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That won't work at all in the cold. As the OP notes, the steam will give it away. Unless the OP isn't going to heat the place or any water or so any cooking. "Survival at any cost." Layer up, sit down, and enjoy your Cliff Bar.
In the cold, visible water vapor regularly comes out of sewer vents. Most people won't put 2 and 2 together that somebody is making that water vapor. Chances are that most houses will have vapor exhausting from their sewer vents.
There's a limit to everything. Depending upon where the house is and what is going on, the illusion might actually need to be a DESTROYED house else someone may be squatting in it. I don't think you could make the room to remain undiscovered in either of those scenarios.
I'd focus on the storm issue more than the SHTF. I'd like to hope that the storm is much more likely, and the storm is fairly unlikely as it is.
There's a limit to everything. Depending upon where the house is and what is going on, the illusion might actually need to be a DESTROYED house else someone may be squatting in it...
Well, as one poster noted, this is concerning Tennessee. The property is in a rural area about 8 miles from a city and 4 miles from a podunk "town".
The possible SHTF scenarios that are my primary concern are a Nuclear Meltdown in Oakridge, Civil Unrest, and a Hostile Military Presence(foreign or domestic).
I am not in the direct blast area or need be "overly" concerned with nuclear fallout from a meltdown, as the foothills of the Appalacian Mountains are between here and there. But the power outages, food and water shortages, and EMP effect of such an event would make a hostile civil environment.
Civil Unrest, to me, can be classified as any instance in which people would seek to take and/or destroy my possessions or property. While my location would make rioting or looting unlikely, I think it is the most likely SHTF scenario to come about.
And a Military presence is a subject I don't think I want to discuss with the hostile attitude on this thread.
But in any of these cases, being able to protect my person and property without bugging out to the mountains (which is a possibility with my family ties) is best made possible by remaining inconspicuous.
And while the "illusion of a DESTROYED home" is a last resort, this shelter is specced to withstand the collapsing of the house above it, due to a structural fire or severe weather conditions. And with 2 emergency exits incorporating a jack beam or an escape tunnel, being blocked by debris is not a large concern.
But with a little forewarning, I can make the house look gutted of valuables or survival supplies before a group of looters or a posse of survivalists visit, making them think the place is not worth a closer look.
So despite the criticism of my peers and neighbors, I am building this house the way I want with the knowledge that I will be prepared for any event short of the rapture or a planet wide armageddon event.
Now, thank you to those who gave helpful suggestions.
And venting into the sewer could be quite doable with an over pressured room or continuous exhaust fan and a pressure valve that only lets air flow through one direction. That way the poisonous (and smelly) gases from the sewer can't enter the room.
My question was intended for the legality of such a setup, or an alternative that would meet my needs. For clarification, my needs are a way to exhaust air from my shelter in a way that does not expose the location of the shelter or alert people to the habitation of my house through means of heat, sound, smell, or moving air.
The logical solution is to vent the exhaust into the ground through existing pipelines, or into an underground dispersion system that doesn't make the ground bubble from the air pressure coming from below.
And venting into the sewer could be quite doable with an over pressured room or continuous exhaust fan and a pressure valve that only lets air flow through one direction. That way the poisonous (and smelly) gases from the sewer can't enter the room.
This to me begs the question, before thinking through such details as how to run the vent, how are you going to quietly have power? I don't ask that to be critical, regardless of what I think of the whole idea. I ask it because it seems like a more important problem to address first. If the whole point is to have a comfy bunker for serious SHTF without being found out, that to me stands out as among the trickier bits. Of course, maybe it depends upon how long of a stay down there, but it seems to me you're talking in weeks and months which makes quiet options like battery storage impractical.
Look you can build what you want, up to whatever you can afford, which is apparently considerable. We can differ on whether or not that's a good use of those resources, but hey, whatever. My interest in posting is more along the lines of whether what you look to be trying to do, have a large bunker that is completely undiscoverable for an extended period of time that is built directly under your house, is actually feasible. I'm not convinced that it really is. I think you could have a bunker hardened enough to survive just about anything, but I don't think you'll manage to make it truly undiscoverable from the outside. Maybe I am missing some options for power and such. Also, you're going to need a way to know when/if it is safe to exit. It sounds like you are banking on the house remaining intact above, which may or may not be a reasonable assumption. It seems like a lot of it could work as long as grid utilities continue, but relying on that would not seem to be self sufficient enough. Sounds also like you're hoping for secrecy, which will be difficult given the contractors you need. And I could probably go on.
I know I'm not touching directly on the venting issue. I am not a prepper of this magnitude by nature so for me this is what is coming up as I read through your post and think about the problem as a whole. It's an interesting problem in its way, and so far it seems to me there are many more issues than just figuring out how to vent without creating noise or heat. If you're going to do something like this, it is important that you work through all those possible problems else you could get partway into the project and discover a fatal flaw that you can't correct. Sorry if maybe you've thought through all those things already. If the worst thing I've done here is repeat things you've already been thoroughly over, then I'm okay with that and you can just ignore my ramblings and I'll accept whatever dismissive thoughts you have about them.
Good luck. Possibly we're all going to need it....
i for one dont think u r nuts. not sure where to lay the exhaust. but if the people of new orleans had had such a plan they would have not been raped and beaten in the super dome. a mossburg 500a was going for $5000 at the height of the riot. u can get em now for under $200 now, drop one in the shelter friend u might need it.
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