Enclosed dust collector shed

Messages
43
Location
Creston, Ohio
Hello all,
I live in Ohio where winters can be mild to cold. Summers are always warm. I only heat my uninsulated shop on the weekends in the winter. Now that you know the temperture extremes and conditions of my shop here is my question. Right now I have a 3hp grizzly dual bag dust collector taking up a big chunk of real estate inside my shop. A couple years ago I built a small extension to the outside of the shop to put in my big compressor. What kind of problems would I face if I did the same thing with the dust collector. Moisture/midew problems? Benifits would be quiter operation and much needed space. Cons would be going outside to empty the bags. Any help would be much appreciated.
Virgil
 
Virgil, is the shed vented back into the shop? If not, you'll be sucking out some of the heated air in the winter. May or may not be a big deal, depending on how often and how long your dust collector is running. I know some guys have added a vent between the shop and the shed to return some of the heated (or cooled, depending on the shop) air back into the shop.

I'd love to have my DC and compressor in a separate enclosure. :thumb:
 
As Vaughn pointed out, the big issue is that you'll lose heat if you dont' have some sort of air return to the main shop. That, and remembering to empty it on a regular basis. I'm considering the same thing, and my shop is only 12 x 20', so it is either going up in the loft, or out on a bump-out with a 'window' cut in the side of the building for both air return and visual check the bag duty.
 
No worries of losing heat to the enclosure. My shop is 24 X 36 and filled to capacity. The only opening between the shop and the inside of the enclosure would be where the ductwork and electrical went through the wall. I was thinking if I added styrofoam insulation to help quiet it down even more, would the insulation maybe make it sweat in summer or winter and draw moisture into the bags? Right now my shop is unheated and uninsulated and plenty of air space and I never have any problems. If it was confined with out any airspace is what worries me. I would hate to end up with mosture and mold growing in the bags. Same worries me about the short run of duct work that would be there.
Virgil
 
virgil,
by loosing heat they`re talking about the "x" number of cfm that you`ll remove from the shop and exhaust outdoors (or into your shed).....
 
Tod's right. It's not a matter of running out of air in the shop, it's about pulling your heated air out of the shop and blowing it outside. As the DC pulls air into the shed, cold air will be pulled into the shop (through every crack and other opening) to replace it. If you have a vent between the shed and the shop, most of the warm air that's removed from the shop by the DC will go back into the shop after the DC has done its work.
 
Well. now that makes sense. Never thought about it that way. That's why these forums are so helpful. My fellow woodworkers might have been down the same road and might have experiencened something I didn't even add to the equation. I just hope theres something else I'm not overlooking.
 
Hi Virgil,

Folks are steering you in the right direction with the 'heat loss' issue. If you have time and are so inclined, you might want to have a read through the dust collection section of my "Birth of a Shop" thread. Here's a link that will take you directly there: linkie...

Granted, my dust collector is probably way bigger than anything you have in mind, but the concepts are the same. Since my shop is air conditioned, and my DC was going to be in a shed behind the shop, I HAD to find a way to return the conditioned air back into the shop. My solution was to cut two holes through the wall of the shed that lead directly into the conditioned section of the shop.

Let me know if you have any specific questions if you go through my thread.

Good luck...
- Marty -
 
Marty,
Now thats what I call a dust collector.....and air conditioning to boot. Dang, I have to suffer through 90+ degree temeture in my shop in the summer. I only made it through part of the thread but going to continue. So you said you had two openings? One at the top and one at the bottom? Thank you everyone.
Virgil
 
Marty,
Now thats what I call a dust collector.....and air conditioning to boot. Dang, I have to suffer through 90+ degree temeture in my shop in the summer. I only made it through part of the thread but going to continue. So you said you had two openings? One at the top and one at the bottom? Thank you everyone.
Virgil

Virgil,

Conditioned air is NOT an option here in southern Georgia...it's MANDATORY...especially since this isn't just a hobby for me. I'm in the shop 12+ hours a day, usually 7 days a week. And it gets HOT here!!!:doh:

Anyway, there are two openings from the 'plenum room' back into the shop. They're right next to each other on the rear wall of the shop. They have 12" x 12" HVAC grills covering them on the shop side.

I used two 12"x12" grills, instead of one larger one, to simplify things. First, the openings fit easily between studs in the wall, so all I had to do was find the studs and cut holes between them. Also, I already had two 12" grills with filters in the HVAC system. Using the same size for the DC allows me to buy filters by the case and use them for DC as well as HVAC! :thumb:

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to help...if I can.

- Marty -
 
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Hey Ned,

All you had to do is ask. I'm pretty organized...I have all my pictures dated and titled so I can find stuff in a few minutes.

Oh well, next time ask...:rolleyes:
- Marty -

LOL... I just dove right in and read about the shop, gathering inspiration to finish mine this spring. Getting close, I'm getting quotes on the roofing, and gathering parts for the doors, and wiring.
 
Ok, Here's a thought. I could continue to build the enclosure but put the doors on the inside of the shop. Thus, going outside to empty the bags would be elimitnated. I would gain more noise this way but even if i had the vents I would have the noise anyway. Worst part of this idea would be loss of wall area to get into the enclosure. What do you think of this idea? Thanks again for the help.
Virgil
 
Several people have commented on heat loss if the DC is vented to the outdoors. I'm just wondering, what if you have radiant heat? I'm planning on heating my shop with overhead natural gas radiant heat. I've been told that radiant heats objects, not air so it's better if you have an air loss issue like opening the door to come or go.

I'm also planning on building a small room in my shop to house the compressor and DC. I want to cut down on the noise. I know I have to vent the room but I was planning on building a box with baffles inside. I've attached a rough drawing of what I'm talking about.
Wall vent.JPG
 
I did the baffles thing on my air intake into the Dungeon to cut down on any noise going out of the air intake, and it worked well, but it did really cut down on the airflow, if I were to do it again, I'd make the whole baffle box a LOT larger.

>> LINK <<

You can see the baffle box I built about halfway down that page.
 
Ok, Here's a thought. I could continue to build the enclosure but put the doors on the inside of the shop. Thus, going outside to empty the bags would be elimitnated. I would gain more noise this way but even if i had the vents I would have the noise anyway. Worst part of this idea would be loss of wall area to get into the enclosure. What do you think of this idea? Thanks again for the help.
Virgil

Virgil, you could STILL make the door opening to the outside and put the return air vent into the shop either high or low, whichever would give you the least lost wallspace. I have a shed built onto my shop that only opens to the outside and both the air compressor and the DC will be in that room, (along with lawn and gardening tool storeage). I plan on venting outside to start, but will make the proper filtered and baffled return IF and/or When I can add heat and/or Air conditioning to the shop.
 
The baffles are a great idea. I think I'll give that a shot. I'll keep the door on the outside of the enclosure. I'm not rich enough to have air conditioning in my shop and I heat with coal in an old furnace that use to heat my 100 year old house. Since heat rises, I guess I'd be smarter to have the vents low to keep from losing the heat. Am I correct on this?
Virgil
 
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