# Designing a New Shop-Dust Collector in a Separate Closet?



## gerrym526 (Dec 22, 2007)

Starting from scratch designing a standalone woodworking shop building about 800 square feet.

I have the option of framing in a separate closet to contain the dust collector-have any of you done this in your workshops? Closet would have a pre-hung interior door for access to the dust collector.

How is it working-does it cut the noise (I can always put sound insulation in the walls of the closet).?

Any issues with heat generated by the motor? I'm looking at the 2.2 hp Jet cyclone at this point as a possibility.

Thanks for the help.
Gerry


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## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

Keep in mind, all of the air has to go somewhere. If you put the DC in a closet and close the door, the only openings for the air to vent out of the space is the cracks around the door. If the total area of those cracks is less than the cross sectional are of your incoming DC line it will result in a higher pressure in the closet which puts back pressure on the fan, in turn decreasing the capacity of the DC system to move the air from your tools. Basically, you will plug the back end of the DC up causing problems on the front end.

Noise can be dealt with around the motor and fan housing using sound deadening materials. You will need to be careful not to insulate the motor causing heating issues. Most motors have some kind of integral fan cooling system.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

i wish i could because they are noisy.my dad had a large shop when he retired in oregon,he put his collector in a small shed on the outside of the shop,so no noise and no dust in the shop ah huge improvement.if you can do it i would.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

When I built my shop I added a 10' x 10' room in one corner with a walk in door to gain access to my dust collector, and insulated the walls for noise reduction.. My air handler is also in that room for my central a/c unit. I've had no problem with anything, and that was in 2003….Still going strong, and no loss of anything. A few years back I put a Wynn air filter on my unit, and never looked back….!!


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

I though about doing what pottz said and putting my dust collector in an outside closet but quickly realized that most of my wood working is in the winter and I would be sucking all the warm air out of my shop so that was not an option.

I use a portable unit that I move from machine to machine and also have a air cleaner that helps remove the fine dust from the air (and also circulates the heated air from the wood stove). The blower in the air cleaner is a used home heating air handler blower installed in a rolling cabinet with a double furnace type filtration baffels.


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## MPython (Nov 30, 2018)

I installed a 5 hp ClearVue cyclone in my small basement shop 9 years ago. it was so loud, I couldn't work in the same room with it, and my wife forbid my turning in on when she was anywhere in the house. I did some online research and built as sound baffled closet around it that solved the problem completely. The closet is insulated with standard fiberglass insulation (not the most efficient sound insulation but it works). The walls are Homosote fiberboard. I was worried about EarlS's issue about choking off the exhaust and killing the cyclone's efficiency. I fixed the problem by venting the exhaust around the top of the closet and building Homosote baffles into the vents to kill the sound before it found its way back into my shop. The cross sectional area of my exhaust vents are over twice the cross section of the inlet ducts, so there is no problem with back pressure. It was an interesting project and a lot of work, but it reduced the cyclone's banshee scream to a purr. I can't hear it over the noise of my machines and my wife can have her garden club and book club meetings in our den directly above the shop with no complaints.

P.S. I've had no problems with heat buildup. I think the constant flow of fresh air that circulates in the closet flushes out most of the heat generated by the motor and the relay.


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## Hermit (Oct 9, 2014)

My shop is 20×22 with a built in dust collector closet. 2×4 framed with batt insulation. Plywood and 1×4 exterior. Drywall inside with a 12×24 vent on the ceiling. It makes a big difference. I had the decibel levels written down somewhere but can't find them. The closet also holds my air compressor. I use the exterior siding for clamp storage.


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## drzaius (Nov 20, 2014)

My shop is in the garage. In the basement adjacent to the garage, I built a closet for the dust collector & air compressor. There is an 8" inlet duct to the cyclone & a 32×8" serpentine return air duct to the shop. The closet walls & ceiling are: 5/8" drywall - Greenglue-5/8" drywall - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 5/8" drywall - Greenglue - 5/8" drywall.

When standing in the basement outside the closet the DC cannot be heard. At all. I have to hold my ear next to the wall to tell it's running. The compressor is in there & it can be heard running, but it's a horrible thing that sounds like it's gonna blow up any second.

This saves me some valuable space in the shop, & it doesn't bother anyone in the house with the noise.


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## clagwell (Dec 20, 2018)

> ... The closet walls & ceiling are: 5/8" drywall - Greenglue-5/8" drywall - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 5/8" drywall - Greenglue - 5/8" drywall…


Impressive! What did you use for a door?


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

I would love to move my shop vac w/ cyclone to a compartment on the outside of my shop for both noise and to free up space. I sounds like in the winter if I exhaust the output outdoors I will pull in so much cold air I would possibly be uncomfortable. If anyone has done this setup do you return the air to your shop? Do you attempt to filter before return or just use a separate air cleaner? Currently I use a cyclone first stage then use a bag in the vac as a second stage and then a pleated filter also in the vac as a final third stage. I will probably build the compartment to a size that will handle a larger dust collector when I outgrow this setup.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

> ... The closet walls & ceiling are: 5/8" drywall - Greenglue-5/8" drywall - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 5/8" drywall - Greenglue - 5/8" drywall…
> 
> Impressive! What did you use for a door?
> 
> - clagwell


That is beyond impressive. I'd also keep my valuable documents in there.


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## Blindhog (Jul 13, 2015)

I have a very similar setup to MPython using a 5hp ClearVue. The room is apx 6×6 with a fiberglass board RA boot that puts the exhaust back into the shop. Cuts down the noise dramatically and helps keeps the conditioned air in the shop. Walls are typical 2×4 and 2×6 studs with fiberglass batts for insulation.
This has worked quite well for the past 5 years.


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## drzaius (Nov 20, 2014)

> ... The closet walls & ceiling are: 5/8" drywall - Greenglue-5/8" drywall - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 2.5" steel stud /w 3" Roxul - 5/8" drywall - Greenglue - 5/8" drywall…
> 
> Impressive! What did you use for a door?
> 
> - clagwell


I got 2 cheap insulated exterior prehung doors & installed them back to back. Each has 3/4" MDF screwed/greenglued to one face. Each door has as separate jamb that is isolated by a 1/2" gap, which is filled with closed cell foam. The foam insulation in the doors does little, but the isolation & mass from the MDF do the job nicely. I was going to cover the faces of the doors with acoustic tile, but there was no need.


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