Inline duct fan to heat upstairs?

[AlexB]

Hello everyone. New guy here.

I'm hoping you can "sanity check" my idea for circulating warm air from the downstairs living room to the upstairs bedroom.

The basic situation is this:
-Two story home (plus basement)
-Fireplace in living room (downstairs)
- There is also a gas furnace that does a great job of heating the downstairs (especially the living room) but doesn't have any vents/outlets upstairs.
-Upstairs stays cold (well, colder than we'd like anyway)

I am trying to avoid box fans, doorway fans, extension cords to trip on, etc.

What if I were to install an inline duct fan and insulated duct in the attic to pull cold air from a point near the upstairs bedroom floor and dump it into the living room via a vent in the ceiling above the fireplace? I picture a wall switch in the bedroom to turn the inline fan on or off as needed (possibly with a timer or thermostat, if I'm feeling fancy).

It seems like this should cool the living room (it gets overheated if I try to heat enough for the rest of the house) and force warm air up the stairwell to replace the cold air that gets exhausted downstairs.

I imagine I would need to include a fire damper in the ductwork. Are there any other things I should be concerned about? Any other suggestions?

See attached sketch showing my idea.

Thanks in advance!

~Alex

 

[begreen]

Could work if there is an open stairway for the heat to find its way upstairs. Be sure the ductwork is well insulated. Fire damper probably would not be necessary in this configuration but wouldn't hurt.

 

[AlexB]

Thanks for the reply, begreen.

Yes, the stairwell is open. There's a standard door-sized opening (sans door) between the living room and breakfast nook/kitchen area where the stairwell begins. The foot of the stairwell is only about 12 feet or so from the fireplace.

The cold air return for the furnace is actually just to the left of the fireplace, so that area seems like a good place to dump the cold air. If I'm burning wood, the fireplace will heat it. If I'm being lazy and running the furnace, the cold air will drop right to the inlet then get sucked in, heated, and distributed to the first floor (and up the stairwell!).

I'm thinking I'll use a nice quiet 6" inline fan like a Panasonic or Solar and Palau (sp?). Maybe something in the 150-250 can range?

Duct will be insulated of course. The attic space has blown-in insulation, so I figure I'll lay the insulated duct on top of that and possibly cover it with some extra Fiberglas insulation I have on hand.

Any other suggestions before I start shopping?

Thanks again!

~Alex

 

[Boiler74]

Look at fantech inline fans. Very quiet and are used for bathroom ventilation and radon mitigation. Well made and meant to run all the time.

 

[AlexB]

Thanks. I'll look into the fantech as well.

 

[mellow]

I installed an Airflow Breeze Ultra, I have it blowing the cold air from upstairs into my living room downstairs where the stove is located. I installed it on the furthest point from the stairs so it would form a thermal loop to the furthest back room upstairs. I have a fusible link register installed upstairs just incase we have a fire, I used Roxul and rigid foam board to make my air tunnel between the ceiling and the upstairs floor. Just keep any protrusions in the ceiling 10+ feet away from the stove for codes. I also installed a CO monitor above the vent upstairs just incase.

This is the fan I Used, I got it because it has a remote and it has an in-line temp sensor that kicks it on and off, but I have found I just keep it on all the time on medium when we are awake and switch it to high when we go to bed at night due to it being noisy on high.

Links:
Register: http://www.hartandcooley.com/produc...inum-1-way-register-ms-damper-1-2-fin-spacing
Airflow 1000: http://www.smarthome.com/airflow-technology-1000-0011-airflow-breeze-ultra-with-remote.html

I don't have any pictures, I keep forgetting to write a review on it as it just works in the background, it works OK for me when it is warmer outside (uninsulated house) but with an insulated house I bet it would work 1000 times better.

 

[AlexB]

Thanks, Mellow. That fan looks pretty nifty.

Hmm... Keeping the vent >10 feet from the stove could be an issue... It's not a huge living room, and I was really hoping to dump the cold air near the fireplace and cold air return. This will also make for a longer duct run.

I guess dumping the cold air on the far side of the living room wouldn't be mich different...

House was built in 1927, and is "partially" insulated. It's got blown in insulation in both attic spaces, plus some batting in some portions of the basement.

 

[Beer Belly]

This is pretty much what I suggested my buddy do with his house, except his duct work would be at the far end of his bedroom hallway, thru the floor, thru his garage, and end in his downstairs family room at ceiling height where the woodstove is. He had an idea of going a few feet in front of the woodstove, cut a hole in the ceiling, up thru his hardwood floor, and leave it at that....this would put a vent somewhat in the middle of his upstairs living room floor.....I told him if he went with that plan, he could cut a few inches from the wall, no need to go "in front of the woodstove a few feet"...so, instead, he put a Pellet Stove upstairs, which he said he "wasn't happy with the performance". I'd be real interested in how your system works.

 

[AlexB]

Yikes. That sounds like much more of a duct installation adventure than I'll be tackling. I'll just have to cut two holes (plus one for the wall switch).

Adding another stove upstairs would be way overkill for me. All there is upstairs is one bedroom (the one we sleep in) and a bathroom.

 

[Beer Belly]

This is pretty much what I suggested my buddy do with his house, except his duct work would be at the far end of his bedroom hallway, thru the floor, thru his garage, and end in his downstairs family room at ceiling height where the woodstove is. He had an idea of going a few feet in front of the woodstove, cut a hole in the ceiling, up thru his hardwood floor, and leave it at that....this would put a vent somewhat in the middle of his upstairs living room floor.....I told him if he went with that plan, he could cut a few inches from the wall, no need to go "in front of the woodstove a few feet"...so, instead, he put a Pellet Stove upstairs, which he said he "wasn't happy with the performance". I'd be real interested in how your system works.

Yikes. That sounds like much more of a duct installation adventure than I'll be tackling. I'll just have to cut two holes (plus one for the wall switch).

Adding another stove upstairs would be way overkill for me. All there is upstairs is one bedroom (the one we sleep in) and a bathroom.

It's not far off from your plan....his garage is like where your Kitchen is in your drawing......still two holes...one in the hallway, and one in the woodstove room high up on the wall. I did think the Pellet Stove was too big of a move....still dealing with a little bit of a cold air block at the end of the bedroom hallway (I think)

 

[AlexB]

Ah, that makes sense. Basically going down through the garage instead of up through the attic like I plan to.

I think no matter where I place the two holes, it cant help but increase circulation and even out temps between upstairs and downstairs to some degree (ha...).