box fan box

We have been living with a really ugly shroud for our box fan.

It started life as a temporary housing for my box fan to vent the smoke from my home coffee roasting out the shop window. I hinged it to the ceiling, then swung it out of the way for the 99% of the time it was not in use.

In that application, being ugly just did not inspire change.

It made its way here from that house, serving the same need in a similar fashion at my studio window.

Forest fire smoke motivated me to drag out the single-room air filter to do a tolerable job of clearing the air we breathe while indoors. It helps our bodies a lot to have respite from inhaling bad stuff. We noticed a definite favorable difference.

In recent months, the high-level overflights leaving white trails that end up covering the sky from horizon to horizon have been hurting my throat, bronchia and head. See Bitterroot Bugle geoengineering for more information on that.

We “upped our game” with the purchase of a high-particulate-removal air filter sized to attach to a box fan.

Of course that could simply have been accomplished with duct tape. After all, sealing and connecting heating and cooling ducts is exactly what that stuff was invented for.

But not for me. If we have to look at it all the time, by gum, it is not going to be ugly.

I found that the air filter was just about exactly a half-inch plywood frame away from being the same size as the box fan exterior. So I made a slip-in frame for it.

As you may have seen with some of my other wood projects, I like the results of using my salvaged hardwood floor in my designs. Thus the four panels of flooring for the sides of my box fan box.

The rest of the wood is just cheap furring strips and 2′ x 2′ scraps because … well, why spend more?

We now have a box fan that can sit out as part of our furniture with out standing out like a sore thumb.

With our primary heat source being the wood stove in my studio, the big fan is an important part of that heating system. It brings the cooler air from the main house into the studio, forcing the hot air in to replace it.

Meanwhile, the Honeywell FC100A1011 air filter captures air pollutants with 25%-85% efficiency.
Efficiency ranges are defined for
small particles, E1=0.3 to 1.0 microns;
medium particles, E2=1.0 to 3.0 microns;
and large particles, E3=3.0 to 10.0 microns.
Fractional Efficiency of this filter: E1=25%, E2=62%, E3=85%

Phrased another way, in less that 40 hours of operation, the white filter is already showing its worth as you can see in the photo below. It is nearly new in its corners, but showing a bit of what it takes out of the air elsewhere. (The photo isn’t quite as dramatic as the reality … cheap camera).

That is my fix for ugly air, too small air filters, and too ugly air filters – all in one nifty box … that cannot be purchased anywhere.

Get out the duct tape, dress your fan, and breathe deeply of clean air.