vent a dust collector outside ?

[John-Paul Murphy]

I have a question about how to run the exhaust from the dust collector out of the shop. My problem is that I can not afford to heat the 1,200 + cfm of exhausted air. I have heard of heat exchangers used to preheat the incoming air using the heat of the exhausted air. Is anyone else aware of this, maybe some of our HVAC folks?

John-Paul

[Jim O'Dell]

John-Paul, a heat exchanger might help a little, but I don't think they could handle the air volume that is put out by our dust collection units. Plus the dust would probably clog one up pretty fast. I think you would be better off changing to a filter set up that would collect more of the dust and keep the heat in. Maybe set your esisting collector unit in a closet that seals off well, then vent that air through a good filter like Wynn Environmental, or other filter company sells. It would be a pain, but the good filter would only get the smaller stuff that the regular filter didn't catch, thus allowing the good filter to last longer. Just a thought. Jim.