My shop is set up with two standard 2hp dust collectors that exhaust straight out of the rear of my shop. Works great from a cleanliness aspect, but it’s a big issue when it comes to heating my shop. We get mild winters here in the south, but I still have to fire up my wood burning heater 15-20 times each winter. When I run the dust collectors, there is a noticeable drop in temperature. Makes sense. I’m pulling warn air and forcing it outside into cold air. It has to be replaced by something.

I’ve been wanting to install AC in my shop for a long time, but it would be really inefficient if I have to run dust collectors.

I need to find a way to retrofit my system to make it discharge inside my shop. I am interested in any ideas. FYI, I chunked all the bags that came with my dust collectors. I have 50 gallon drums and even chemical totes that could possibly be used.

A fundamental component of dust collection is filtration. You ndeed some filters.

I had Oneida size and design my system, and it has been flawless for 30 years. My dusty air first goes thru the cyclone, where 90% or more drops out into a collection bin that is emptied, accessed from the outside of the shop. All the openings and doors are sealed to be 'air tight'.

The rest of the dust blows out of the cyclone to a series of cloth 'socks' that filter the dust, but allow the air to pass. The socks are in the shop, but high off the floor so they take up almost no usable room. We notice no change in temp when the collector runs vs not running.

Photos are of the same Type of system, but larger. Cloth area vs CFM is a baseline calculation you will need to do.

View higher quality, full size image (2592 X 1944)

Thanks for the info. I’m going to have to do something like that on a smaller scale. I’ve got a couple of 55 gallon drums I can use for the separation. I’ll just need to get some filter socks.

On a similar note, I see you have your air compressor inside. I’ve been debating for years on putting my compressor outside. It would be mainly for noise reduction. I have 4 vacuum pumps mounted outside under a covered structure. When I made it, I oversized it to maybe put my compressor out there as well. I’ve been weighing the pros and cons again lately now that I am going through a shop cleaning/improvement phase.

At that shop, I wanted Air Compressor and dust collection to go outside for noise among other considerations. But zoning was a close call, and I did not want to rock the boat with the town asking all sorts of probing questions, checking my permits, etc.

Andy
One of the things you don't realize is that you are also create a negative flow in you heater flue .
Make up air ?
Probably sucking the carbon monoxide back down the stack..
Don't end up Dizzy or Dead -
Not many of us left...

My Boiler is in a separate room with it's own make up air.
Hot water out to Blower units. Last shop I was in had Gas units and when you turned on the spray booth -
backdraft down the hoods blew out the pilot lights !

Thanks for the info. Right now, I am in the process of reworking my dust collectors so that the chips get separated into two 55 gal drums in my shop and the outlet is filtered all inside my shop.

I have also moved my air compressor outside. I’m excited about that.

I will soon be deleting the nasty, moldy skylights from the roof. That’s going to help a lot with energy efficiency.