air exchanger for basement work area?

[Bump Stop]

so here is one for you HVAC guys. a friend has a studio in her basement, she does metal smithing and ceramic painting and i need to figure out how to get the fumes out. i'm wondering if i can just put fan and small hood in her work area or if i need to use an air exhanger. i'm worried about pulling a negative pressure and drawing fumes from the water heater and furnace. to me the air exchanger is the right way to go but i'm not sure the internal fan will pull enough cfm or if this is even something worth worring about. any ideas? thanks. BP

[joedirt5]

Yes you definatly need to worry about a negative pressure. In a tight area a simple 4" exhaust fan can cause havoc with appliances. As far as an air exchanger is conserened that is probably overkill for anything 8" or under. Try just bringing in as much fresh air as you are exhausting. Unless you are in an area were removing the heat is an issue the exchanger is overkill. Just my opinion, hope it helped.

[LuciferMutt]

A simple thing to try is put an exhaust fan somewhere and then put a matching intake fan somewhere else (like an exhaust in the window/through a wall and an intake blowing air into the room from another window/wall) Always run both together. This should help keep the air in the room fresh and help prevent negative pressure problems from drawing CO fumes from the water heater/etc.

[Bump Stop]

the reason i need to use an air exchanger is because it is winter here an i need to preheat the air as not to freeze her out of her workshop. and she wants to have a system where she can just flip a switch and go to work, she knows it will cost to do it right. on this project safety and comfort are most important then price.

[GreaseMonkey]

If local code allows, put a hood in and run 2 ducts side by side with both fresh air and exhaust. If you use fans on them you can use PVC pipe, again if code allows.