Shop Ventilation

[River Runner]

Good Day,

I want to install a ventilation system of sorts in the shop. It sill under construction (I'm on the 3 year plan) . Anyhow, because its a block building with continuous rigid insulation I am expecting it to be pretty tight and I did not install any windows. My thought is to install an inline duct fan in the attic and pull the air out via the ceiling and out the backside of the shop's gable end. This is what I have in mind.

TD Mixvent Multi-Purpose Inline Duct Fan 16 inch 2630 CFM TD-400

The TD-MIXVENT series of in-line duct fans have been specially designed to maximize the airflow performance with minimal noise levels within the smallest and most compact of casing sizes. This makes it the ultimate solution for small to medium sized ventilation installations which require a high...

industrial-fans-direct.myshopify.com

I have never done anything like this before so before I go ordering stuff I want to run it by others who may have. Shop is 40x64 with 13' ceilings, which is 33,280 cubic feet. I figure a 2600 CFM fan could exchange the air in 15 minutes which seems adequate.

I think I will also need either a fan to bring air into the shop or some sort of area that can open to allow this to function properly. Our summers can get hot but it usually cools to 50 degrees in the evenings so exchanging the air at night would make for a comfortable shop during the day. Our house doesn't have AC so we just **** the night air in with box fans and close it up in the morning.

Looking for insight or red flags. Thanks!

 

[Renegade1LI]

My soon to be new shop gets lots of condensation being in the Adirondacks, as soon as I open the door in the am I start getting condensation on the floor. By just adding one big fan I can eliminate most of it, with some good cross ventilating, an easy fix for now but works. Adding a permanent fan w/ a tstat up high with a few sets of louvers down low around the shop will make a huge difference, I will also be adding a couple of split units, with their low cost& high efficiency it's a great way to keep the shop comfortable & the tools love it. It's also important to be well insulated, plus you should also use a sealer on the block to help control moisture, here's a good article, lots of similar products out there.

Concrete Block Sealer & Waterproofing: 11 Tips You Should Know

For the reasons why you need it & best tips and methods for sealing concrete block walls and the best cinder block water barrier, read on.

polyguardproducts.com

 

[wssix99]

It shoulds like you have a similar situation as I have: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/ventillation-in-an-energy-efficient-garage.337783/

If you are heating the space, you can use a HRV and keep from loosing your heat in the winter. If you take out the heat exchanger, as I do, in the summer, then it works like a regular fan.

Our summers can get hot but it usually cools to 50 degrees in the evenings so exchanging the air at night would make for a comfortable shop during the day. Our house doesn't have AC so we just **** the night air in with box fans and close it up in the morning.

I think you will find (as I do) that the concrete/block walls act as a radiator at night and keep heating the cool air you will be pumping in. (Particularly since you will not have any windows and have a lot of wall area.) If you really want this to work, you also need to keep the outside walls cool by shading them from the sun and using other techniques.

 

[River Runner]

My block walls have 3.5” of foam on the exterior and I have 12’ overhangs on each side to provide shade. My thought was to utilize the mass of the block walls on the inside to help retain the heat in the winter and the cool in the summer. It’s maybe a rather unconventional style of building with my insulation on the exterior.

 

[River Runner]

Here are a few pics. The 2nd layer of foam will go between the furring strips.

 

[wssix99]

My block walls have 3.5” of foam on the exterior and I have 12’ overhangs on each side to provide shade. My thought was to utilize the mass of the block walls on the inside to help retain the heat in the winter and the cool in the summer. It’s maybe a rather unconventional style of building with my insulation on the exterior.

That should perform really well for you in the summer as you intend. With the insulation on the outside, the walls will equalize temperature with the inside of the garage much more quickly. When you ventillate at night, the walls will give up heat to the air and should be cooler than the outside air during the day.

Conversely, the walls will soak up heat from the inside of the garage in the winter, store it, and radiate it out through the insulation. If you are going to heat the garage with space heating in the winter or part-time heat, this should be fine. If you are going to heat the space full-time, then you will probably miss insulation on the inside face of the wall.

 

[nadogail]

Garage ventilation is a moving target. Without seeing your location and garage construction all I can say is you need some, but not too much.