venting upstairs wall

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neilm

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Mar 2, 2006
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So last weekend I installed a built in cabinet in a large closed in area that runs next to the chimney. I ended up cutting a 20" wide by 7 foot hole in the sheet rock to install this. When I opened the wall I was amazed out how much heat was "trapped" in this area. The actual mortar chimney is running up this area, so it make sense that it is nice and warm. I was wondering if I put in a wall vent would that help move some of that warm air into the hall way. Or would I need some sort of fan blower to pull the air out of there. It just seems to me like a waste of heat. Has anyone done this?

Just so everyone is aware the area before I added the closet was probably 6 feet deep, 3 feet wide and 8 foot high. The chimey is a 2 flue mortar chimney. It is all sheet rocked in hence trapping all that warm air from the heated chimney.

Thanks
 
The nice thing about houses is you CAN do anything you want. The bad thing is the "Home Depot Hero" syndrome. I'm lead to believe there needs to be investigation as to why your home was built that way. There may be a reason the space is there. Some times it is just the builder making things look good. Prepare your project and you'll be happy; the reason I say these things is because I grew up with unfinished projects and have a few of my own now. I dislike that part of me and warn others about this pit fall of odd ball modifications to houses that get mostly done but not quite..... :-/
 
So if you vent an area like that are you supposed to have an inlet and an outlet and pull air from the house to vent it, would apply to a chimney chase also.
 
I think you should stop and ask yourself why is this heat here?

Is your chimney simply a brick chimney or does your chimney have a clay tile liner?

Is your chimney and lined with a stainless steel liner?

If yes, is your SS liner insulated?
 
Even a insulated SS chimney is gonna put off a lot of heat.
 
Remember, you found heat within a sealed space. It doesn't take much constant heat to keep a sealed area inside a heated dwelling warm. In other words, you may not get very many BTU's out of this at all and may end up making an eyesore in the process.

pen
 
I kinda missed the point of the question, I agree with Pen.
 
oldspark said:
Even a insulated SS chimney is gonna put off a lot of heat.
Click to expand...

The OP did not state the age of his home. They stated they exposed a motared chimney. I'm trying to find out if they mean a simple brick chimney with no clay tile lining. If they have exposed a simple brick chimney in an older home they could be opening themselves up to adverse conditions.
 
Shari said:
oldspark said:
Even a insulated SS chimney is gonna put off a lot of heat.
Click to expand...

The OP did not state the age of his home. They stated they exposed a motared chimney. I'm trying to find out if they mean a simple brick chimney with no clay tile lining. If they have exposed a simple brick chimney in an older home they could be opening themselves up to adverse conditions.
Click to expand...
I guess you are refering to saftey issues? It is a 2 flue chimney though so I assume it has liners.
 
To follow up on some of the questions asked. I was part of the build process. The house is 5 years old. This empty space was there in order to put stairs up to the third floor level. It was framed to eventually put the built in cabinet there. The way the upstairs bathroom and stairs were designed it kind of required the "wasted space". The chimney is a 2 flue cinder block with clay lining.

My thought was if I put a wall vent (10" x 6") above the chimney some of that "trapped" heat may spill out into the hallway and into the kids rooms. The kids room directly across from this space is the coldest room in the house. If your thinking is not enough heat to make a difference then it probably wouldn't make sense. I just hate to see that heat from the chimney go to waste.

Thanks again.
 
For what its worth....i've put 2 different floor registers in my house to allow hot air to escape from the basement easier.
They've only really worked about half as well as I'd hoped they would, and now I'm kicking myself for cutting into the 60 year old hardwood floors (the eyesore that pen mentioned).
 
Thanks! I would think the floor registers would work a lot better than what I am thinking for the wall. I won't bother cutting any more holes...
 
I'd be concerned about fire hazards.....such as IF a fire occured, are you creating a path for the fire to travel before you can get your family out of harms way.....thats always in the back of my head when I hear of people cutting into walls/floors, and adding ductless vents near any bedroom areas
 
I love the way an exposed brick chimney looks inside, maybe you can keep the chimney exposed on one side of it and veneer it with brick or stone veneer which ever would look better, then it would radiate a little heat and look awesome (probably).
 
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