An Vent System for Pipe/Cigar Smokers on the Cheap

As I was rebuilding the old family homestead this summer, I spent a little time researching vent systems used by cigar/pipe shops. Yeh, I was that guy asking questions in ever shop I visited. Some places, were full of guys smoking cigars, with absolutely no smoke in the room, no odors, and fresh air to breath while enjoying my stogies. Some... Not so much. But, it seems that the best vented places, used an inline vent system, with high cfm rating, which is the cubic feet per minute the fan will cycle air out of a room. My wife, bless her heart, doesn't mind me smoking and has only on rare occasions asked me to go outside to smoke. She hates tobacco smoke, so I never push my limits. Cigars have always been outside toys, but my pipes, I just smoke what we compromise with on, which is aromatics and Virginias and VaPer being what I will smoke in commons areas. And, latakias and burleys smoked in my pipe room. (My pipe room is a huge project which I will post as soon as I finish this summer)
So, an inline system, and how to do it on the cheap.

Rheostat $14

Wires and such $12

Plug and case $14

16' 8" duct $20

10" x 10" vent cover $6

10" x 10" register intake box $12

Inline vent fan rated at 900cfm with the rights rating for a rheostat $250
Tools

Drill with screw driver bit

Jig saw or drywall handsaw

Electric cord

Clamp on lamp

Hand screwdriver
Cut your 10"x 10 hole in your ceiling, drop the register box in, screw the vent cover on form the room side.



Put your duct in with the clamps that come with it, and then drag the duct through your rafters.



Install your inline vent, and I highly recommend that you put it on a heavy board or thick plywood to dampen the sound of the motor a little. Installing it directly into the ceiling turns your whole house into the Star Trek Enterprise with that strang background noise, like being on a ship. I will also finish running ducts to a vent that I will cut into the outside wall, but I will wait till it's not raining or cold to finish that part, because I have to get on the damned 20' ladder to do that.



The rheostat and wiring to the plug was a little more involved. Our city inspector is a friend of mine, so he helped me make sure that I was in code. Cost me two Madura wrapped GTOs.




The hardest part was just getting a list of what I would need and knowing what it is called. 8" duct parts are not carried by Home Depot, but that turned out to be a good thing, because Google shopping got me the parts much cheaper. 8" is commercial scale, so you have to go to specialized sites to buy. Google will help you with this.
I have two of these, one over my side of the couch with my movie pipe stuff, and the other is in my pipe room. I can easily adjust the fan to make it comfortable for one smoker, or a room full. It makes no noise, and you wouldn't know if someone was smoking even if they were setting right next to you.
A must for a married pipe smoker to make the wife and kids extra happy. And, there now won't be any exudes why the guys can't come over and play cards while smoking pipes or cigars.

Win/win
It was really easy and only took about four hours, two two hours a day. Minus the cigars with my inspector help. Any questions? ::

I installed it. We had a free breaker, so it was super easy, especially with a cigar smoking inspector looking over my shoulder telling me what to do, ...without killing myself. Ha ha!

I thought about going over the electrical part, but dofferent areas have different codes, different electrical boxes. It was very easy, and I did check with a local guy who said he'd do it to code for $65. But, he assured me that it was easy, and it was. I just had the inspector over, because he had to come by anyway to pick up some produce for his reseraunt. I just dragged him into it because he was so easy to drag. And, I have an unusual fear of killing myself when it comes to wires.

Thanks!

No house is completely air tight, so yeh, it is drawn from the usual places, walls, windows, doorways, etc. Originally I was going to go with a 1200cfm fan motor, but it wouldn't handle the rheostat. I did call the company that had the inline motor and discuss which one was best for the job.

The largest room is approximately 16000cubic feet. So, 900cfms will evacuate the room about 3+times an hour, pending my sorry math skills. But, even in the smaller rooms, I will most likely never turn the fan to full blast, except maybe on a poker night. So, it is overkill, but even on a low setting on the rheostat it has the power to really pull the smoke out.

Oh Vorhees, bathroom vent fans are loud and they don't have the best design to draw the air out, as it has been explained to me. An inline fan creates a much larger draw, because the fan takes up the full diameter of the ducting, whereas a bathroom fan is a box with a round fan in it. Mine, I Cannot hear anything except a faint hum, which isn't nearly as loud at the washer or drier when they are on. Bathroom vents will rattle your brain. Let me know if you need help.

You might also keep it in mind for the common rooms. My actual pipe room, I did it just because I was already going to be working in the attic, but the smoke wasn't that big a deal in there. I have an air filter already running in there, which I will probably get rid of now.

But, in having one in the common room, you could set next to your wife and smoke without her even smelling it. Last night was the test run. I turned it on half way, and then we watched an old Betty Davis flick while I enjoyed some GLP Odyssey on the couch next to her. I kept asking her if she could smell it, and each time I just got a shake and a smile. I like smiles. :: Now there will be no limits on what I can smoke on movie nights, WIN WIN.
It might make a great way to spend more time around the family, without having to relegate your pipes to solitary confinement.

But of course my wife knew she was marrying a pipe smoker and didn't mind. But, it was a sort of Valentines Day gift to her, to show her that I am considerate. Wasn't that nice of me, ha ha. ...romantic even.

Yeh, I have a daughter moving back in, while she switches colleges. Uggg, bittersweet. I will love having her close again, but... I really get tired of the sister drama this will awaken.
Yeh, my next project will be to replace the bathroom (poot remover) exhaust fan with an inline as well. Heck, why not. In the Spring and Fall, it will be nice to just leave the doors open to the screen door and turn the house fans on to keep it cool.

Thanks, good thinking.

The fan motor comes out very easily on this model with two little flip clamps and then slides forward, without having to undo the ducts. That'll make it very easy to keep clean. Yep, maintenance, maintenance, maintenance...