shop venting

[Freds Edge]

This is a subject I have not seen covered and was wondering if most shops are vented . My shop has a low ceiling and covers about 250 sq ft in the forging area I was going to put in a carbon monoxide meter but I may skip that and just put in a powered wall vent.

 

[bladegrinder]

For a small forging area the cost of a CO detector is worth it. I work for a natural gas company and during this time of year we always see CO cases, sometimes resulting in death. a few years ago a guy two blocks from me was heating his house with his oven, it killed him.
CO is bad, you get a bad headache first, if your lucky you make it out the door before you fall out...for good.

 

[DanF]

I have a very small shop (200 sq. ft.). The first year in it, I used a detector and opened both doors and used a small box fan. This past summer I installed a small variable speed controlled gable fan. It has made a world of difference to shop temps while forging, or the summertime sun. A detector is a necessity, just like my fire extinguisher, forging or not.
Some years ago (in a different shop), I was coating a boat with a product that required "good ventilation". 10 minutes into the project I was literally crawling to the door, and the next thing I knew was someone slapping my face and dumping cold water on me. My wife had found me with just my head sticking out the door, dragged me outside and brought me around. I thought I had good ventilation.