# Opinions neededs



## bandman (Jan 15, 2009)

After a week of running new duct work for my dust collector I am now looking to add a hanging air cleaning unit. I have around a 2100 s.f. shop and was wondering if I should get two smaller units or one big one. I am also very concerned about the noise level. If anyone has an opinion on a quiet unit I would love to hear from you. I'm 66 and don't plan on getting a different one after this one, so money is not really a concern if I can find a good, quiet unit.

Thanks,

Bandman


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Is your shop one big room or is it sectioned off with walls, power equipment in just one area, climate controlled, etc.?


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## wericha (Apr 29, 2012)

Ambient air cleaners are not overly noisy, but they certainly aren't quiet. Depending on the configuration of your space, 2 units will probably be quieter and more efficient than one big unit. You'll also have the advantage of running only one when you're not creating large amounts of dust.


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## hokeyplyr48 (Nov 12, 2013)

I built my own with a squirrel cage blower and have a Mrv7 and mrv15 filter. I was surprised that most air filters only filter down to 1 or 3 microns which isn't the dangerous dust. So I built my own and I'm very happy with it...ended up being much cheaper in the end too.


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## bandman (Jan 15, 2009)

*Opoinions Needed*

My shop is one big room. It is climate controlled in the winter (forced air furnace) but not in the summer.

Bandman


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## 44260 (Aug 29, 2013)

I myself am gonna be working on an air cleaner unit this winter for my shop. My shop is 20x40 and I am gonna build a cabinet to house a squirrel cage blower motor with filters that will roll around the floor to the area I am working in because I don't have the ceiling height to mount it. I have an 8 ft ceiling, I'm 6'2" tall and the cabinet will be 26" tall, headbanger!!!!!!! So that is why it will roll around the shop and the top of the cabinet will be used for a glue up station.

An air filter built from a squirrel cage motor is cheaper it self and the filters are much cheaper then the commercial units. The only advantage I found with the commercial units is that they are more compact to mount on the ceiling but I can't justify the cost of the unit itself and the cost of replacement filters. Commercial filters are brand and model specific and not found everywhere, homemade squirrel cage filters are available at any big box store and are less the half the price of commercial filters


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

bandman said:


> After a week of running new duct work for my dust collector I am now looking to add a hanging air cleaning unit. I have around a 2100 s.f. shop and was wondering if I should get two smaller units or one big one. I am also very concerned about the noise level. If anyone has an opinion on a quiet unit I would love to hear from you. I'm 66 and don't plan on getting a different one after this one, so money is not really a concern if I can find a good, quiet unit.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Bandman


Bandman:

My shop is about 550sqft, about the size of 2-1/2 garage bays. I use two (2) Jet AFS-1000 B units. They are mounted to my 10' high ceiling. The center of my shop has a steel beam that hangs down about 20". I have one unit on one side of the beam and the other unit on the other side circulating the air in the opposite direction. They are positioned over my table saw, which is my most used dust producing equipment. 

I run the units on low whenever I am in the wood shop. If a particular operation produces a lot of dust, then I switch them to medium or high speed. The noise is mostly from the rushing air, not the units themselves.

Using two (2) units is definitely quieter than one (1) unit, because I can run them both on low and move the same volume of air as running one of them on high.

There are quite a few good plans for building your own air filtration system. You could increase the volume flow with a larger squirrel cage motor and reduce the noise level. Bill Pentz has a nice one here:
(http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/air_cleaner.cfm) The nice design feature about Bill's is that you can put it on wheels and move it to where ever you are working.

You might also try Grizzly. They have a couple of nice units here: http://www.grizzly.com/search/search?q=air filtration units


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