community ventilation

[greentea]

Greetings.
I've been contemplating a grow cabinet for some time.

The building I live in has a central ventilation system that gently and constantly sucks air from the vents in which it's installed, one each in the kitchen and bath. There are no individual fans, and the unit sits atop the building.

One of the ducts cuts through a closet, where I imagine creating a grow area that splices its exhaust into the building's central unit.

The last thing I want, however, is for a fan that I run in my grow area to force the exhaust into another tenant's unit.

Any thoughts, experience or suggestions?

greentea Reviewed by greentea on 06-07-2007. community ventilation Greetings. I've been contemplating a grow cabinet for some time. The building I live in has a central ventilation system that gently and constantly sucks air from the vents in which it's installed, one each in the kitchen and bath. There are no individual fans, and the unit sits atop the building. One of the ducts cuts through a closet, where I imagine creating a grow area that splices its exhaust into the building's central unit. The last thing I want, however, is for a fan Rating: 5

[PharmaCan]

Do you have any idea how many cfm a whole building exhaust system has to pull and how miniscual your fan's cfm is going to seem in comparison? You'll just be making a minor contribution to the overall airflow. Additionally, a system like that is probably designed with directional ducting, so the air is only going to want to flow in one direction.

[greentea]

Thanks, PharmaCan. I've no idea what a cfm is, but it sounds like you think this is no problem. Yes, all air wants to go in one direction, but the flow is very, very light. So I was concerned about, you know, the upstairs neighbor and what not...
peace :rastasmoke:

[greenbastard]

I'd say there'd be no problem if you didnt use a fan and let the draw from the system pull air from the opening you cut.

But once you start forcing air into it you may offset the balance and be sending some stink somewhere else. Probably not, but if playing it safe is important to you I wouldn't blow air into it.