Venting steam in my basement

[brewbush]

I am in process of building a brewing area in my basement, I currently use electric brewing and was wondering about venting.

I am not sure I want to drill another hole 4-6 inches in my brick exterior to vent a range or condensation hood to the outside.

Is there any way to have a hood/pipe/vortex fan, but have it vent into a loop and just drain the condensate back into my sink? Some sort of "condenser" and allow the water to just flow back into the drain?

 

[-CHRIS-]

Do you have any windows in your basement? That is what I use to vent the brewery.

 

[brewbush]

The window is not close to where I am brewing so I don't think that is a feasible option for my setup.

 

[bbohanon]

Use a window with a temporary vent duct as Chris mentioned while you brew or bite the bullet and just drill the hole. You want to make SURE you properly ventilate the space or trust me..the low pressure system will develop in your basement quickly when you start the boil and over time, mold will take root.
You dont want that..like at all.

There was a picture floating around here of this low pressure system that someone had develop in their house during brewday due to poor ventilation..one of the funniest things I ever saw, but not something my wife nor I would want in my house..I bet the water was running from the wallpaper when he was done..lol

 

[bbohanon]

You could also look into something like this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...denser-no-overhead-ventilation-needed.636955/

 

[mj1angier]

The window is not close to where I am brewing so I don't think that is a feasible option for my setup.

As in it is in a finished part of basement or to far to run?

Because we are dealing with low temps, pvc pipe will work fine and is cheap-ish to buy. Biggest cost would be an in-line bathroom exhaust fan. Just need to plan a slope so any condensation can not settle in low spot in pipe.

 

[brewbush]

My window is 20 feet away from the brewing area, finished area, not somewhere I want a pipe running through.

I do have the ceiling joists open, I was trying to avoid another vent on the outside of the house, but this may be the best option.

For a 8-10 foot run of pipe (which I can do if I go through an adjacent room, would 4 inch with an inline vortex fan connected to a hood be enough for 5 gallon batches?

Silly question....would you slope pipe UP to the wall/window or would you start high and slope pipe DOWN to the wall/window opening? Pipe would be in the joists, so at max a few inches drop over the run.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Even with a window 20 feet away from your kettle, I think you could stick a fan in the open window, then have a second fan blowing across the ceiling above your kettle. This will effectively ventilate the entire basement.

Let the fans run 20-30 minutes post boil to air out the space.

Capturing the steam and running it through a pipe gets tricky quickly. Moving lots of air is pretty simple.

A box fan or window fan installed in an open window moves a tremendous volume of air...

 

[brewbush]

thanks!
That sounds pretty simple and easy and is how I prefer to keep it.

 

[Dcpcooks]

There is a thread on here about a condensing rig. Basically it uses a cold water mist to condense the steam and you can run it off to a drain.

 

[wilserbrewer]

thanks!
That sounds pretty simple and easy and is how I prefer to keep it.

Keeping your boil vigor at the lower end of reasonable will also limit the amount of steam you need to expel.

No need for a huge plume of steam coming off the kettle.