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Topic:
closet ventilation
This thread has 20 replies. Displaying posts 16 through 21.
OP | Post 16 made on Thursday August 10, 2017 at 12:00
Audiophiliac
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Right now, I have a modem, router, POE switch, and NAS drive in this closet. The door is closed all the time. The door gap is all there is for air in/out. The ambient is 72F outside the closet. When I open the door, I would estimate the temp inside the closet, at face level, to be around 90-95F. I should get a thermometer in there and get real numbers. Once I add an AVR, Tivo, Xbox, C4 processor, etc. to the rack, it is almost certainly going to require active ventilation.

I could easily put a passive vent through the wall behind the rack. That connects to the laundry/mud room, which also has a vent above the door to the rest of house for pulling return air from that room. Being that the laundry/mud room is a rarely used room, maybe it would be fine to use a fan to force exhaust air into that room vs. the attic. But in my mind, pushing hotter air back into the living space is worse than pushing conditioned (cooled or heated) air into the attic. But I am not an HVAC engineer, so I could be off.
"When I eat, it is the food that is scared." - Ron Swanson
Post 17 made on Thursday August 10, 2017 at 12:01
dsp81
Advanced Member
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October 2007
782
You generally want to avoid dumping the air into the attic because it can lead to condensation.

[Link: human.cornell.edu]

Venting to the outside can cause a problem if it creates an air deficit. If the house is older you may be okay.

[Link: structuretech1.com]

When I first installed my fan (340 cfm), I dumped the air into the garage. I noticed massive condensation in the garage during the winter and also had a near constant sewer gas smell in the basement. I moved the vent to inside the house and those problems disappeared.
Post 18 made on Friday August 11, 2017 at 02:42
Craig Aguiar-Winter
Senior Member
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1,489
Please don't ever make a vent from inside your house to the garage. Pretty sure in most places this violates code, or should, as it allows a path for Carbon Monoxide to get into your house and it will kill you and your whole family while you sleep. Seen it happen no word of a lie.

Craig.
My wife says I can't do sarcasm. She says I just sound like an a$$hole.
Post 19 made on Friday August 11, 2017 at 18:11
BrettLee3232
Long Time Member
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On August 10, 2017 at 10:55, Audiophiliac said...
So if I tie into the HVAC return, it will obviously draw the hot air out of the closet when the HVAC system is running (heat or AC), replacing it with fresh air from outside the closet through either a passive vent, or the air gap beneath the door.

When the HVAC system is NOT running, however, are you saying your additional fan is installed in the same air return duct, and pushes hot air out of the closet, and into the air return ducting as well? I am a bit confused on where that air will go when the HVAC fan is not circulating air through the close looped return/supply system. Will it end up being displaced back into the home through the HVAC supply ductwork? I understand the pressures will be very low compared to running the HVAC, but that is what it seems like would be happening in that scenario.

I am not sure why I "should not" vent into the attic (or to outside). My attic is vented to outside already. So I am not pressurizing the space at all. I understand that I would be dumping conditioned air into the attic/outside, possibly decreasing the overall efficiency of the HVAC system by a small margin. But this is the same thing that is happening when you run your bathroom fans, although on a temporary basis. Dryer vents are the same thing as well. Dumping hot air outside. The difference being that bathroom fans and dryer vents are not running 24/7, whereas my closet fan will likely run 24/7, at least in the summer months, even if on a thermostat set at 90-95F.

Active thermal suggests all of the above mentioned methods of exhausting air in their instructions. They mention exhausting into attic/crawlspaces, outdoors, HVAC return ducting, adjacent rooms, etc.

I could easily push the air from the closet into the laundry room. I could easily vent it to outside. I could easily vent it into the attic. I could fairly easily tie into the HVAC return. It would just require some kind of "T" splitter.

I will keep looking at options. But for this case, easy and cheap and fairly temporary is the goal....I will not be in this house for more than a couple of years anyhow. :)

I had someone tell me once, just because the air is 95 in the closet doesn't mean it will be 95 exiting in a hallway. It's not like a bathroom heater blowing heat. By the time the hot air travels to an adjacent room it's almost a ambient temp.

When you vent into the hvac system the "hot" air exits into the filter or plenum. Doesn't matter if it's on or off it's still part of the house. When the air is on then it's pulling the air from the closet at an accelerated rate causing better cooling.

If you have an option to vent into an attic space or laundry room/hallway then I would recommend going with the second option.

By code a fart fan must be installed in laundry rooms & bathrooms. This is to expel unwanted smells & damp areas. They also don't run 24-7.

Talking about all this makes me want to add a fart fan in my pantry to get some of that stale smell out of there though haha.
Knowing that Gold went up a few K makes me think "well now I have to do a better job on selling more equipment".

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Post 20 made on Saturday August 12, 2017 at 04:12
Ernie Gilman
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On August 11, 2017 at 18:11, BrettLee3232 said...
I had someone tell me once, just because the air is 95 in the closet doesn't mean it will be 95 exiting in a hallway. It's not like a bathroom heater blowing heat. By the time the hot air travels to an adjacent room it's almost a ambient temp.

The exiting air will mix with other air and come to some temperature that's a combination of the two.
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 21 made on Monday August 14, 2017 at 08:07
Ranger Home
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On August 11, 2017 at 18:11, BrettLee3232 said...
Talking about all this makes me want to add a fart fan in my pantry to get some of that stale smell out of there though haha.

wouldnt it be easier to get rid of the stale food? :)
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