Properly designed ventilation can reduce or eliminate odors, reduce bacteria buildup, and help keep that fresh, clean kennel smelling. Your pets will be happier and you’ll spend less time trying to dry floors and remove odors. If you are having trouble understanding the information in this article, please email us on the web at Sun Hill Pet Supplies.
No matter the size of your facility, ventilation will play a key role in the first impression of kennel visitors. Simply put, ventilation is directed and controlled movement of air.
Basic design:
- air exchanges: Change the entire air in the room four to six times per hour. Calculate the volume of the room in cubic feet, multiply the result by four, five, or six, then divide by sixty to find the volume of air, in cfm (cubic feet per minute).
- Exhaust gas collection points– Most kennel odors are created at the same level as dogs, so place exhaust collection points within 30 inches to ensure odors travel downward, away from your nose . However, it should not be less than twelve inches from the floor to prevent cleaning water from entering the ventilation system.
- How many exhaust collection points?: Multiple points throughout the room ensure that air movement has a chance to circulate properly. Remember we are not talking about the return air duct to your heating system, we are talking about the exhaust ducts to remove air from the room.
- Air supply: Install the air supply vents high up in the room. This allows air to flow down to exhaust collection points, drawing odors down and away from your nose. Remember, the supply air must be filtered and tempered (heated or cooled), not raw outside air. Your HVAC contractor can install a unit that provides enough fresh air to the ventilation system to meet supply requirements.
- Position of air supply and exhaust vents: Place supply vents above hallways and exhaust collection points at back of runs in walls or as pipes running down walls. If the heating source is a “hot air” system, have one-third of the warm air drawn into the floor and two-thirds drawn through vents above hallways.
- Type and design of the exhaust fan.: You will want to use a blower with a centrifugal wheel as the air motor. Fans and blowers that use a blade similar to a window fan will not be able to overcome the static pressure created by the ductwork needed for multiple collection points.
- size the blower: Create a factor of safety by multiplying the cfm you calculated in step #1 by 1.5 to ensure you move enough air, then choose the fan to move that amount of cfm at ½” static pressure or more. The pressure Static is the resistance to airflow, usually created by the ductwork.
- Duct Sizing: High air velocity in the system will ensure good airflow, so size ductwork for an air velocity of around 2000 fpm (feet per minute). The easiest approach to sizing is to determine the duct size needed to handle the total airflow, then install that size as the main duct throughout the building. Determine the number of drops you want and divide the primary conduit area by the number of drops. Each drop is then sized for that area. Use this formula to determine the main duct size: (cfm / 1500fpm) x 144 = duct area in square inches
Formula Info: · http://www.Grainger.com is a great source for blowers.
Area of a circle: radius squared times 3.14 ( [r x r] x 3.14) 3″ round duct area example: (1.5 x 1.5) x 3.14 = 7.065 square inches
Convert square inches to square feet: divide the square inches by 144. From the example above, 7.065 square inches divided by 144 = 0.049 square feet.
Example:
1. Kennel room is 20 ft x 15 ft with a 10 ft high ceiling: 20 x 20 x 10 = 4000 cubic feet
2. Five (5) air changes per hour = 4,000 x 5 = 20,000 cubic feet
3. Determine cfm (cubic feet per minute) 20,000 / 60 = 333 cfm
4. Airflow of safety factor: 1.5×333 = 500cfm
5. From Grainger’s: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2C946 This blower moves 537 cfm at ½” static pressure, costs just $165.38, and can be plugged into most outlets.
6. Main duct size in square inches: (500cfm / 2000 fpm) x 144 = 36 square inch duct. You can use a 6′ x 6″ square duct or a 7″ diameter round duct.
