the door when reloading. I installed an exhaust fan above mine but it has no hood yet, I may end up custom building one out of a piece of sheet metal. The positive-negative pressure issue I have dealt with by leaving a window cracked about 3" and it seems to help of course it allows a flow of fresh air as well. The room still stays at 68 even when it was -15.

 

[antknee2]

No matter how good your door seals are their is always some leakage . I feel a vent hood should be installed on every basement install , just my 2 cents .
Anthony

I think (as depicted in the manual) it all depends on how well your chimney drafts. I have had issues since install (gable end chimney) two other people I know put theirs in the basement and have no issues one an eko and one a tarm. The differece is they both have center chimneys and strong drafts, even no smoke out the door when reloading. I installed an exhaust fan above mine but it has no hood yet, I may end up custom building one out of a piece of sheet metal. The positive-negative pressure issue I have dealt with by leaving a window cracked about 3" and it seems to help of course it allows a flow of fresh air as well. The room still stays at 68 even when it was -15.

Hi Tree farmer
You have a great point about having strong natural draft under any barometric conditions , it must over come the positive pressure in the upper burning chamber and prevent some seepage . Only issue now were back to the importance of having a properly adjusted barometric damper , I get the feeling most Hearth members don't like the concept . My favorite appliance store was moving , they had the hood for sale , turnes out the hood was a unused leftover , at least 30 years old , very reasonable price .
Anthony

 

[pybyr]

Hi Anthony & all--

I do have a strong draft-ing chimney, and a barometric damper, adjusted to the draft recommendations from Econoburn. I definitely notice that the boiler gains temperature more rapidly, during a burn, when the damper is allowed to operate to regulate and moderate the draft, than when I temporarily ( during the same burn, and same stage of the burn ) temporarily cover the barometric damper.

I _have_ found that for starting the fire, I seem to get better starts if I temporarily block the damper, to get max draft during light-off.

I am also beginning to contemplate some convenient way of trying to temporarily disable the damper for when I open the firebox to load, in order to see if that results in less smoke escaping during loading. If that helps minimize smoke escape (which is noticeable but not utterly awful in extent) then I may not need the complexity of a separate hood and appropriate blower/ ducting for the hood.

 

[antknee2]

Hi Anthony & all--

I do have a strong draft-ing chimney, and a barometric damper, adjusted to the draft recommendations from Econoburn. I definitely notice that the boiler gains temperature more rapidly, during a burn, when the damper is allowed to operate to regulate and moderate the draft, than when I temporarily ( during the same burn, and same stage of the burn ) temporarily cover the barometric damper.

I _have_ found that for starting the fire, I seem to get better starts if I temporarily block the damper, to get max draft during light-off.

I am also beginning to contemplate some convenient way of trying to temporarily disable the damper for when I open the firebox to load, in order to see if that results in less smoke escaping during loading. If that helps minimize smoke escape (which is noticeable but not utterly awful in extent) then I may not need the complexity of a separate hood and appropriate blower/ ducting for the hood.

It sure is a major help to temporarily close the damper during start up and reloading , my only problem the forget factor , which is a major problem for me , I get easily distract . But that is a great point to bring up .
Anthony