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My new basement home brewery plans and some questions

 
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spidermonk13




Joined: 07 Apr 2018
Posts: 4
Location: Pittsboro, NC


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 6:04 pm    Post subject: My new basement home brewery plans and some questions Reply with quote


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Hi everyone,

I had an electric brewery setup in my garage at my old house but have not setup my brewery since moving to my new house. I have a wine cellar in the basement that we do not use and plan to turn into my home brewery. It has a little over 200 sq feet and a drop ceiling for running utilities.

I'm pretty comfortable running electric & water supply lines, but have questions on venting and drainage/sewage.

Here is a shot looking into the room:
[img]https://ibb.co/BCXhp7G[/img]

The back wall is an outside wall so I am thinking I can run my venting up through the drop ceiling and right outside for a real short run. I have seen others have had good success using a 30 qt stainless steel mixing bowl as a mini-hood over the boil pot and was thinking of trying the same. I have a 400+ cfm fan I will add with speed control and will use rigid steel duct work.
First question - do you think I can get adequate ventilation with this design?
Second question - can I forgo a return vent? I have seen some say they don't need it. I understand I will be creating a negative pressure for the 1-2 hours my vent fan is running, and sucking in undesirables (cold/heat/humidity). I can crack a window in a nearby room too.

Here is a shot looking out of the room
[img]https://ibb.co/jzvZg7W[/img]

I hope to put a sink on that short wall on the right, but I'm not real sure how to run my sewage safely/adequately? There is a 1/2 bath behind that wall and you can see the plumbing coming into what appears to be a sump pump

[img]https://ibb.co/FB320Cg[/img]

I can hear water draining out of the pipe on the right when I run the sink in the 1/2 bath I think, but it also sounds like water running through it when I flush the toilet which seems impossible since it is at a higher grade. The pipe on the left is the sump pump return I assume and is running somewhere?

Does anyone have any plumbing experience to help me identify the best path forward for hooking up my sink into my septic? Can I tap into that pipe on the right? Do I need to vent my drain pipe?

Thanks!

PS here is a quick layout I did with sketchup showing the sink, kettles, supply cabinet, and fermenter fridge
[img]https://ibb.co/Sr4r9QJ[/img]
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spidermonk13




Joined: 07 Apr 2018
Posts: 4
Location: Pittsboro, NC


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Additional PS, I just learned that hole in the ground may be what is called a sewage ejector pit, first I heard of them, but it seems likely from what I can find on Google. Also it appears the pipe on the right is a vent pipe.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:25 pm    Post subject: Re: My new basement home brewery plans and some questions Reply with quote

Hi!

spidermonk13 wrote:
The back wall is an outside wall so I am thinking I can run my venting up through the drop ceiling and right outside for a real short run. I have seen others have had good success using a 30 qt stainless steel mixing bowl as a mini-hood over the boil pot and was thinking of trying the same. I have a 400+ cfm fan I will add with speed control and will use rigid steel duct work. First question - do you think I can get adequate ventilation with this design?

Depends on how duct diameter (large = less resistance), duct length (shorter = less resistance), depends on how many twists and turns (less = less resistance), and how well the fan works under pressure (the 400CFM doesn't mean it'll actually pull 400CFM - depends on the fan design - see my ventilation article for why). That said, probably ok, but read my ventilation article.

Quote:
Second question - can I forgo a return vent? I have seen some say they don't need it. I understand I will be creating a negative pressure for the 1-2 hours my vent fan is running, and sucking in undesirables (cold/heat/humidity). I can crack a window in a nearby room too.

Depends on how sealed your house is. There's on "one" answer here that works for all. In many places there is building code around this for safety reasons. For example, if you have a wood fireplace the negative pressure may suck embers into the house. You should check with your building code. If you can open a window somewhere that is not behind a door or wall to the fan then you're good. I have my make-up air vent in my brewery so that I can close my brewery door and not suck heated air from the rest of the house in the winter or cooled air from the rest of the house in the summer. It's more energy efficient this way. Up to you.

Quote:
I hope to put a sink on that short wall on the right, but I'm not real sure how to run my sewage safely/adequately? There is a 1/2 bath behind that wall and you can see the plumbing coming into what appears to be a sump pump. I can hear water draining out of the pipe on the right when I run the sink in the 1/2 bath I think, but it also sounds like water running through it when I flush the toilet which seems impossible since it is at a higher grade. The pipe on the left is the sump pump return I assume and is running somewhere? Does anyone have any plumbing experience to help me identify the best path forward for hooking up my sink into my septic? Can I tap into that pipe on the right? Do I need to vent my drain pipe?

There's not enough info to answer this question and code will vary from location to location anyway. Since you don't know what any of this plumbing is for or what's safe, I highly suggest that you talk to a plumber for some advice. They will be able to make suggestions based on what's safe and what's to code in your area. In many places plumbing requires permits which will include proper inspection too to ensure it's been done correctly.

Good luck!

Kal

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My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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spidermonk13




Joined: 07 Apr 2018
Posts: 4
Location: Pittsboro, NC


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 11:01 pm    Post subject: Re: My new basement home brewery plans and some questions Reply with quote

Thanks Kal,

For the vent, I'm going with 6 inches and I haven't measured the length yet, but the total distance should be less than 8 feet with one 90 degree turn.

I think I will go with an intake, I bought 2 vent covers and was intending to add one, but thought I would be letting in a lot of outside air just for an intake that I may not have needed.

For the plumbing, I think you are right, a plumber is the way to go. My state allows me to do the work myself, but I'm not very familiar with this type of setup in the basement. I suspect I will have to break up some of the brick in the wine cellar :/

Thanks again.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 11:48 pm    Post subject: Re: My new basement home brewery plans and some questions Reply with quote

spidermonk13 wrote:
For the vent, I'm going with 6 inches and I haven't measured the length yet, but the total distance should be less than 8 feet with one 90 degree turn.

Good stuff. That won't introduce must resistance.

Cheers!

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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