Cannabis Fact Contributed by:
Joker Weeds
Cannabis Tip Submitted: 03-04-2011
Images archived 2011
A common alternative to venting up the chimney is
venting into the sewer pipe. Depending on how your
house is built, if you push air into your sewer pipe,
the air may travel up through your house sewer
standpipe. However, it is possible to vent directly
into the actual sewer system.
Venting into the sewer is Relatively safe. If someone is
working in the sewer nearby, they might smell the sweet
pungent aroma of your crop (Not likely at night), but
they have no way to tell where on the block it is
coming from. Since the pipes large enough to walk in
are quite far away from individual homes, the smell has
lots of time to dilute.
[Eco Green's note: the stinky sewer will also hide your
crop's odor up to a point. The sewer system itself is
sealed, but you should check nearby manholes covers
just incase for excessive blower noise and smell. The
undeground sewer system will also remove and cool
exhaust heat - excellent protection against infrared
detection.]
To start you will need to locate
your sewer pipe in your basement. This is the pipe coming
from your toilet(s) on upper floors.
Near the basement floor, there should be a connection
at an angle, with a cap on it. Some houses have metal
pipes, other houses will have ABS or PVC plastic sewer
pipes.
You will need
a pipe wrench to remove the cap. Sometimes, if the house
is very old, you will need to demolish the cap to get it
off. You can buy a new one later at the hardware store if
you need to.
This will reveal a hole 3 or 4 inches in diameter,
depending on where you live, it may even be another
size.
CAUTION:Fumes from the sewer can be poisonous, so make
sure to use caution when removing the cap, and once a fan
is installed, make sure to keep it ON all the time , so
that there is no backflow into the home.
You will need to visit a hardware store, and pickup the
various connectors and aluminum flex ducting to connect a
fan to the hole. The most efficient fans for this purpose
are centrifugal inline fans, but a squirrel cage fan will
work too. The major difference is power consumption - an
inline fan will use about 1/4 the electricity of the same
size squirrel cage, they are VERY efficient, but a little
bit noisier.
The fan
pictured here is 438 cfm, and only uses 115 watts. The
inlet and outlet ports are 6 inches in diameter. I use a
reducer from 6" to 4", and then I use 4" aluminum dryer
ducting to the sewer hole, and of course plenty o' duct
tape!
Once you are finished, you can test your work by standing
outside the basement door, and holding a lighter to the
crack at the bottom of the closed door. The flame should
shoot inwards, because air is being drawn from the
upstairs.
If you have successfully create this 'negative pressure'
environment, there is no way that odorous grow room air
can enter the house, hence the smell is contained!
[Eco Green's note: the sewer contains methane a smelly and
potentially explosive gas! Keep those gases away from
your water heater pilot light!]
