Experiences / recommendations with Basement window fans wanted

I do not have experience with basement venting specifically, however for other situations like bathrooms or a garage I have found fantech fans to be great.  They move a lot of air and are very quiet.  Unfortunately they are also kind of expensive, but now that I have used them I will never use anything else.

I have a bathroom fan in the ceiling over the corner of the layout. Not perfect but it does move some air and it does not impede the window.

Bathroom fan, high cap here. I use it on a timer  to keep humidity and keep air fresh. 

One would assume that you would be limited to what will fit within the basement window opening, no?

I have glass block windows in my basement (1 high by 3 wide) and had a guy come out and put in a 120V muffin fan in one set and a hopper vent in another set in the train room area. It moves air out pretty quickly, especially if the hopper vent is open across the room. It's quiet too. It was pretty cheap to get installed and was nice to have when building the layout as it helped get the dust out.

In the workshop I had him put a dryer vent in the glass blocks and I connected up a high CFM bathroom fan to move dust and fumes out.

I use a 12" window insert type fan that has built in shutters. It fits in one side of a sliding basement window and moves 350 cfm at max speed. It is on a variable speed controller; medium speed works well, and it is fairly quiet at that speed. It prevents thick smoke build up and I usually leave it running an extra hour or so after an operating session. I picked it up at our local Princess Auto store, which is very much like Harbor Freight. I know I have some pix somewhere and I will post a couple if found.

Rod

Do you mean a window in a light well? Mine aren't made to open except in an emergency. I have used small fans in the past but nothing elaborate because I have a radon mitigation system that pressurizes the basement. 

Here is a pic of mine in action, showing the shutters partially open.

It is actually an 8" fan; not 12" as I first thought. Sorry about that. But it is adequate for this train room, which is 14'-6" x 22'.

Rod

Putting a fan in the train room is a good idea I never thought of.  I like it!!

I thought of "hanging" a "range hood" in the middle of the basement room ceiling with appropriate piping/venting to the outside for just this problem.  And instead of binning it in the "oh I must be crazy" category of things -- I see I am not alone.

Having said that, I like the solutions I'm seeing which are far simpler than my idea...

Hot Water posted:

One would assume that you would be limited to what will fit within the basement window opening, no?

Possibly.  But I'm also looking at a specific vent.

George

Doug Murphy posted:

Do you mean a window in a light well? Mine aren't made to open except in an emergency. I have used small fans in the past but nothing elaborate because I have a radon mitigation system that pressurizes the basement. 

That's a good point about radon.  I don't have any details on that.

George

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on this thread.  I came away with a number of thoughts and ideas that will get worked out.  Eventually, a solution will emerge.

Thanks all!

George

Just wanted to add a comment that I leave my fan installed in the sliding basement window year round; though when we are away during the winter months I put a temporary cover over the outside only to limit dust intrusion.

Rod

Something to think about, if you force air out of the basement, that means air is coming in. could bring dust with it. 

In my basement the hvac feeds the room.  If say I put a center of room mounted in the drop down ceiling bathroom fan -- and ran the exhaust out pvc through to the outside similar to say a dryer vent or the hvac unit itself.   Because the room is hermetically sealed otherwise, no dust would get in.   That last bit was a joke.  So good pt, something to think about it.  The hvac unit does have an input for the basement air to go through it's filtering.   But I don't keep it open all the time (because whole house vs basement).  Regardless, I feel my basement is "not the best" air no matter what I do...  adding smoking engines makes it all the worse so I don't do that too much -- it would be nice to have a solution since a) I paid for smoke, b) it's fun.

An electrician friend of mine suggested "Smoke Eaters" - typically used in bars and restuarants - but they don't vent outside.

Paul Kallus posted:

An electrician friend of mine suggested "Smoke Eaters" - typically used in bars and restuarants - but they don't vent outside.

Interesting suggestion, however the "smoke" output from O Gauge trains is technically NOT "smoke" but fine oil vapors. I wonder if those "Smoke Eaters" would digest that oil vapor without issues.

I have a 12" fan with opening shutters In a plywood section that I replaced in a window opening.  that leaves only one window in the whole train room, but usually I'm not interested in getting a lot of light in the window.  Anyway, direct sunlight fades the paint on some of my trains, anyway. 

The fan was made by Airmaster Company of Jackson, MI and only cost about $40 bucks including a remote, variable speed control, placed over near my control panel.  I would recommend the variable speed because the noise at full speed can get a bit annoying.  The only objection that I have to the unit is that in the winter, those shutters don't completely eliminate that cold air from coming in.  But the clarity of the air in the trains room is well worth the installation.

Paul Fischer