Vent the Compressor Room?

[joecole23]

My new garage is nearing completion, and I noticed that the compressor room has no air vent. With a large, 2-stage compressor, I'll definitely need air ventilation in there, right?

The space is already sheetrocked and painted, and bricked on the outside. The easiest way to vent it now is probably to cut a hole in the metal exterior door and add a vent there. Thoughts? Opinions?

Here's a look at the floor plan:

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[rodnok1]

Sounds like a plan to me, other option to consider is one vent on bootom of door and a fan in ceiling vented to outside(under eave maybe)

 

[mikeyr]

I would say yes, you will need ventilation for air intake and heat exhaust. I suppose you could try it as is for a while and see how it works but I bet it overheats in there.

I have a 4'x5' compressor room and a small 6"x10" vent near the bottom of the door for intake. For exhaust I have a bathroom ceiling fan (with a light so 2 things in one) right over the compressor exhausting the hot air to the outside.

 

[Dave Heacock]

The condensation will not form out of the compressed air until it is cooled. If your room is hot it will be difficult to get the moisture to form in the tank where you can extract it before it goes through out your air piping system. A door louvers by itself is a poor method of ventilation, the heat will rise to the top of the room and with no mechanical fan exhausting the room almost no air will be drawn in through the louver. Rodnok1's suggestion is best mechanical ventilation at the ceiling with a fresh air intake louver on the door.

 

[joecole23]

Thanks guys. This is a 2-story structure, so some of suggestions won't fly. And the ceiling over this room is just 8' tall, so I can use the space above it for storage. I'm going to have my GC install a vent in the bottom of the metal exterior door, and then bolt an exhaust fan to the ceiling and pipe it to the outside. There's a 110v plug in there already, so he can just plug it into that. Not pretty, but I'll rarely see the inside of this room anyway.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[pcmeiners]

If you have an intake from the outside, you will generally have less moisture in the air supply, especially in the winter. Once outside temperatures hits near 32, you will have nil moisture. If you take air intake from the shop area, moisture from the slab area, buildup within shop materials and living bodies will add moisture to the air supply.
Personally I would have a supply from the outside with a fan for exhaust at ceiling level, controlled by a thermostat. Vent is absolutely necessary as a motor and friction of the compressor is outputing the equal of a small heater. If you got a bit crazy you could design a vent to exhaust to outside in the summer, to the interior shop in the winter.

 

[swharris]

Wow, 3 lifts? I see 10'4" from bench to center of lift. What does that give you from front of a car to the bench? How much room did you leave on each side of a lift?

 

[ket-tek]

Yeah just put a bathroom fan getting the air out of the top of the room and you'll be good.

That's a great set of plans. Got any build pics yet, looks like it will be an awesome garage.. Looking at the measurements it's gonna be real tight in there..

Mine is similar at 28'x38' and there is no way 3 lifts would leave any room to work around.. I just added a HD-9XW and it's awesome, but sure ate up a lot of space.

When I was drawing the plans the space seemed huge, and looked roomy with all the stuff drawn in, but once it was built it seemed to close in quick.
And my 6'x8' compressor room is on the outside of garage, where you've got a bathroom, stairs, and comp room squeezed in the same space.

 

[lawfarm]

Hey...more important than venting the compressor room...

You may also want to consider a vent in the bathroom!

 

[Dale B]

You are going to hook up the fan to the compressor circuit right ? No need for it to run if comp .is off....

 

[joecole23]

Wow, 3 lifts? I see 10'4" from bench to center of lift. What does that give you from front of a car to the bench? How much room did you leave on each side of a lift?

In the first 2 bays, the dotted line rectangle is the size of a Chevy Tahoe. Does that answer your question?

 

[willymakeit]

Add a relay to turn the fan on and off with the comp. automaticaly

 

[sdb3023]

You deffinitly need to have an opening for the compressor to draw air in. You would be amazed at just how much air a compressor draws in(scfm). Vent to cool the room would be good to, but just the opening at the top ducted outside with the louvers in the bottom of the door will casue the air to moveon its own much more. The fan up there will be overkill but it aint gonna hurt.

 

[ScaldedDog]

FWIW, I put a ceiling vent in mine that vents warm air into the loft storage area, and another vent on the wall across the room for intake. I'm a nut about keeping the compressor quiet, so I cut baffles out of cow mat and put them in that vent. Works great, even with a compressor and boiler in the same room.

Mark

 

[Kevin54]

Put a vent in the bottom of the door as suggested then put a cold air return grille in the ceiling so it vents out to the soffit. Above the grille could just be boxed in with wood or use standard duct work to do it.

 

[Yardgoat]

When you start your compressure up with the door closed,let it run for a couple min,then gently open the door.If you need more air the door will be harder to open and you can hear the air sucking in.IMHO,you need a door veny top/bottom.You can get vents to hold filters on the inside to keep some dust out and help your comp filter out.............................YG

 

[Notch1988]

How often do you use the garage? If you're just a weekend wrencher doing odd jobs I might just add a screen door behind the compressor door and open the compressor door when you are going to do some work.

 

[Garys Garage]

Nice Garage. Why 3 lifts with 8 foot ceiling. I have 11.7 ceilings and with garage door opener I can barely lift Tahoe. I think you will find your tow lifts are to close together. I vented mine through he door.

 

[ket-tek]

Nice Garage. Why 3 lifts with 8 foot ceiling. I have 11.7 ceilings and with garage door opener I can barely lift Tahoe. I think you will find your tow lifts are to close together. I vented mine through he door.

His plans show the garage ceiling is 12'6", just the compressor room, bathroom, and closet have shorter ceilings..

 

[Garys Garage]

His plans show the garage ceiling is 12'6", just the compressor room, bathroom, and closet have shorter ceilings..

Sorry not too good at reading blue prints.

 

[CatchAll_shop]

Add a relay to turn the fan on and off with the comp. automaticaly

I'm interested in doing this set up in my shop. Any other info on how to do this?

 

[A29]

While my "room" is not as air tite as yours is it doesn't take as much air as most guys think. A 16 x 25 Return air grill is all I use. However, use all that you can get.