Garage exhaust system?

I’m working with an architect and a contractor to begin construction of a detached garage on my property dedicated to my workshop as opposed to sharing the attached garage with my wife’s car, assorted bicycles, and yard tools. @Craig_Balzer has graciously shared his garage plans and checklist in the past and I’ve been consulting with them regularly.

One issue that I’ve been thinking of is the ability to run the car(s) with the garage doors shut, particularly on wintery days and/or typical Texas 110 degree days. Has anyone installed an exhaust system that vents the cars exhaust via a tailpipe connection to the outside? If so, could you share thoughts, brands, plans, etc?

I just used a repurposed tornadic woodshop vacuum, hooked thru a wall, and used a flexible steel tube for the car.

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This is what I use, but only in the dead of winter

it’s two lengths of 3” stainless steel corrugated pipe. I slip one end over each exhaust pipe, stuffing some rags in the voids, and the other end under the garage door. The door gaps I cover with tarps. Low tech, but works well, except on very windy days.

If you’re going to any sort of bodywork I would recommend one of these:

It’s a 3-speed Delta air cleaner rated for 600-1200 cfm that traps dust particles down to one micron. (I see it’s time to change the electrostatic pre-filter …)

I would use an inline duct fan, made for HVAC, and a flexible metal hose (at least for the first 8-10 feet). You can use exhaust fittings to make the pipe a snug fit over the cars tailpipe, and just run it straight outside.

Something along these lines:

I agree with Nick and Ray, back in the midwest we just used 3" duct tubing and ran it under the garage door. Some of the commercial garages had covered holes in the garage door they ran the tubing through so the door could be all the way down.

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Another thing you want is lots of light. My garage floor is only 25’x22’ - 550 sqft - and illuminated by 12 x 2 four foot LED lamps each cranking out 4500 lumens of 5000K superbright daylight.

Then you need to be thinking of your compressed air setup, dedicated 220v circuits for welding and EV charging, air supplied respiration…

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They also make door ports, to stuff the hoses through, so you font need to have the door open… important in Colorado.

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I you are going to use some kind of duct system remember these cars leak exhaust gases from other places other than tail pipes. I would place a digital Co2 tester in garage to monitor for gases.
Glenn

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Current plans call for 4 dedicated 220v circuits, one for a mini-split so that the space is heated and cooled. The other three are located one each on the two side walls and the front wall of a 30 x 45 foot garage. They are meant for welding and/or air compressor, although my current compressor is 110.

I’m having 110v outlets spaced every four feet at 48 inches up from the floor to accommodate work benches, etc. Building walls are going to be 12 feet high, with an open rafter (no flat ceiling) allowing for 15 feet of lifting height.

I’m glad to hear about your arrangement for lighting. My plans are to use four foot long LED units that can be piggy backed to each other (up to four units). I’ve been trying to figure out how many I need and where to place them to avoid creating a problem with my lifting height (planning on buying a four post lift).

Since I will have a brand spanking new insulated roll up door (16 x 10) I don’'t want to make a hole in it for the exhaust port. Since its in the final planning stages, I’m thinking that the exterior exhaust port could be built right into the brick wall.

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When I was planning my hobby shop lighting, I found an outfit (All Phase Electrical Supplies - may be a national chain) in Co Sprgs that sold a ba-zillion types of lighting fixtures. They had a program in which they entered the dimensions of my shop, the height of the work surfaces, obstacles, and my desired lumen count. I had no idea what lumen count was appropriate and the salesman walked me through it.
Two factors affecting lighting are color/gloss of wall paint and color/gloss of floor covering.
And don’t forget to factor in the color of the light

I suspect Parker TX will have a lighting store with a similar computer program.

As I recall, it was a proprietary program to a brand name of fixtures, but the salesman was familiar enough with his wares that he offered different brands at different price points for the equivalent lighting.

For the DIYers:

And at GarageJournal.com are several threads on this topic:

In my main bay (48x36 with 14’ ceilings) I used dimmable LED fixtures.

• 7x HB 150001 50
• LED: 18” x 30” 150 Watt
• 18,500 Lumens
• 5,000° K
• $150 each

No lights

1/3 power of dimmer switch

2/3 power

Full power

Craig

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And here is my PowerPoint schematic of my lighting and power layout.
Lots of detail = small print. Likely better read if you print it out.

Lighting and Power Diagram.pdf (166.3 KB)

Circuit Panel Schematic.pdf (177.6 KB)

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Absolutely!!!

You can buy something that consists of just hoses that you can vent to outside the garage like a clothes dryer is vented,

or you can get fancy,

https://www.plymovent.com/us/vehicle-exhaust-extraction/fumecaddie/fumecaddie?gclid=CjwKCAjwn8SLBhAyEiwAHNTJbVPWX3hhAs1mPJXBn7xjw0pVtJPHgK7fPr0uRr304SAvx6B1yn41XhoCZO4QAvD_BwE

Or you can get really fancy.

It just depends on how many $$ you want exhausted from your wallet. :laughing:

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Easy to add more lighting now, i wish I had installed 3 more light fixtaures. Also consider a side mounted garage door opener rather than one on the ceiling. Will give you more headroom over your lift.

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Also, light fixtures, on each side of a lift, about 3 feet off the floor, on a nearby wall, or mounted on the lift, itself.

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One of the reasons I am getting a roll-up door is to eliminate the tracks needed for a traditional garage door. This rolls up into a 15 inch square box at the top of the door

I put a couple of 2x4 double domed opaque skylights in my garage over my work benches. Natural light is always better that artificial!. Also put a garage door on the back of the garage and pour a slab outside. If cost is no object put a lift 2 post lift out there so you can work under the car and best of all steam clean the underside. It is a British car after all!

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absolutely. Would have done that but the garage was attached. Not a good residential look.
I saw some neat floor mounted lights that shine up under the lift some where.

Put twice as many lumens as you think you need on separate switches then light up as needed.

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Gawd, it’s fun telling other people how to spend their money. :rofl:

You might consider adding some receptacles in the ceiling here and there for adding plug in LED shop lights if you find an area that is light deficient once you’ve got everything built.

I have the lighting set up in my modest workshop garage (15X30) ex-RV garage with basic 4’ LED fixtures, a total of 12 tubes that provide pretty even lighting. In addition I have a separate light fixture on the ceiling fan with 3 15 watt LED (about 4,500 lumens total) that I can use to supplement the other fixtures. I also have two 4 foot LED fixtures on the underside of the shelf that is about 3’ over a foot workbench. This, plus an LED light on a telescoping stand that can be moved where it’s needed, even under the car on the lift.

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In my previous home, for winter use, I put a port through the wall with a cover so I could run one of those heavy duty rubber exhaust hoses (like shops use) from the exhaust pipe(s) through the wall. I never used it. I found if the situation was such that I couldn’t drive the car on the street, then I didn’t want to be running it in the garage. Any carb tweaking or whatnot could wait until spring. I’m not doing this for a living. That said, as Wigs pointed out, door ports are cheaper and easier to install, I never thought of it.

The ideas here are all good. Bright lighting, dedicated air supply (copper lines), hose access to hot/cold water, slop sink, lots of plug outlets…walls and ceiling, side mount jack shaft garage door lifts, drains under each stall, epoxy floor treatment, big/sturdy workbench, lots of cabinetry, TOILET, lift(s) and … radiant heat if you’re in a cold climate. Previous shop garage built as an addition to prior home, current shop garage as new construction. Happy to share plans.

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As we’re talking about our state of the art garage lighting systems, here’s mine:

It’s portable, has a magnetic base to provide hands-free operation, and it’s free! :smiley:

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