Automatic Litterbox Central

I'd been brainstorming ideas to mitigate the horrible stink when the CatGenie ran, and thought I'd share a pretty simple one.

There's a device called "Smart Strip" (http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/Bits-Ltd./Item/LCG5/) which is a basic power strip that switches its outlets on when any other device plugged into its primary outlet begins drawing power.

Add a window fan, plug the CatGenie into the sensing port, and Voila - the fan runs whenever the CatGenie does.


(http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmy/4405678324/)

I like the thought and idea... but would not be practical from a heating / cooling standpoint. I would not want to leave a window in my home open year round like that.


That being said.... I am now thinking about a similar idea... it would involve a little duct work, but if I ran a inline vent fan next to my dryer line and tie it in to run only when the cat genie runs... It would pull the air out of the room... but the flap would close when not running...thus it would not allow the cold or hot air in!

Something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... arketID=68


OR you could even take a cheap bathroom fan... build a small case for it. Wall mount it right above the cat genie... and run a line out.

http://www.kitchensource.com/bathroom-f ... af2114.htm

IF I do this I will post some pictures with the success.. or failure!

If you tie into yer dryer vent hose using a "T" or a "Y" connector, you'll need to prevent backflow from the new inline ventilation fan with one of these draft blockers on both the dryer hose and the ventilation hose. If you don't, yer dryer is gonna smell like cat poop along with the clothes you toss in there. If you don't put one on the new ventilation hose, the dryer exhaust will dump back into yer laundry room...which can be very dangerous if yer running a gas dryer.



Those inline fans are rather noisy...same goes fer those 12V bilge vent fans you find on boats.

As far as the Smart Strip goes...if you just want a basic one you want to git the SCG3 model fer about $31 plus shipping.

Just so you know, the Cat Genie runs at 20W fer 17 minutes and at 1200 watts fer 17 minutes (drying). That would come out to be about 10 amps fer just the dryer running. That means what ever fan you hook up to that Smart Strip would have to be well under 5 amps since the strip and yer standard household outlet can only handle up to 15 amps.