Venting Laser Exhaust - Must solve this problem. IDEAS?

[Pieter Swart]

I have never rented a shop for my business and I was doing it from home for almost 9 years. The shops with a lot of people traffic costs ridiculous amount of money to rent here in Australia and renting just a workshop space does not make sense when you have a lot of space in your own double garage.

Only once some new neighbors complained and two persons from my council showed up telling me to shut down. I could not because I was running a big job and told them I would turn it off once finished. However in the process of speaking to them I understood that they basically could not do anything to stop me from what I was doing. I was completelly within my rights to run that type of business from my home and complied with all council requirements for home based business. So at the end of our conversation with the council persons they just asked me(this time very politely) to move my exhaust pipe at the top of the house roof(double story house) from a garage roof which just a single story. They were also trying to blame me that I was polluting as well to which I just explained to them that the laser produces only fraction of a smoke comparing to wood burners used in almost every house. Thy did not have anything to say to that as it is true.
And at the end I did not even moved the pipe because it would cost me well over $1500 to do and it would just look very ugly from outside.

So if I was you I would check with your local council what are requirements to do something like this from home. And I would not worry about the smoke from cutting wood. It is just a tiny amount of it and it is possible that a single cigarette makes more smoke than 4-5 minutes of cutting.

I would love to not worry about my neighbors... but unfortunately, living in a city environment on a 1/8 acre corner lot... with my workshop almost butting up to my neighbors bedroom...lol... I had to get rid of my CNC Router because of the noise and smoke smell when running a 3 hour job... I think he might be upset at me for not scrubbing the smoke.... He is a funny person... so I can only imagine his cuban rantings if i vent out directly...

Rather safe than sorry...

I think this air scrubber for under $200 is the bees knees and would be the perfect MacGuyver Project to keep the peace...

[Matt McCoy]

I would love to not worry about my neighbors... but unfortunately, living in a city environment on a 1/8 acre corner lot... with my workshop almost butting up to my neighbors bedroom...lol... I had to get rid of my CNC Router because of the noise and smoke smell when running a 3 hour job... I think he might be upset at me for not scrubbing the smoke.... He is a funny person... so I can only imagine his cuban rantings if i vent out directly...

Rather safe than sorry...

I think this air scrubber for under $200 is the bees knees and would be the perfect MacGuyver Project to keep the peace...

Don't forget the cost of your consumables. It will add up, especially with wood.

[Joseph Shawa]

Have you considered pushing the bad air into place where there is already bad air? Sewer baby! It crossed my mind on a still winter day. All the snow held the stink for days! But I have a good separation between housed in my neighborhood so no one complained.
Anyway, as long as you have a good sized line out I can't see a reason why anyone would complain about it.

[Robert Walters]

One option might be to use a carbon filter.

They are available from any hydroponics store/supplier, and run about $230 USD for a 10" rated around 1800 CFM.
One example I found quickly: http://growershouse.com/black-ops-ca...48-in-2500-cfm

You can always go up/down in size depending on your usage/needs, and $230/mo to keep the neighbors/fire dept off your back is not necessarily a bad thing.

The rule of thumb is when the weight in the filter has doubled, replace it.

The one bonus is that you could be able to recycle the nice warm air back into the room, instead of venting outdoors.
Of course, please check/verify this is a safe way, including using a carbon monoxide sensor.

[John Lifer]

That's what the link prior pointed to, filter system that included carbon to eliminate odor.

[Kirk Quesnelle]

Hey Guys.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and suggestions! I love this forum so much!

I have purchased a Quatro from my awesome Epilog distributors in Canada. (Terry and Jon)
I got a great deal and basically the filter I bought has 2 pre filters before it enters the main
filter. This is supposed to help big time with the longevity of the more expensive filters like the hepa and carbon

Time will tell and i'll update the thread soon

Thanks for the help!

Kirk

[Ryan Matthews]

Kirk -

I've got a similar situation to what you've described and with the amount of wood that my wife is going through with the machines the DIY filter system isn't keeping up (since I don't change the filters often enough) - We're preparing for a new blower and venting through the roof and I was reading through the old posts and came across yours.

Would love to hear how things are working - or if they didn't and you tried something different.

Thanks,
Ryan

Hey Guys.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and suggestions! I love this forum so much!

I have purchased a Quatro from my awesome Epilog distributors in Canada. (Terry and Jon)
I got a great deal and basically the filter I bought has 2 pre filters before it enters the main
filter. This is supposed to help big time with the longevity of the more expensive filters like the hepa and carbon

Time will tell and i'll update the thread soon

Thanks for the help!

Kirk

[Craig Matheny]

We did the same thing only issue was the joints letting smell out so we just used the silver ac tape over gorella tape.

Personalty I think the 4 or 6 inch stove pipe 3 feet above the roof line is the best and cheapest way to go. Wood stoves, coal stove and incinerators all vent above the roof line and work fine. Most all the odor will be blown away.Nobody should complain then