Looking for OAK installation ideas

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Heftiger

Heftiger

Feeling the Heat
Oct 20, 2011
301
Northern CA
We're having a cold spell (nights down into single digits), and I'm realizing fast that it's a losing battle heating the house when I'm pulling freezing air through every nook and cranny. I planned on refinishing the hearth next summer, and figuring it all out. But now I'm looking for a temporary solution. Any suggestions are welcomed.

The house is on piers, so there is access from underneath. The holes in the back are an inlet for the HVAC (it does no good, so they'll probably get covered up when I refinish it). I'm thinking it's going to be hard to go down, probably rebar and such in the way. I can possibly knock a brick out and go straight back, then I gotta figure out how to route under the house.

Any other ideas?

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Mechanical code dictates that the return air for the HVAC needs to be at least 10 ft away from the stove. Does the return go under the house there?
 
Ya, it goes under. Any idea when that code was last updated? House was built in '87.
 
The actual filtered return is on the other side of the wall. I think the previous owners has the grout cut out thinking it would help.
 
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If it's on the other side of the wall and does not draw from the hearth side then no problem. Sounds like straight down would be the best bet for the OAK as long as the return duct doesn't run under that area.
 
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Your house is on piers? What does that mean? It sounds like you have a crawlspace. Perhaps typical pnw construction of footing/stemwall around the perimeter and then posts supporting beams underneath? Usually the crawlspace is ventilated with screened holes in the stemwall. If so, just drill down into that crawlspace and draw air from there with a very short duct. That's what I do and it is ideal. Unaffected by winds, debris, kids plugging it, etc. Also tends to move air through the crawl which I prefer to do to keep it fresh.
 
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Thanks for the input. I went ahead and busted out a brick and ran the OAK down to under the house. Me and my wife were just having a discussion about opening vs. closing the vents under the house during the winter. Highbeam's post seems to suggest always open.
 
Our house has the vents closed in the winter. The crawlspace is well insulated and stays at about 60F in the winter. That keeps the floors comfortable and makes less work for the heating system. I open up the vents in late spring thru fall.
 
Closing up your vents to a ventilated crawl is a whole different topic but if you were to do that then you would need to run your new oak intake through the stemwall somewhere.
 
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