Ventilation/cooker hood?

[Rachel]

Hi guys

I need to get my ventilation sorted out... with the cold weather coming I don't really want to sit with doors and windows wide open.

I'm leaning towards a cooker hood but I wanted to get feedback from those of you that have one.  Do they do the job?  What makes do you have? 

I've seen these hydroponics fans but I'm not sure whether they can be used.  Would they withstand the heat?

[Shirley]

I've been using a hydroponics fan for over a year and it seems to work fine. It hasn't melted, and if I turn on the propane with no oxy you can see it pulling the flame over so I think it probably gets rid of the fumes pretty well.

I've not got round to putting up the cooker hood that I scrounged from a friend.

[Sulis (Hazel)]

Hi Rachel, I use a cooker hood that I got from Freecycle. It's pretty good. I used to get headaches before I installed it and now I get none at all (from the lampworking anyway!)
I used an incense stick when I installed it just to make sure it was sucking stuff up - and that worked. I'm sure it's not as good as a purpose built high powered extractor, but it works really well for me.
Hope that helps
Hazel

[mariag]

I've got a Wickes cooker hood & haven't suffered any headaches while torching.
I noticed in yesterday's paper that B&Q are selling cooker hoods for £25 (while stocks last)

[Les]

I need to get my ventilation sorted, what with the bad weather kicking in.... need to sell a few beadies first tho...

xx

[Rachel]

Thanks guys.  Maria - I had a look on the B&Q website - they've got one for £39.00 - was £59.  I think I may pop down there tomorrow and see if they have any of the £25 ones left.

Am I right in thinking that you have to get a ducting kit for it?

Shirley - I looked at the hydroponics fans and you can get some pretty powerful ones.  I'm not sure how I would set it up over my torch though.  

[Shirley]

I've use a two level computer desk. The torch sits on the base part and the fan is on the shelf. There's a pic somewhere on here in the studio thread ...hang on....

here you go - fan is the silver and white cylinder thingy. The silver part is an aluminium tube. I've also got a fan heater/cooler below the desk so it blows the fumes further away. No ducting at the moment because the wall goes into my neighbour's garage!

[mariag]

Rachel, we bought the ducting bits & pieces from Wickes but I haven't got a cover on the outside of the duct as I was worried it might block. I have put some netting over it though to stop snails & floobies getting in.

[Funky Cow]

What are floobies?

[mariag]

wasps, flies......anything flying & yukky

[Shirley]

ah, the smell of burning moth 

[Katiequiggle]

ah, the smell of burning moth 

LMAO

I too have to sort out a cooker hood.  I refuse to spend another winter with warm top half and freezing bottom half, clad in blankets and 2 pairs of fishing socks because the doors and windows are open.  There seems to be a shortage of them on our local freecycle at the moment boo hoo.

[Pandanimal]

I need to get ventilation sorted too.
I been working during summer with all the doors open.
The sound of the rain falling on the gravel outside my door was quite soothing.
Unlike the arguments between my 4 sons over whose turn it was on the computer/Wii/Gamecube.

What sucking power should I look for in a cooker hood?
No raised eyebrows now...you all know what I mean.

[Magpieandbadger]

The information here might alarm and baffle you at first, but it's very sound and will help you make the best decision for your ventilation.

Since my new studio is in the house in a small bedroom I wanted to get everything right.

http://mikeaurelius.wordpress.com/

Alun and I designed and had a glass Barley Box built, and there is a powerful fan sucking the badness out. It's vented directly out a window. The box, fan, ducting and window arrangement cost about £250 but I feel it was well worth it.

Remember, it's not just the bad air going out, you have to think about your good air coming in as well.

You can see the not quite completed unit at the edge of the photo here.

http://www.magpieandbadger.co.uk/news.html

Diana

[Magpieandbadger]

Here's the link directly to the ventilation pages.

http://mikeaurelius.wordpress.com/ventilation-primer/