Which Sys Air???

[Dr. P. Venkman]

I'm having this debate with myself right now, and I'm curious for any additional input or experience.

I'm definitely getting one of these. I had been considering it, but what sealed the deal was some work I was doing in one of my kids' rooms recently. Sanding ~100 feet of shelving with edges that mean the sander hangs off and dust extraction gets worse and corners/nooks/crannies that require hand sanding had the room way dustier than I wanted. At one point, I aimed a fan out the window to try to clear the air. Then I let the room sit for a few hours to try to clean it.

I'll be doing more of that kind of work inside, and I need it to be cleaner than it was. I'll also make good use of it in the garage/shop when I'm out there.

Given the systainer form factor and the general faith I have in Festool's dust extraction, it's too elegant of a solution to a real problem for me to pass up.

That leaves the question of the HEPA or non-HEPA.

I calculated theoretical maximum number of times each unit can cycle the air in a few different rooms:

Room	HEPA	Non-HEPA
Kids' rooms	10.4	16.7
Playroom	4.4	7.1
Shop/Garage	2.9	4.7

For the kids' rooms and smaller, I think the HEPA moves enough air, but that's a pretty good difference once you start increasing the room size. Considering that those theoretical maximums probably aren't met in practice, that's not a lot of cycles in the larger areas (though I can help it out by positioning it near the work I'm doing).

Any thoughts or reactions? For those of you who were on the fence and made a choice between the two, have you been happy with your choice?

Thanks.

 

[onocoffee]

In my discussions with Festool reps they tend to recommend the non-HEPA to most woodworkers - saving the HEPA for the painters and drywall people. However, since you seem to be working with drywall, that may be the path for you because the HEPA filtration supposedly catches the drywall dust. The HEPA doesn't have the same air flow capacity but it supposedly filters it all.

 

[Dr. P. Venkman]

I’m not working with drywall, really. Just the odd patch here and there. The stuff indoors is finishing cabinets and shelves that are attached to drywall, but I’m not actually doing anything with the drywall itself (unless I damage it ).

The biggest drywall work I’ll likely do is repairing anything that’s unusable after removing old cabinets.

I’m leaning toward the non-HEPA for the airflow.

 

[woodferret]

My shop is roughly 150 sqft. HEPA version is perfectly fine. I bought the extra hose kit, and just stack the entire thing on top of a RB cart, bringing it up to slightly above workbench height. Being able to position it closer to the work is key, as it allows the 'limited' airflow move the light stuff quicker. The difference, I'd probably have to double the CFM for the ceiling mounted to get the same level of clean just because of air/dust dynamics.

* edit: ya, I bought mine for non-shop painting and sanding mostly. The wood sanding dust is mostly captured just on the prefilter and easily knocked out. My inner HEPA is just slightly yellow now.

 

[Dr. P. Venkman]

My shop is roughly 150 sqft. HEPA version is perfectly fine. I bought the extra hose kit, and just stack the entire thing on top of a RB cart, bringing it up to slightly above workbench height. Being able to position it closer to the work is key, as it allows the 'limited' airflow move the light stuff quicker. The difference, I'd probably have to double the CFM for the ceiling mounted to get the same level of clean just because of air/dust dynamics.

* edit: ya, I bought mine for non-shop painting and sanding mostly. The wood sanding dust is mostly captured just on the prefilter and easily knocked out. My inner HEPA is just slightly yellow now.

Great info. Thanks!