EPOXY TENT | Epoxy Resin Ventilation Solution

The popularity of epoxy tents are making their way through the epoxy resin artist community as talks about resin safety are becoming more and more relevant.

What are the benefits of having an epoxy tent? What exactly is an epoxy tent? We are going to answer those epoxy resin questions for you and more.

EPOXY TENT | Epoxy Resin Ventilation Solution

First and foremost, what is an epoxy tent?

An epoxy tent is a sectioned off area of a room that is meant to keep fumes and VOC's centralized and safely contained within its walls. Epoxy tents are generally made using hydroponic grow tents and have a fan that exchanges fresh air with the epoxy-fume air, making it a safe working environment for epoxy resin artists.

Many resin artists like to set up their working area outside, where the abundance of fresh air keeps potentially dangerous resin fumes well-dispersed.

However, creating a safe, outdoor space to work with resin is not always an ideal option depending on the season, the weather, the availability of outdoor space for safety and so many other reasons that may compel an epoxy resin artist to bring their resin craft indoors.

If you are planning on working indoors with epoxy resin, then you need to consider a safe place to do so with proper ventilation, and/or while wearing the proper protective equipment, which we will talk more about below as well.

Where can I purchase an epoxy tent?

When considering buying a hydroponic grow tent to use exclusively as an epoxy tent for epoxy resin safety, you will want to think first about where you are going to put it. This will determine the size you can buy.

When selecting a grow tent to use as an epoxy tent, you will want to give yourself as much space as possible to move around somewhat comfortably while working with resin. BUT make sure that you are venting the fumes to an outside window for safety.

Have a look at this hydroponic growing tent on Amazon by Vivosun. This future epoxy tent comes in the size of 96" x 48" x 80". In feet, that would be 8ft x 4ft x 6ft8.

Describing this tent, Vivosun has this to say:

The top-quality 340g oxford is tear proof and double stitched for perfect light blocking; Lined with non-toxic PE material, [...] and the tent is supported by strong metal poles that are specially finished for smooth installation [...] [these] grow tents are easy to install even if you've never done something like this before: no tools needed! 

If you check out the Vivosun store on Amazon through the link below, there are other sized epoxy tents available if you want something smaller, but this is the largest one they carry.

Check the price on Amazon here

After you purchase your grow tent to use as an epoxy tent, you are going to need a fan for proper epoxy ventilation.

DUCT FAN ON AMAZON

Let's explore the topic of ventilation when using resin. There will always be fumes when you are working with any resin, even if it says it is non-toxic.

How much ventilation do you need when working with resin for it to be safe?

• First and foremost, you will need to exhaust the air out of the room you are working in. This will include a proper duct fan and it will need to blow the air outdoors
• You will want to make sure you have fresh air coming in
• The amount of air movement (air going out and fresh air coming in) required depends on the size of the room you are working in

Even though you may not smell fumes and the product you are working with says it is a non-toxic resin, you still need proper ventilation with fresh air coming in and the fumes blowing out through a fan, and you want that fan blowing through the entire process from resin opening to pouring to curing.

Here is a 4" Inline Duct Fan by Vivosun from Amazon that would work well with the above-listed grow tent/epoxy tent in the largest size. It also has carbon filters and even a speed control, so this would be a good set up.

You will have to get some 4" ducting to vent the air from the fan to your window which will also be available on Amazon or at your local hardware store.

Make sure the ducting fits perfectly into your vent hole in the window so none of the fumes will exhaust into the room you are working in.

Send all those nasty fumes outside. You don't want any of those resin fumes lingering around.

FYI ycan find some options for 4" ducting right  here on Amazon.

If you are using a room in a house or your garage to do your epoxy work in, you will want to consider the size of the room in cubic feet (CF). Once that is determined, you will use that to decide on a fan that can adequately move enough air in and out of the room.

A fan is sized in "CFM" which is cubic feet per minute. This refers to the measure of air volume moved in/out of the room or enclosed area by the fan.

 Let's explore the exact fan and grow tent mentioned in the above points.

The Vivosun fan from Amazon we mentioned above has a rating of 203 CFM.

To figure out what your room (grow tent, garage, room in house) or space needs in CFM for epoxy safety and air exchanges, you will need to determine your room dimension in cubic feet (CF) (by measuring length x width x height in feet) and put that into an air exchange CFM calculator (which you can Google to find one online).

Here is an example: The tent by Vivosun from Amazon mentioned above, in the largest size of 96"x48"x80" which, measured in feet is 8'x4'x6.8'. Multiplying these numbers together = 217.6 CF.

The general rule of thumb with epoxy resin is that the air should be exchanged at least 8 times per hour (of course, this depends on the product you are using, so be sure to read the MSDS, the SDS or label on your epoxy resin or refer to the manufacturers website to find this information).

If you need to phone the epoxy resin manufacturer, you can simply ask: "what is the recommendation for how many times per hour the air needs to be exchanged when using your product?".

Here is how you can figure out how many times the air will be exchanged with your grow tent or room in your house and your fan choice.

So the fan we mentioned above (203 CFM) would work in the grow tent, also mentioned above, in the largest size (217.6 CF).

Here is how to input these numbers into the formula above to figure out how many air changes per hour occur with the fan and tent I chose, as an example:

• Air changes per hour = 203 CFM x 60 min / 217.6 CF Volume of large grow tent
• Air changes per hour = 12,180 / 217.6 CF
• Air changes per hour = 55.97 air changes per hour

So that is a lot of air changes when we need an air exchange rate of at least 8 full exchanges of air per hour, you can be sure that your space is well-ventilated. with this epoxy tent and fan combo.

If you are putting the air fan in a window of a room, you will input the same calculations depending on the cubic feet of your room.

The other option or additions we would like to talk about, is the proper respirator to wear when working with epoxy.

WEAR AN EPOXY RESPIRATOR TO PROTECT YOUR LUNGS

Whether you decide to make an epoxy tent or not, we always highly recommend wearing a proper respirator for epoxy resin.

When resin is mixed, it begins off-gassing and continues to off-gas during the curing process, which is typically about 72 hours time depending on the brand. Even when the resin says it is a "non-toxic" brand, there is a chemical reaction that occurs when the resin is combined that results in fumes.

When looking for a respirator for epoxy resin safety, it must include the following:

• The respirator for epoxy must be N95 or N95 equivalent
• The respirator for epoxy must have organic filters
• The respirator for epoxy should be adjustable and fit properly
• The respirator for epoxy can be a half face respirator, covering only the mouth and nose to protect the lungs, or a full face respirator to also protect the eyes
• If wearing glasses, find a respirator for epoxy that is made to fit properly over glasses.

You can read more about the proper respirator for resin safety here.

Here are the respirators that we personally use and recommend for working with resin:

Check price of proper half face respirator for resin here

Check price of proper full face respirator for resin here

Check price of proper respirator for resin to wear with glasses here

We hope you are leaving this article feeling well-informed on epoxy tents, air exchanges + ventilation and respirator safety when working with epoxy resin.

Please be sure to pin this article to your epoxy resin Pinterest board so you can find this article again and share the info with the epoxy resin artist community.

We will leave a pin below for you to do so easily:

Thanks, happy creating!

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