Hi, we will have an internal pantry/storage room connected to our kitchen (without a window). The size will be about 6-7 square meters (65-75 square feet).
The room will be used for storing food as well as for general storage.
It will also house the sub-distribution panel with smart home technology and some network equipment. Otherwise, maybe some electrical devices will be charged there—nothing more. So no refrigerator or similar appliances.
We plan to use an external sliding door. These are not as airtight as regular hinged doors.
I’m uncertain about the amount of heat that will develop and am thinking about installing an exhaust fan.
However, the exhaust air would be directed into the adjacent dining room, as there is no option to vent outside.
The fan could be controlled based on the room climate (room climate sensor).
I was thinking of a Maico ECA piano.
What do you think about this idea? Does it make sense or is it pointless?
A friend advised against it, saying that odors from the pantry would actively enter the dining room (for example, the smell of onions).
Best regards,
Chris
The room will be used for storing food as well as for general storage.
It will also house the sub-distribution panel with smart home technology and some network equipment. Otherwise, maybe some electrical devices will be charged there—nothing more. So no refrigerator or similar appliances.
We plan to use an external sliding door. These are not as airtight as regular hinged doors.
I’m uncertain about the amount of heat that will develop and am thinking about installing an exhaust fan.
However, the exhaust air would be directed into the adjacent dining room, as there is no option to vent outside.
The fan could be controlled based on the room climate (room climate sensor).
I was thinking of a Maico ECA piano.
What do you think about this idea? Does it make sense or is it pointless?
A friend advised against it, saying that odors from the pantry would actively enter the dining room (for example, the smell of onions).
Best regards,
Chris
N
nordanney7 Apr 2026 08:09Flitz86 schrieb:
nonsense Yep. No significant warmth and no perishable foods. Junk room, right?M
MachsSelbst7 Apr 2026 11:22A storage room for onions and potatoes inside the heated thermal envelope of the house is actually impractical.
Potatoes and onions used to be stored in the cellar because it was cool and generally dry there. In your storage room, temperatures will be around 24, 25°C (75, 77°F) in summer with 60, 70% humidity, just like in the rest of the house.
Then there’s the question of what you mean by "some network equipment." A 24-port PoE switch, which many place in the utility room, can easily consume 30 to 40 watts of power loss. Add a small smart home server, a few chargers, and you quickly reach 50 to 60 watts continuously running in a 6m² (65 square feet) room humming away 24/7.
Equipment really belongs in the utility or technical room, not least because of the noise from fans and such. And food should be stored in kitchen cabinets. It’s better to make the kitchen and utility/laundry room larger and skip a separate storage room.
Potatoes and onions used to be stored in the cellar because it was cool and generally dry there. In your storage room, temperatures will be around 24, 25°C (75, 77°F) in summer with 60, 70% humidity, just like in the rest of the house.
Then there’s the question of what you mean by "some network equipment." A 24-port PoE switch, which many place in the utility room, can easily consume 30 to 40 watts of power loss. Add a small smart home server, a few chargers, and you quickly reach 50 to 60 watts continuously running in a 6m² (65 square feet) room humming away 24/7.
Equipment really belongs in the utility or technical room, not least because of the noise from fans and such. And food should be stored in kitchen cabinets. It’s better to make the kitchen and utility/laundry room larger and skip a separate storage room.
nordanney schrieb:
Storage room, or More or less. Cleaning supplies, food in sealed containers/canned goods, drinks, and probably miscellaneous stuff...MachsSelbst schrieb:
And then the question is what you mean by "some networking equipment." A 24-port PoE switch, which quite a few people put in the utility room, quickly wastes 30 to 40 watts of power. Add a bit of smart home server, a few chargers, and you can easily reach 50 to 60 watts running 24/7 in a 6m² (65 ft²) room humming away. As of now, a 24-port switch is planned plus a few gateways for controlling fans and roof windows. Possibly also a Raspberry Pi for additional smart home applications. The switch and the associated patch panel will be installed in a small surface-mounted network cabinet. The rest will be placed somewhere in the room, depending on connectivity.MachsSelbst schrieb:
The equipment really belongs in the utility room, mainly because of the noise from fans and so on. And the food should be stored in kitchen cabinets. Better to make the kitchen and utility/laundry room larger and do without a storage room. Basically, that was the plan. When it comes to renovations, sometimes things don’t quite work out as hoped. There is actually more networking and general equipment located in the utility room – but I couldn’t move everything there (no space or routing for that many cables).Similar topics