Air handling system

[Midalake]

I am building a new home and am wondering about using an air handling system of some sort to exchange the warm air in the upper loft area with the rest of the house when I am burning wood. My house build will be 1600sqft full walkout basement, 1600sqft first floor, and 800sqft loft that has two closed bedrooms and an open area cathedral ceiling that matches up with the downstairs living room. I live in the Up of MI so it gets cold, so far both of the HAVC people I have talked to have never actually installed something. No guess work please. Someone who has something running in their home or installers that have put one in. I have not decided my main heat source yet but it will be either Geothermal or Propane based.

Thanks Dave

 

[yooperdave]

hvac people that haven't installed anything like this??? hmmm. easy- when you put the return air intakes in the loft and cathedral area, make sure they are a high wall inlet and not a low wall inlet. this works better for returning the warmer air trapped near the ceiling during winter but really sucks if you plan to hook up a/c for the summer. if you are using a/c, you could always put a high/low r/a in the same stud cavity and use a grille with a damper on it that would enable you to open and close. open for summer; the lower r/a grille would be open and the damper would block off the air flow from the high wall r/a...closed for winter; the lower r/a grille would be closed and the air flow would pull from the high wall. one other thing that you want to have with cathedral ceilings...ceiling fans! good luck on your build, sounds nice, from a fellow yooper

 

[Dune]

Are either of the HVAC people you talked to certified designers? If not, find one.

 

[Renovation]

Are either of the HVAC people you talked to certified designers? If not, find one.

Yes, and please report back what the professionals say.