Strawhouse

Thanks for the response Glenn, The forge would be vented on the north wall which would be the proper side for the majority of the wind that we get here up in Ontario. I have been talking to a few smiths and they are unsure how well it would work. I am actually trying to figure out which type of forge to go with, I understand the ease of propane but I do a lot of art pieces and having the large forge area of a coal forge is something that appeals to me. Good point about the windows upstairs, I guess it will be something that will have to be closed when the forge is running. I just talked to a HVAC guy and he told me that the furnace blower will be more than adequate for sucking up the exhaust... almost too much he warned! DO you think its worth the try? Thanks, The HVAC guy did recommend a belt driven blower and finding a sealed motor. He mentioned it may not be needed but it might extend the life a fair bit.

Got a question, I am looking at setting up a coal forge in the studio. The studio is setup for metal fabrication but I am just getting into blacksmithing. The problem is that I take up the bottom floor of the studio the top floor is a painting studio for my wife and the roof of the studio is covered in solar panels. The roof itself is a mono-plane pitch ( one single slope ) which faces south for the solar panels. Now the real problem... I need to vent the forge! I cant run a chimney through the roof, and I don't want the chimney pumping smoke out over the solar panels because of soot buildup. I was thinking about building a forge hood with a furnace blower fan inside to suck the exhaust out of the studio through the wall to the outside. The total run of the venting would be about 6' and it would be blowing the exhaust out 20' below the solar panels on the north wall. And don't worry about the neighbours, the closet one is about a 10 minute walk away through the bush and our studio is on 10 acres in the middle of nowhere! So what do you think? Will this work?