Cyclone in the attic

[Sandy Johnson]

I'm looking to add a Clearvue Cyclone to my new shop space that's in the works. Thinking of mounting the cyclone in the attic and place the filters high on the wall in the shop (to keep the conditioned air in the room) and locate the dust collection bin on the floor with a drop from the ceiling. This will put the unit up fairly high as the ceiling in the shop is right around 12'. If I am using 6" drops from the attic to my various stationary tools, I would appreciate your thoughts as to why this wouldn't work. I was originally planning to put the cyclone in the shop and build an insulated box surround, but started thinking that the attic would would give me the same noise isolation (w/an insulated ceiling) and also free up some floor space. I appreciate the collective wisdom of this group. Thanks

[Jim Becker]

The extra duct length obviously affects system performance a little, but air is essentially "weightless" and that's what you are moving with your DC system (the dust and chips follow the air...) so the height is pretty much a non-issue.

Do be sure to give consideration to what heat can do to the electricals including the motor during the hotter months of the year...attics tend to get a bit toasty!

And welcome to the 'Creek, Sandy!

[Cody Colston]

Around here some people place their A/C Units in the attic so I don't see why a DC wouldn't work. If an electric motor will survive the Texas heat it surely ought to be okay in Maryland.

Might want to hear from someone more knowlegeable, though. I'm just guessing. :)

[Sandy Johnson]

Jim--I appreciate the feedback. Actually, Ed from Clearvue returned my call at the same time that I was reading your reply. He shared the same concerns and suggested I feed some air from the soffit directly across the motor. I have a powered ventilator in the roof not too far from the motor so I can probably work up a cross air current.

Cody--I lived in the Fort Worth area for six years, so I agree that the blower units on my AC system in the attic seemed to withstand a whole lot more heat than I will probably ever see in MD.

Have to make a decision tomorrow as the electrician will be wrapping up the wiring then. I'm thinking for the floor space gain I'm going to take a chance on the attic. Thanks again--this is a great community!

[Jim Becker]

Cody, in my last meeting with the contractor that will be doing our addition, we discussed how to handle having the HVAC unit in the attic. It was either complete the envelope with the spray-foam insulation (what we are doing) or build an insulated room. I'm not all that far "climate-wise" from Sandy, that was what predicated my concern with the cyclone "up there".

[Cody Colston]

Ain't no thang. Like I said, I was guessing.

[Randy Denby]

Actually the fan on an air handler is inside the cabinet and in the conditioned air stream.

My only concerns on an attic mounted dust collector is the transfer of attic heat into the shop. The duct and the cyclone will build up with heat and then when you turn it on ,blow that heat into the shop. So, I would recommend wrapping it with insulation. Just be sure to leave the motor xposed. Of course, insulation only slows the transfer of heat, so if the dust collector is used infrequently, you'll still get a momentary blast of built up heat from the cyclone when cycled on.

As far as height and duct sizing, all dust collector sizing books that I've read state a higher fps (feet per second) =(velocity) on vertical vs horizontal runs. This to keep the sawdust entrained in the air stream. Air actually does have weight, but not enough to matter in this application. More important is the friction and the volume of air and particulates. So, best to do a static pressure calculation and see if your machine will support enough velocity with required cfm at that static pressure calculation. Figure the longest run or the run with the most static pressure in your cyclone selection.

[Bob Reda]

The only other concern would be if the shop becomes air conditioned. With the heat in the attic and the cool air in the shop, condensation could form where the drops come down and water could become a problem.

Bob

[Bruce Wrenn]

In the winter, condensation can be a real problem. Warm, humid shop air being transported through cold metal ducts in attic, with water vapor condensing out. You might want to pull flex duct over runs in attic and build a small insulated area around cyclone.

[Doug Shepard]

There's an interesting hybrid (attic/shop) setup on ClearVue's gallery page that might be another option.
http://gallery.clearvuecyclones.com/Freds-low-ceiling-installation