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A question came up recently on the USITT Costumers' e-group about sourcing, pricing, and installation of dye vat hoods and ventilation systems. I thought i'd cross-post my response here as an "Ask LaBricoleuse" entry. This is one of those questions like "Where do i buy a dye vat?" that comes up again and again, and one that's close to my shop-safety-advocating heart.
The two main types of vendors to check out are restaurant/kitchen supply places and lab supply places.
For restaurant/kitchen places, search for "range vent hoods," which come in several styles and are designed to suck away steam, fumes, smoke, grease, heat, etc. Here are some vendors of this type.
http://www.broan.com/
http://www.fabykahood.com/ (this one has prices on the splash page)
http://www.rangehoods.com/
http://www.ventahood.com/
The good thing about the range hoods is, you can look them up on "Consumer Reports"-style sites and read feedback on various brands before you purchase them, find out what's the best bet for your buck and what's got reliability issues. Some of them even have cool features like temperature-sensitive intakes that suck away faster at higher temps, and flame sensitive sprinkler attachments and such.
Lab supply places, you're looking for "laboratory canopy hoods." They're like range hoods, but designed for industrial lab usage so they often have extra features like corrosive-resistant coatings.
When you are pricing out options, talk with your facilities folks and find out what sort of budget/process you need to allot for installation--a wall- or ceiling-mounted hood requires ductwork that vents to the outside, away from any A/C intakes or windows and doors. (There are ductless range hoods, which push your fumes through a charcoal filter and then recycle the air into your dyespace--probably better than nothing but won't filter contaminants not trapped by charcoal.)
When i've helped coordinate projects like this, the budget/cost got divvied up between departments--the installation costs got divided out to facilities/safety, while the cost of the hood itself went to the area in which it was being installed, so i can't be of much help on a total cost guesstimate. If your facilities folks are of no help, call up some kitchen remodeling businesses in your area and ask what they estimate to install a range hood and ask whether that includes additional ductwork supplies (the actual duct, vent screen or louvered cover, etc) and if not, add those in as well.
A third option if you don't have the budget, space, or construction ability to install the ductwork for a wall- or ceiling-mounted hood is a portable fume extractor like these:
http://www.sentryair.com/floor-sentry.htm
http://www.sentryair.com/specs/Air-Purifier-Spec-300-FS.htm
(There are short videos on these pages showing how, er, much they suck...which in this case is a good thing!)
You could push them around and use them in other applications in addition to functioning as makeshift dye hoods--sucking away jewelry soldering fumes, solvent-based paint fumes (like during FEV application), hat sizing fumes, etc. They won't help with heat control the way a duct hood that vents to the outside can, but otherwise, they're a great option as long as you stay on top of filter replacement!
In other news, here's a photo of some hurricane action around these parts, a radar image from earlier this morning:
( here i am, rock me like a tropical storm! )
The two main types of vendors to check out are restaurant/kitchen supply places and lab supply places.
For restaurant/kitchen places, search for "range vent hoods," which come in several styles and are designed to suck away steam, fumes, smoke, grease, heat, etc. Here are some vendors of this type.
http://www.broan.com/
http://www.fabykahood.com/ (this one has prices on the splash page)
http://www.rangehoods.com/
http://www.ventahood.com/
The good thing about the range hoods is, you can look them up on "Consumer Reports"-style sites and read feedback on various brands before you purchase them, find out what's the best bet for your buck and what's got reliability issues. Some of them even have cool features like temperature-sensitive intakes that suck away faster at higher temps, and flame sensitive sprinkler attachments and such.
Lab supply places, you're looking for "laboratory canopy hoods." They're like range hoods, but designed for industrial lab usage so they often have extra features like corrosive-resistant coatings.
When you are pricing out options, talk with your facilities folks and find out what sort of budget/process you need to allot for installation--a wall- or ceiling-mounted hood requires ductwork that vents to the outside, away from any A/C intakes or windows and doors. (There are ductless range hoods, which push your fumes through a charcoal filter and then recycle the air into your dyespace--probably better than nothing but won't filter contaminants not trapped by charcoal.)
When i've helped coordinate projects like this, the budget/cost got divvied up between departments--the installation costs got divided out to facilities/safety, while the cost of the hood itself went to the area in which it was being installed, so i can't be of much help on a total cost guesstimate. If your facilities folks are of no help, call up some kitchen remodeling businesses in your area and ask what they estimate to install a range hood and ask whether that includes additional ductwork supplies (the actual duct, vent screen or louvered cover, etc) and if not, add those in as well.
A third option if you don't have the budget, space, or construction ability to install the ductwork for a wall- or ceiling-mounted hood is a portable fume extractor like these:
http://www.sentryair.com/floor-sentry.htm
http://www.sentryair.com/specs/Air-Purifier-Spec-300-FS.htm
(There are short videos on these pages showing how, er, much they suck...which in this case is a good thing!)
You could push them around and use them in other applications in addition to functioning as makeshift dye hoods--sucking away jewelry soldering fumes, solvent-based paint fumes (like during FEV application), hat sizing fumes, etc. They won't help with heat control the way a duct hood that vents to the outside can, but otherwise, they're a great option as long as you stay on top of filter replacement!
In other news, here's a photo of some hurricane action around these parts, a radar image from earlier this morning:
( here i am, rock me like a tropical storm! )
