Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone has ever used an Avirnaki with a Bullet?
It’s probably an overkill and might seem odd, but we are currently in a transitional state (location and roaster-wise) where we need to roast indoors, with no access to a chimney, and we need to be as smoke-free as possible.
So, cost aside, would it this work as a setup?
Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated!
Cheers
I know you’ve said “cost aside”, but you can find cheaper electrostatic precipitators than Avirnaki or the Giessen one for that matter. You’ll still need a tube to get the smoke to the precipitator. If you’re saying you can’t get the exhaust tube outside, that means you would want to be in a completely closed environment with just the precipitator? I don’t know if I can recommend that, as none of these machines eliminate 100% of smoke, no matter what they claim, and they do produce some other things that are not so nice to have in a closed environment. There is an exhaust on the Avirnaki too, and that one should go outside. Please read this article and watch these videos before deciding. I must say, if it’s a life or death situation and you have no other way to roast, then maybe a precipitator could be a solution, but only short term if you’re not putting the exhaust tube outside. Maybe the odds of surviving and not getting any illness are actually good with limited use. 
What Is An Electrostatic Precipitator and How Does It Purify the Air?
ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR TEST KY4000 with a 5lb Roaster HD 720p
Thanks for your answer, you bring up some great points! I will gladly look into cheaper options if capability and funcionality are on par with the Avirnaki. Do you have any recommendations?
Good point also about the ozone release. I failed to mention that I do, in fact, have a window which allows me to get an exhaust tube outside, it’s just that we’re in a residential area and that’s why I need the air to be as clean as possible before I can blow it out into the environment.
So, considering that there is a way to get the exhaust tube from the Avirnaki outside, would yould you still consider ozone an issue?
I was thinking something along those lines:
At least in my mind it sounds like a reasonable solution.
Well, I’d still be concerned about the ozone, maybe a bit less, to make you feel better. 2nd, the smoke will be eliminated, but some smell of coffee will remain when it comes out the exhaust. The neighbours will smell something surely. But it’s not harmful as them breathing smoke. Maybe you can get away with a filter box, but I can’t guarantee that. And then there’s the filter replacement. There are many on the market, with AC Infinity being the most known one. As for electrostatic precipitators, there are numerous Chinese manufacturers that sell them for low prices. In my opinion, a precipitator is a precipitator. But that’s more for you to decide. Just type “coffee roaster smoke eliminator” in your search engine, and you’ll find a lot of Chinese precipitators that cost very little. Would I do it? Probably not, but when there’s a price difference measured in thousands, I’d sure think about it. This is just an example.
coffee roaster filter - Dongguan Rui zhaohe Environmental Protection Equipment Co., Ltd - page 1.
Anyway, I’ve talked to these guys back in 2022, and the system seems sound. They’ve probably made some upgrades to it in the meantime. This should also be costly, but no ozone.
Vortx Smoke Elimination for Coffee Roasters
Boy, I wish I could tell you there’s an easy solution, but I can’t. Weigh your options, think about everything carefully, and only then roll the dice.
Ok, thanks! I have worked with filter boxes but the results were never as clean as I would have liked them to be, also replacing the filters rather often is really tedious and costly.
I will have a look at some alternatives. The Vortx is also an interesting design, I think, expecially for larger roasters. For the Bullet, I’m not so sure, since it also works as a chaff filter, which you wouldn’t need with the Bullet. Also its footprint is a bit too big for my current location. I will do some more research, though, but for now I still think an electrostatic precipitator is the most interesting solution to me.
Thanks for your advice!
You can also look into the German company ReiCAT.
From what I know, the smoke goes through a catalytic converter. But as others mentioned, not sure if it’s a good idea if you have no ventilation at all.