Outside venting my Fatboy

[firefighter4634]

I just added a nice addition onto the garage, my play place. I know the Fatboy is well insulated, by I am not and it gets cold in N.W. Iowa in the winter. So, I want to use the smoker in the garage. I am thinking about using something like a bathroom vent making a hood that would be larger than the exhaust on the smoker. Place the hood a few inches above the exhaust on the smoker and than allow the fan to pull the smoke outside. I have a window that I would like to use by making a frame that would fit the window sill so it could be removable. Has anyone tried this or done something similar?

[RickC]

Where are you going yo pull your intake air from? That will be important. You will need the same or more airflow in then out.

[firefighter4634]

Where are you going yo pull your intake air from? That will be important. You will need the same or more airflow in then out.

I am not sure, was thinking about just cracking open a window on the opposite side of the garage so it could draw in some fresh air. I also do not want to put a permanent exhaust in the roof or wall of the garage so I was thinking about framing up something to fit inside the window frame and mount a small exhaust fan like one in a bathroom to draw out the smoke.

[Braddog]

I usually leave my fire box door open while the fire is getting up to speed. There's an awful lot of smoke from that that doesn't come from the exhuast.

The other problem that I see, is the mess on the floor. Between the fire grate, charcoal, ash pan, and drippings, I always have a mess n the ground in front of the cooker.

Cheers,
Braddog

[firefighter4634]

Good points. I also leave the door open while the fire is starting for a while, but with the door open as long as the fire box is pushed all the way inside the smoke mostly gets vented up and out the chimney. As far as the mess on the floor I have an old hearth floor cover that was used under a wood stove I usually place out front to keep the concrete clean.