brianb Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Hi All, I have a spare 4” dryer duct in my workshop. Normally I finish Oil based outside, but I’m wondering If I purchased an inline dryer vent fan If I could move enough air to finish oils inside while it’s cold? My shop is fairly small (10×15) in the basement and could easily be blocked off with plastic and insulation to be about 6×10. I’m curious if I could get a fan that would move enough air for the smell to not travel through the rest of the house? If so, what kind of CFM would I need to move this much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Hey man it's better than nothing at all. Give it a try. However, the oil smell will continue to come out through the finish for days as they dry. Oil based finishes "gas off" as they cure. Think about using water-based finishes...you'll be glad ya did. A better solution would be doing something with a basement window as way to exhaust. Piece of wood to block the opening, cut a hole and a flexible deduct attached to a fan? You'll think of something. -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonPacific Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Your goal here is establishing a "negative pressure zone". All you really need to do is make sure that the basement is pulling air out of the house, rather than air moving from the basement into the house. We can't really provide a CFM recommendation, as it will vary a lot based on how your house is built. That said the exhaust fan certainly won't hurt anything. I'd say get the biggest/most powerful fan you can afford that will fit the opening. Part of making this work is that you're going to want to air seal the finishing area as best you can. Expanding foam and finishing any stud-walls/ceiling would be your first steps. Plastic sheeting a smaller area is another option as you stated. One quick warning, make sure your furnace isn't pulling air from the basement (assuming it's down there) as you could inadvertently pull flue-gasses into the living space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 The easiest answer for a fan is probably a standard bathroom fan. Lots of them are made for a 4 inch round duct, so it shouldn't be hard to hook it up. As for the caution about pulling in furnace gases, that's worth taking seriously, if it's an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 I can see if it's a commercial fan that pulls a lot of air. But shoot, it's a little fan in a 4" pipe. I know people that have finished bathrooms in basements with vent fans piped to the outside wall. So I think, no worries. -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 You might look at a duct booster fan, install it in a larger duct section then use reducers to size down to the 4" duct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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