DC with outside air

[Steven Green]

Has anybody come up with a workable outside air supply solution for DC?
The last thing I've got room for in the small shop is filterbags. I was thinking of setting up outside air and using blast gates but thought I'd check in so I wouldn't have to completely invent the wheel if I didn't need to.

[Van Huskey]

Maybe its just me but I'm not sure what you want to do.

[Pete Shermet]

I suspect Illinois gets its fair share of cold weather in which case you should provide the area with make up air if you intend to exhaust outside.
If you have Forced air gas or oil heat the negative pressure created by the DC will draw CO (carbon monoxide) back down the flue's and into the house, the results could be disasterous (Yeah it'll kill you!!!)

[Tom Veatch]

From a practical standpoint, the biggest problem could be the one Pete alluded to. There is going to be make up air coming from somewhere. If it's coming down the flues of gas/oil fired furnaces/heaters, etc., it could get dangerous.

Second practical problem is you're pumping conditioned air out and it's being replaced with un-conditioned air that has to be heated or cooled. Depending on the number of hours used, that might have an impact on the utitility bills.

And then there's the reaction of neighbors and/or homeowner associations. May or may not be a factor, but a close neighbor might not appreciate a layer of fine sawdust applied to their newly washed and waxed Porsche.

[Steven Green]

Tom you and Pete hit the nail on the head. I use a wood stove in the winter and the shop has AC mostly for the humidity in the summer. I've been trying to figure out how to control the air coming in so as to parallel the dc when it's on. I have dedicated outside air for the stove but a couple of tests last week showed that I don't have enough outside air coming in to offset the reverse draw on the stove flue when the impeller is running to the outside

[David Hostetler]

So why not use a filter cartridge instead of one of those ginormous bags?