Basement brewery ventilation

Donoroto said:
It has to go somewhere eventually, no? Out the window?

I'm thinking of a variant on a sump pump. I can discharge the (clean) water into a storm drain, or onto the lawn I suppose.
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Lol, ya, it goes out the back door eventually.
 
Craigerrr said:
Fortunately for me with a Brewzilla, I just purchased their off the shelf condenser.
I think @BarbarianBrewer made his own set up which works well for him, perhaps he will chime in.
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No, it wasn't me. I boil on a propane burner outside. That may change when I get too old to be schlepping everything up from, and down to, the basement. Right now that's my exercise program!
 
Donoroto said:
I am considering a similar thing, and so I am quite interested in this.

At first my main concern was your trying to get 400 cfm through a 4" duct. It doesn't seem like it'll be sufficient.

But then the comments about the failures of venting and the successes of condensing made me think that ventilation, especially without make-up air, won't do it.

My current problem is that I have neither water nor drain in the cellar. Water is easy to fix, drain is a bit complicated. But yhat's likely where I will head.
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What @Donoroto says regarding “make up air” is very important. Same concept - I just built a new house and the code is if you have any kind of kitchen exhaust, you must have make up air. If you’re trying to move air out, you have to move some in. In my case, the range hood is wired to the HVAC, So, when the exhaust is on, exterior air is pulled in through the HVAC and conditioned to your thermostat setting. Obviously, you can‘t do that in your case, but an adjacent open window would work.
 
Semper Sitientem said:
What @Donoroto says regarding “make up air” is very important. Same concept - I just built a new house and the code is if you have any kind of kitchen exhaust, you must have make up air. If you’re trying to move air out, you have to move some in. In my case, the range hood is wired to the HVAC, So, when the exhaust is on, exterior air is pulled in through the HVAC and conditioned to your thermostat setting. Obviously, you can‘t do that in your case, but an adjacent open window would work.
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The main reason make up air is important is to avoid creating a negative pressure in the house which would draw exhaust fumes from things like gas fired water heaters and furnaces back into the house, a potentially deadly situation. Thankfully I have all electric appliances in my house, so the open window should be sufficient for me.
 
philjohnwilliams said:
The main reason make up air is important is to avoid creating a negative pressure in the house which would draw exhaust fumes from things like gas fired water heaters and furnaces back into the house, a potentially deadly situation. Thankfully I have all electric appliances in my house, so the open window should be sufficient for me.
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Also, without make up air, the fan just won't move any air. (Or significantly less)
 
I was one of the ones that made my own setup. It rained in my basement room the first time I used my Anvil with only a fan in a window.
Exchanger2.jpg
 
philjohnwilliams said:
The main reason make up air is important is to avoid creating a negative pressure in the house which would draw exhaust fumes from things like gas fired water heaters and furnaces back into the house, a potentially deadly situation. Thankfully I have all electric appliances in my house, so the open window should be sufficient for me.
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The open window assured you don't back-draw deadly loose electrons into the house...

Tight electrons, no problem. :D
 
I also use a steam condenser and it works great. I bought mine from brew hardware, it comes with all the fittings for the water connection and drain line. I chose to solder a 1.5" tri clamp fitting into the very top edge of my 20 gal boil kettle. If you don't have enough room then you'll have to vent it through the lid.

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FrostyBeach said:
I also use a steam condenser and it works great. I bought mine from brew hardware, it comes with all the fittings for the water connection and drain line. I chose to solder a 1.5" tri clamp fitting into the very top edge of my 20 gal boil kettle. If you don't have enough room then you'll have to vent it through the lid.

View attachment 29942
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Silver solder?
 
FrostyBeach said:
Yes, I also used several of the pull through fittings and silver soldered those. Stay Brite is the brand of solder. Brew Hardware sells it in small quantities.
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Never tried to solder stainless. Propane or map gas? Would seem getting enough heat to flow world be the hard part.

I use 1.5"TC weldless bulkheads. Never had one leak, but the possibility exists
 
FrostyBeach said:
Both propane and mapp gas will work. I used mapp gas and it's easy to get enough heat. You do need to be comfortable soldering and controlling the heat though.
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Was an electronic tech for 18 years. IPC class 3 for alot of them. The heat soak from heavy metals can be a challenge for sure though
 
Donoroto said:
It has to go somewhere eventually, no? Out the window?
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I'm not sure I understand the question Don.
When you say "it", do you mean the steam?
 
Minbari said:
No he meant the water from the bucket.
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gotcha, I run mine down the drain so I don't have to lift the bucket, although, my back is much, much better now, I could use a bucket...
 
Craigerrr said:
gotcha, I run mine down the drain so I don't have to lift the bucket, although, my back is much, much better now, I could use a bucket...
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Yes, the dead steam (water). I'd have to schlep it upstairs. I'm thinking of something like a sump pump, perhaps connected to a sink I'd add in the basement. I know they make pumps for that kind of thing.

It would be only for water, perhaps contaminated with traces of wort and a few stray bits of grain. Never for chemicals or for rinsing paint brushes, that sort of thing.
 
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