Through wall air duct

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vdog

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Apr 20, 2009
28
NW Illinois
We installed a Lopi 1250 republic 2 years ago and with the help of this forum it has been one of the best things I have ever done. For the first time our living room is warm in the cold winter. We have cut our propane use in half. We are also close to paying off the stove and instalation in two years from the propane we have saved not doubt it will pay for itself this year.

The only drawback we have is our stove is located in a 15 x 32 living room with only one door way out of the room into the kitchen. We have ran a small fan on the floor blowing cold air into the living room which has pulled some air into the kitchen. My question is, the master bedroom shares a wall at the opposite end of the living room from the Lopi, about 30 ft away. The bedroom also has a door into the kitchen. I have thought cutting a small return air vent into the Mbedroom high on the wall to draw in hot air from the living room. This would make a circular loop for the air to move hopefully moving more efficently. Does anyone see any problems with this? Also do you think the fan on the floor of the livingroom would be enough to cause a draw or should I purchase one of the fans that will go into the wall at the vent. Please let me know if you see any pitfalls that I am not.
Thanks ahead of time.
Scott
 
By code, it appears that you are far enough away from the stove it is not an issue there, but be aware that you are breaching a potential firewall into the bedroom. There are vents that contain a fuseable link for this purpose. They are heat activated and will close in case of a fire. Just throwing that out there.

A convective air current is very handy at moving the air. Keep in mind that cold air moves easier than hot (more dense). You may consider putting your vent towards the floor. Possibly a power vent such as this: http://www.beverlyhillselectric.com/fv08wq1.html
There are a few versions of this fan, this link is simply for demonstration.

Edit: Where abouts you located VDog?
 
Jag The reason I was looking at placing it high was I thought about pulling the warm air in the bedroom up high and using the fan that we have always used on the floor in the living room to pull the cold air back into the living room. I will take a look at what your saying.

We are located west of Princeton, IL, yourself?
 
vdog said:
Jag The reason I was looking at placing it high was I thought about pulling the warm air in the bedroom up high and using the fan that we have always used on the floor in the living room to pull the cold air back into the living room. I will take a look at what your saying.
Click to expand...

And you might very well be right. In the case that it doesn't create enough of a loop, that is when you might consider the floor vent, in addition.
 
vdog said:
We are located west of Princeton, IL, yourself?
Click to expand...

'Bout 20 miles South of Rockford.
 
I have a convection vent running from my living room ceiling, where my stove it, to my upstairs bedroom. It helps somewhat. Be forewarned, you will definitely hear noise through it, for example if someone is watching television in the living room and you are in the bedroom. As far as the fire code goes, interior partition walls are not "firewalls" like you would have between your house and an attached garage, so the vent should not be an issue.
 
Huskyforlife said:
As far as the fire code goes, interior partition walls are not "firewalls" like you would have between your house and an attached garage, so the vent should not be an issue.
Click to expand...

I am not disputing the code, but ask anybody that has ever inspected a house fire and they will tell you that drywall slows a fires advance. Punching holes in walls (or ceilings), advances the fire faster. Not arguing here - just pointing it out.
 
I have been looking at the same kind of vent to heat the hallway that leads to our bedrooms. The hall is parallel to the living room.
 
Huskyforlife said:
I have a convection vent running from my living room ceiling, where my stove it, to my upstairs bedroom. It helps somewhat. Be forewarned, you will definitely hear noise through it, for example if someone is watching television in the living room and you are in the bedroom. As far as the fire code goes, interior partition walls are not "firewalls" like you would have between your house and an attached garage, so the vent should not be an issue.
Click to expand...

Agree.

My living room has a vaulted ceiling so the upstairs bedroom wall is common to the top of the living room high wall. My vent is located there. Yes the noise travels more easily.

I can't say I ever felt any large amount warm air flowing into the bedroom through this vent but I sure can feel the cold air flowing down the steps when the fire is good and hot.
 
Jags said:
I am not disputing the code, but ask anybody that has ever inspected a house fire and they will tell you that drywall slows a fires advance. Punching holes in walls (or ceilings), advances the fire faster. Not arguing here - just pointing it out.
Click to expand...

It's a good point to consider. I work with a licensed CT Building Official and and I did ask the question before I did the work. You could always check with your local Building Official as well.
 
Huskyforlife said:
Jags said:
I am not disputing the code, but ask anybody that has ever inspected a house fire and they will tell you that drywall slows a fires advance. Punching holes in walls (or ceilings), advances the fire faster. Not arguing here - just pointing it out.
Click to expand...

It's a good point to consider. I work with a licensed CT Building Official and and I did ask the question before I did the work. You could always check with your local Building Official as well.
Click to expand...

I was a volunteer fireman for 8 yrs and my brother is a Capt. on a fire dept. as well as arson investigator. We have talked at length about this stuff. It is interesting to discuss coming from two different angles. Cheers.
 
It's a good thing to think about. The steady drone of a fan can be annoying at times, especially in a bedroom. The walls will act like a sounding board. Do your best to isolate the vibration. One item you might want to consider for a gentle room to room transfer system is a Airshare fan. It goes in the wall cavity. You can place the return high on the bedroom side and low on the living room side. These units are pretty quiet.

http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Wood-.../AireShare-Room-to-Room-Ventilator-Hard-Wired

There are several other room to room ventilators. I would stick with blowing the cooler room air into the living room, thus pulling the warm air to the kitchen. These fans are variable speed which are quieter on low speed for when you are sleeping.

http://www.suncourt.com/Suncourt ThruWall Fans.html

Or you could rig up your own wall cavity ventilation system using a pair of 110v, muffin (axial) fans. Pabst makes some high quality, 4" ball bearing units that are exceptionally quiet. This is an NMB fan, but of the same design:
http://tinyurl.com/687j4o5
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON-Axial-Fan-2RTK6?Pid=search
 
Do you think their would be enough draw if I just ran the fan on the living room and just used a return air vent high on the wall in the bedroom.
 
Do you mean using the wall cavity suggestion? It's worth a try. It doesn't take a lot of cfm to establish air circulation as long as there is an open pathway. The caveat would be that the bedroom door would need to stay open at least a little or it would need a grille in it.
 
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