DIY Exhaust Fan for under 20$

So right now I dont have much cash to be spending on my grow, but my closet that I grow in doesnt have much exhaust. Decided I had to do something about that so I went to Walmart and Home Depot and decided to make my own exhaust fans. Now before anyone starts attacking since I am not quite sure how much air these guys push, I am sure with the smaller size of my room these will help even if they are not ideal. But some exhaust is better then none right?

Anyways Here is a shot of all the mats that are needed for this build.


What it is is a 5 gal sterlite storage container, 2 of the metal 4 inch fans, 1 inch pvc and fittings to pipe up to the attic.

First step is to build the exhaust. I drilled a hole in the back to accept the pvc through the container. Then I took a T connector, drilled a hole in the middle and then attached it to a piece of pvc before duct taping it in place. The Duct tape so far is holding the pressure and not allowing it to escape around the pipe so I am not going to silicone it, but you surely could if you wanted to.


After that I went to the front of the container and mesured the holes. I wanted the holes to just frame the fan since I wanted to use the screen of the fan to attach it securely to the storage bin.


Once that was done I cut out the first hole with a box cutter, and then drilled the three screw holes that match the screen of the fan, then used the screws that came with the fan to attach it to the bucket.



Once that was done, rinse and repeat for the second fan. Then add the correct ammount of PVC to vent up into your attic and ta da, you have a cheep exhaust for smaller places. I cant install it into the room at the moment since I am in the middle of my dark cycle, but I will add the finish photos now and I will add an update with how I mounted it and the results in temp differance and how well the negitive pull is working. It should be noted that you could do this with any fans you wanted and would do well at keeping costs down unless you are working with spaces that require the larger fans. Depending on how the smell ends up this grow, I may end up making a carbon filter that would work with this set up, but I will prolly have to upgrade fans for that, but not sure since I havent ever used a carbon filter.



I will end up hanging it up in my room by using two shelf brackets to make it stable and where it doesnt move around. If you have any questions or comments please let me know!

Cheers and yay for DIY!

That won't do much AT ALL.. You'd be much better off with a single fan blowing directly into a reduceran through the pvc without the T.. And even that would suck btw.. Ducting is large diameter for a reason..

Well its doing what I need it to, it lowered my humidity by 20% in 2 hours and lowered my temps by 6 degrees. I am not a large grower, have 3 plants in a scrog and I will never have more then 4 in that room. like i said in the begining, no money flow incoming and I am not growing to make money but to provide myself medication. I thought I would share what I came up with but if people what to just look at it and say oh that wont work, spend more money I just wont share anything I build on this site again. Constructive critisim is fine, but this wasnt constructive at all.

Cheers

Not trying to be a dick but you could have prolly bought a bathroom fan that would be more efficient for the same price you paid for them 2 fans and tote......

I checked prices, would have cost me another 40 dollars to do that which i didnt have. Never mind, I wont share things with this site for the poor folks like me anymore. Now to find a moderator to pull my thread down since everyone wants to shit on what i did for the budget i have. I have seen this happen to others on this site, but it hadnt happened to me before here. I just know now not to share anything with RIU anymore except my grows. After the experiance of this thread I may just kill my grow journal as well and not try to be a contributor to this community anymore.

calm down lol like i said not trying to be a dick but i picked up a bathroom exhaust fan for 28 bucks at homedepot a couple weeks back

acidbox420 said:

calm down lol like i said not trying to be a dick but i picked up a bathroom exhaust fan for 28 bucks at homedepot a couple weeks back

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My appologies to you sir. I looked at the fan you spoke of and I considered it, but didnt have the cash to get the venting I would need ect, hence why I did something else. Was allready irritated before I saw your post and I took it out on you. Then I realized I havent smoked at all today. Just hit the glassworks and now and am back to my mellow self. Still asking for the thread to be removed though since the overall reaction to it is negitive. +1 to you for reminding me to smoke and to not be an Ass on the interwebs.

No prob man take it easy

If you could get ahold of some dryer ducting instead, you'd probably be able to up your airflow. If it's working though, stick with it.

kpmarine said:

If you could get ahold of some dryer ducting instead, you'd probably be able to up your airflow. If it's working though, stick with it.

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Yeah I agree KP, my hope is that this will only work till I can find a job in this crappy county that I am in and then put in a traditional inline system. this will still be usefull then however as I will have to exhaust a clone/mother cab and it will be perfect for that. Also what I will prolly do when I can get the 80 or so dollars together is just adding a AC line that will blow into this room and vent out the wall. Being in the middle of a grow though had to make something that will work and get the job done. So far its working well.

I think its a great idea, especially if it is doing what you want it to do for you.. Don't let the comments from some posters on here deter you from ever posting again.. I myself am new to all of this fum stuff, and am also on a very tight budget. I like seeing ideas that others come up with because it gives me hope that I can do this too with my piss poor budget. It sucks not having a steady flow of cash to " do it right". The way I see it, as long as it works, who says it's not right. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing some more ideas. rep+

stevemonett said:

I think its a great idea, especially if it is doing what you want it to do for you.. Don't let the comments from some posters on here deter you from ever posting again.. I myself am new to all of this fum stuff, and am also on a very tight budget. I like seeing ideas that others come up with because it gives me hope that I can do this too with my piss poor budget. It sucks not having a steady flow of cash to " do it right". The way I see it, as long as it works, who says it's not right. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing some more ideas. rep+

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Thanks Steve. I realize today I was over reacting. Heh, I know now that if I am in a bad mood to start with, dont check RIU lol. I do appologize for taking the comments personaly. I do know better.

Go to the output end of your PVC.. Hold a garbage bag over the end like you would if you were inflating it with your lungs, and tell me how long it takes to inflate..

born2killspam said:

Go to the output end of your PVC.. Hold a garbage bag over the end like you would if you were inflating it with your lungs, and tell me how long it takes to inflate..

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It took about 8 seconds to fill into a nice baloon shape.

Snooch

would work good wiht my diy intake

So you're just under 20cfm assuming an 80L bag minus hand bunching space.. That isn't near impressive, and I still don't believe it ontop of that

I Know how hard it is to get set up if your broke. But if you know anyone in the construction side of things. they are always doing demos, they could easily score you a bathroom fan for nuthn. all kinds of building materials get tossed on a job site. Iv got complete breaker boxes, including the main lines to feed em. bathroom fans. plastic. lights, all kinds of lights.

take a look at my journal: https://www.rollitup.org/blogs/blog18325-0-box.html

I have added another fan and a small puter intake fan since then. but still, probly only had $50 total in that sucker. The last two plant run, just bought me a nice new 1k light/w air cooled hood, can-fan & nice 26" filter. Now its gonna be for breeding projects.

Just start small, work your way up.

if it works for you, its all good. maybe someone else will be in the same boat as us and need a cheap DIY idea.... Thats what this community should be all about.

If you had the tote in your attic pulling the air instead of pushing it wouldnt it work a bit better? I always thought pulling air was easier then pushing it.........Good Job though man.

adapt and overcome. if it works it works but i would increase the diamiter of the pvc will give more cfm output and with the box you can always put in a air freshener to help with smell i would recomend ona but not cheap i hear a strong water pinsol mix also works.oh and i like how you made the fan install look clean but the pvc not so much consider silicone caulking .97 at home depot. now that you have it inprove on it until you can afford better thats what most of us do.

I just grabbed a couple of old fan heaters and set them to fan only. People are giving them away. Check freecycle