im a newbie - extractor fan advise please!

[Li]

hi, im a newbie - im just about to set up but need some advise from all those who know about extraction & ventilation because im quite clueless!   

I phoned progrow and they recommended the box extractor fan - which is the quitest and most powerful  one to use - except its expensive.  (see link)
http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_3245.html
Alternatively i understand i can use the RVK fan - which is not as powerful & more noisy. but it is half the price. (see link)
http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_314.html
and the third option is to use a normal fan.
my finances are limited - so my question is -can i use a normal fan for a few months until i can afford a proper extractor fan? or it is not recommended & why?
then will the RVK fan at 680m3/hr be sufficient?  ( i am setting up in an art studio which is a big open space size of 2xgarages and there are big glass sliding doors along the front.)

thanks in advance for all your help!
Li 

[helbels]

Hi Li

Ok, first things first. If money is tight you can actually get away with simply opening windows and doors initially. The important thing is to have air circulating and being extracted somehow - not sure that a normal fan would do that - it would probably just blow the air around if you see what I mean, unless you had it fixed in an open window.  Open windows and doors wil be a challenge at this time of year due to the temperature too.

Re: Progrow - these guys know what they are talking about.  If you aren't sure if the cheapervfan is powerful enough, call them back and tell them the size of your studio and they will work it out for you. If they say it's ok then it will be fine.

The other one might seem expensive, but in the long run could be a better buy as you wont have to change it later (which you might with the other one if you get fed up with the noise).  Also I guess you need to think about what price you put on your lungs, if you see what I mean.

Hope that helps a bit
Helen

[dinah46]

I've been using an RVK fan for a couple of years and it's not that noisy. I can still listen to my radio without a problem and the fan is situated quite close under a table to my left.  If cost is preventing you getting the box type then the rvk is the way to go.  My only issue with them is that they are bulkier.

[liquidglass]

Hi Li, as Helen suggested could you let us know the size of the studio and I will get a colleague to calculate fan size required etc.

[Kalorlo]

The size of fan you need isn't actually based on the size of your studio, it's based on the size of your working area - it's the air in the vicinity of your torch that you're concerned with! I got a Systemair RVK fan off eBay - 950m3/hr for less than £100. It's big but I mounted it in the roof of a box I built (a 'barley box'/fume cupboard type setup) and it works away just fine.

If you want some very technical details about ventilation and how to calculate what you need, you can look at Mike Aurelius' ventilation primer. Warning: he's on the paranoid side when it comes to this, so take with salt!

The basic rule is that you need a fan that can pull 100cfm (cubic feet per minute) per square foot of hood area, if your fan is in a cooker hood above your torch. If you have a box with sides like mine, the area you're looking at is the open front face. Because that's in American numbers, there's some messing about: 100cfm is 170m3/hr.

Quick comparison: the 680m3/hr is about 400cfm. My fan is about 560cfm.

If the above makes no sense, sorry! The RVK at 680m3/hr is probably doable, but do check eBay because there tend to be loads on there for cheaper than Progrow. You might need to fit a plug - it's easy, things are labelled - yell if you need me to find the instructions for doing it   

[Lizzie]

Hi Li,

I recently brought a prowgrow  (KSA 150) and I brought that one because it would have been the right size for my room but sent it back and got the 100 instead as the 150 was so powerful  that it would have sucked me up with it, I did speak to the guys at prowgrow and they were great but they did say they weren't really familiar with lampwork set up but could really only tell me the right one for my room size which really would be for what the ventilation system would normally used for (grow room ventilation) I have to say the one I have now is perfectly fine albeit a little noisy.

I'm sure lots of people on here know far more than me but I can only share my experience with the fan I have, I do have a good size room but the bigger fan was far toooooo much.

I hope that helps a bit, I know how difficult it is to make up your mind, took me ages.

Also is there anyone near you then you could see the fans up close.

Lizzie x     

[Kalorlo]

Lizzie: yeah - what we need the fan for is extraction of fumes very quickly in a small area. It's rather different from ventilating an entire grow room   
So for us the size of the rest of the room is irrelevant - you extract the fumes from around your torch as they are generated, and the rest of your room still has clean air, which is sucked in to replace the air you're extracting. (Obviously still need a window or other opening for make-up air, yadda yadda, but you know!)

[SilverGems89]

I just got a regular kitchen cooker hood extractor from Ikea (they do some fairly cheap ones) because as Heather pointed out all your really wanting to do is extract the air directly around the torch, not really the whole room, but its slightly different for me because my room is very small in comparison to your own! At the end of the day you have to go with what you feel most comfortable with (and fits your budget) but lots of people still just use the old open windows/doors for ventilation trick  

[Blue Box Studio]

I started with a cooker hood but it suddenly stopped working and we think the heat from the torch (my shedio roof isn't that high, about 5'6") freied the fan motor although something was still making a wirring noise.  My local Mr Fixit failed in this instance.  I looked at Progrow but haven't the money at the moment.  I thought about the inline fans but since the hole in the wall isn't too far away  we didn't think it would be ideal.  Progropw suggested putting the inline fan above the booker hood but that wouldn't work in my confined space (7' x 5').  So in the end I got an ordinary kitchen extractor from Screwfix, £18 and Tony fitted that.  I was a bit apprehensive but actually I've been getting less headaches with this than I did the cooker hood so suspect it's venting better.  A Progrow box is still on the cards if needs be, but I can't afford just yet - public sector worker - job on the line!