Smart Home Project: Automatic fans for smart vents without ductwork

[tcamps]

Been working on this for several months, finally "good enough" - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5373570

 

 

I've got a closet with AC acting as a server room, and smart vents between this closet and surrounding rooms. (200sqr ft total space across the closet and 2 adjacent rooms.) The goal was to also use this closet as a "climate control closet" and distribute hot/cold air to those other rooms, but there's nothing to force air through those vents.

 

To force air through without a super jank and high-maintenance setup, I've made this fan sled and attachment for the vent. The fans will turn on/off automatically when the vent opens/closes, and the whole sled can be removed, flipped, and reinserted to change the direction of airflow. (ie top vents are intake and bottom are exhaust during the summer, vice versa for the winter.)

 

It can definitely improved but I just want this to be done. Finally!

 

Maybe this is helpful for others doing smart home climate control stuff without central AC/etc.

[tcamps]

Just that the fans turn on/off automatically whenever the vents open/close, rather than having to control them separately. Calling them "smart" would be a stretch, they're just part of a smart home project

 

Re: Contacts, I would've loved to use something else, I spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out the right keyword but couldn't find anything after searching over the course of a week. I considered getting some thin aluminum stock to bend into my own contacts, but couldn't find anything thinner than 1/8" locally, which was still way too thick

[tcamps]

I improved it but haven't updated the files, can let me know if anyone wants the new version:

• The vent attachment uses thin aluminum stock for contacts (secured with small plastic bending tabs)
• The fan cutout on the fan sled has a chamfer to match the chamfer on the fan frames (the wind from the fans was buffetting the sled and causing noise)
• Added small sound dampeners to secure the fans, needs dual extrusion to print the dampeners in TPU (they can be printed separately but are much more of a pain to insert)

EDIT: Updated version can be found here https://www.printables.com/model/316881-smart-vent-fan-sled-12x4