Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed

   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #11  
BTW there is plenty of space for input air, because the sides do not extend all the way to the roof.
Just ensure physics does not defeat your plan with the hot air from the genny pushing out of the top and either recirculating or stopping cold air inflow. That is why the cold air intake needs to low.
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #12  
a single wall exhaust shaft made of roofing tin will get hot enough to catch wall in fire. cant use single wall.
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #13  
i have customers with whole house units install them in sheds. and im called in to repair the damage caused to unit. burnt up alternators, melted controllers. etc.

personally, i wont do the repairs cause its too dangerous to have these units in a shed. a liquid cooled unit can work indoors, not an air cooled unit. if it catches fire or is guy passes out while servicing unit during a power outage...it falls on my head. not going to happen.
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed
  • Thread Starter
#14  
a single wall exhaust shaft made of roofing tin will get hot enough to catch wall in fire. cant use single wall.
Thanks, grs - will use double-walled stove pipe. I looked over the generator again, and it turns out that the exhaust is only about 2 inches across. so, putting it in front of a 6 inch stove pipe should be sufficient. And I do not plan to use an exhaust fan after all. Just six dryer vents up near the top of the gable ends.
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed
  • Thread Starter
#15  
Just ensure physics does not defeat your plan with the hot air from the genny pushing out of the top and either recirculating or stopping cold air inflow. That is why the cold air intake needs to low.
No problem. The shed walls only go down to about 4 inches from the ground. so, there is about 4×4 = 16‘ of 4 inch space all around the bottom of the shed. Over 5 ft.² of opening.
 
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   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #16  
Keep in mind that if it gets too hot inside and the genny is gas powered, the fuel will boil and vapor lock.
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #17  
Still might need power venting. Electrical insulation, fuel and motor components get comprised with heat. An inexpensive dial stem thermometer would let you read inside temp outside. Most generators have operating temperatures specifications.

Limit combustibles. Metal roof and framing.

Hope far enough from house or other buildings that in case of fire you are safe. Insurance companies always wants someone to blame and can compromised your coverage. You are knowingly going against the generator manufacturer operating specifications of operating in an enclosed area?
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #18  
Hello all, I have a Westinghouse 9500 standby generator (same one that Daugen has) and we built a 4‘ x 4‘ shed for it. We bought a little 6 inch exhaust fan and installed it in the shed wall near the exhaust of the generator, but I’m afraid that the generator heat just melted the plastic housing on the outside. Clearly it was not adequate. And as a result, the generator overheated and shut down. I can get one of those commercial exhaust fans with louvers with various cubic feet per minute (up to 1100) exhaust, but I’m wondering if this is a good idea.

The issue is the powerful exhaust from the generator itself. it of course gets really hot, and I am thinking of maybe cutting a bigger hole in the wall of the shed and putting a metal pipe that the exhaust can shoot itself through. however, there still is the problem of heat buildup inside the shed, and I am wondering whether it’s a good idea or not to get a 500 ft.³ per minute exhaust fan to put up near the roof of the shed. The question is, would that interfere with the exhaust from the generator going outside? we would have two competing exhausts. The first one would be the hot exhaust from the generator, and the second would be the fan up above. Would the fan up above suck the hot exhaust gas for the generator back into the shed and defeat the purpose of the Generator Exhaust Fan?

Like I mentioned, the generator is 4 x 4, with the cable and roof sticking up about another foot or so, and the roof is shingled with asphalt shingles.

Any help would be much appreciated!
In addition to the recommended double wall pipe, you might want to consider adding a Lomanco turbine on the roof. I installed one of these in my shed roof years ago. It still does the job of lowering the temp in the shed. It works by convection and will be spinning away on a hot day with zero breeze. Amazing how much air that thing moves. I installed it in place of an electric roof fan after my buddy had a major fire when his roof fan locked up. Bob Villa at the time was dead set against roof fans as they had a habit of burning down houses. After seeing an example of that phenomenon, hello turbine on the shed, and later on a ridge vent on the house.

Lomanco GT-12 Galvanized Turbines​

 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #19  
Hello all, I have a Westinghouse 9500 standby generator (same one that Daugen has) and we built a 4‘ x 4‘ shed for it. We bought a little 6 inch exhaust fan and installed it in the shed wall near the exhaust of the generator, but I’m afraid that the generator heat just melted the plastic housing on the outside. Clearly it was not adequate. And as a result, the generator overheated and shut down. I can get one of those commercial exhaust fans with louvers with various cubic feet per minute (up to 1100) exhaust, but I’m wondering if this is a good idea.

The issue is the powerful exhaust from the generator itself. it of course gets really hot, and I am thinking of maybe cutting a bigger hole in the wall of the shed and putting a metal pipe that the exhaust can shoot itself through. however, there still is the problem of heat buildup inside the shed, and I am wondering whether it’s a good idea or not to get a 500 ft.³ per minute exhaust fan to put up near the roof of the shed. The question is, would that interfere with the exhaust from the generator going outside? we would have two competing exhausts. The first one would be the hot exhaust from the generator, and the second would be the fan up above. Would the fan up above suck the hot exhaust gas for the generator back into the shed and defeat the purpose of the Generator Exhaust Fan?

Like I mentioned, the generator is 4 x 4, with the cable and roof sticking up about another foot or so, and the roof is shingled with asphalt shingles.

Any help would be much appreciated!
I have what you almost have here in panama. My Westinghouse is a 7500/9000 in a 6x6 shed . In front of the engine side of the Gen I have a 1 square foot hole with expanded metel to keep out the larger critters. I have a good 16 inch fan sucking air and blowing on the engine. At the Gen /exhaust end I ran a exhaust pipe out the wall. I leave the door open when it is running and do not have a over heat prolbem in our 90 /100 degrees days. Oh yes my soffits are also open to let heat out at the top. Not sure what propane is worth up there but here it is subsidized as a cooking gas a $5 for our 25 lb bottles. I bought a propane conversion kit from US Carburetion called the motor snorkel kit and get 10 hrs from a 25 pound bottle. I think the kit was $180 and worth every penny
 
   / Exhaust options for my 4’ x 4’ generator shed #20  
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. My current plan is to cut a big round hole on the exhaust side and fabricate a “pipe” from rolled up roofing tin. It will stick out about a foot or so, and BTW there is plenty of space for input air, because the sides do not extend all the way to the roof.
They do make exhaust extension hoses out of flexible metal which we used in the fire department. It does get super hot as the scar on my arm shows. You would just have to run it through a fire proof exit in the shed wall and have plenty of fresh air coming in. Should work fine.
 
 
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