How to put ducting through wall?

[Erin Kerrik]

I've not built anything out of wood besides popsicle-stick nativity scenes and boats, so sorry for this elementary question.

How does one get ducting from outside a growbox to the reflector? Does one have to cut out a round hole through the wall and seal it with silicone or something?

This is what I want to do:

---------------------||-----------------
---> from reflector ..... inline fan -----> air out
---------------------||-----------------

... where the || indicates a wall of the growbox.

To me, the intuitive way would be to find a 8"x8" square plate with a 6" round lip/hole, fasten the plate to the wall and connect the ducting. But I can find no such plate in HD or the hydroponics store. What am I looking for? Thanks.

 

[BudGood2006]

You can use a 6" take-off collar, it is made to make a 6" connection point into the side of a square or rectangular metal duct, so I'm sure you could make it work for your purposes. It is available it home depot or lowes. You would need to make a 6" round hole for it, either a jigsaw (slow and careful), or a hole saw would work fine. Post some pics of your build, I'd like to see it

 

[Underground Man]

just get a hole saw (fits on your drill) in the appropriate size. You can cram flex duct through the hole, or you can buy connectors, or you can make your own connectors out of coffee cans which happen to be 4 or six inches.

foil tape or duct tape will be fine to seal it up

 

[Erin Kerrik]

You can use a 6" take-off collar, it is made to make a 6" connection point into the side of a square or rectangular metal duct ... You would need to make a 6" round hole for it, either a jigsaw (slow and careful) ...

That's what I'm trying to avoid: having to make a round hole. Rectangular hole = no problem, round hole = aieeeeeee!

I think I'm looking for something like this: http://www.airspecialties.com/Air Distribution/AlumSquareDiffuser.htm

 

[Erin Kerrik]

just get a hole saw (fits on your drill)

AHHH - I understand what BUDGOOD suggested. Drilling big holes ought not be any harder than drilling tiny ones.

Thanks!

 

[BudGood2006]

How a hole saw works: Drill a pilot hole directly in the center of where you want the hole. Then take the hole saw and attach it to your drill. Insert pilot bit of the hole saw in the hole you drilled, and start drilling slowly. Hole saws cut a perfectly round hole everytime. I just looked at homedepot.com, and a 6" hole saw was 39.99, you'll also need the arbor for the hole saw, another 10 bucks or so. If you've a steady hand, a jigsaw could work well also.

 

[Aoxomoxoa]

All the above work well, your wall has 2x4s or 2x6s as studs @ 16" o.c. locate your hole to avoid them also keep hole away from 16" & 48" off floor to avoid any wiring. I was a conterctor for 29 yrs and learned the hard way

 

[Den0ts]

Yea just get the hole saw and install a 6" or 4" flange.