moving air

[gyingling]

Hello All, I am installing a enviro windsor in the lower level of my ranch home. I would like to distribute the heat around the house better. There is natural air circulation, but I want to install a duct fan to draw more air through a floor vent to be cut into the hallway toward one end of the house. I am looking at a 6" duct fan to help do the job. Any thoughts?

 

[jtakeman]

Fans are a must to move the air around. Natural convection works OK but only in wide open area's. It will probably take more than 1 fan to do a decent job.

Heat will rise better if you move the cool dense air out of that area. Personally I would use 2 fans one to assist the warm air upstairs(located it in a hot spot) and another in the coolest area blowing the cool air down towards the warmth. Try to complete a circle the best you can.

 

[gyingling]

The second fan is an idea I hadn't thought of. The steps to the lower level are at the opposite end of the house where I want to put the fan. Hopefully, that will complete the air circle. Even so, a second fan is very feasible, and not too difficult to do. I will keep that in mind, definitely. Do you know what the CFMs are of the fans that you use and are they very noisy?

 

[jtakeman]

I am using 6 inch duct fans and they are 210 CFM(free air). Yes they are noisy but its more the duct rattling than the fans. I got used to them.

From what I hear the computer box fans are quieter.

 

[gyingling]

So 6" would work well as opposed to 8" duct? I am looking for efficiency. I saw inline centrifugal booster fans that are supposed to e quiet, but they are a bit salty, around $125 and up. Thanks for the input, it has been extremely helpful.

 

[jtakeman]

Save the salt for when you have it all tweaked to just right. I bought the cheap ones at HD to get a feel for the setup. Spent less than $20 each. You could go 8 inch. bigger might be better. I went 6 inch because the existing floor ducts were 6 inch. I just added the fans to them. On way to reduce the noise is to add some flex duct to yhe fan and then to the tin duct. The flex drops the noise alot!

The cheap fans can be saved for backup or given to friends. Everyone wants to play with the air movement.

 

[Jim H.]

I had an extra fan like used in our pellet stoves. It was left over from a gas fireplace I sold. I bought the fan so I kept it! I took down a half wall in between my kitchen and dining room and decided to put a small hole in the ceiling directly below the hole in the floor. I was pleasantly surprised with the air coming thru over 80*! So I have it wired and am using the fan speed control also. Does a wonderful job! I think it was about 200 bucks new, not cheap but move a lot more air! and I had it, so why not use it!

Jim

 

[tchdngrnby]

Hello All, I am installing a enviro windsor in the lower level of my ranch home. I would like to distribute the heat around the house better. There is natural air circulation, but I want to install a duct fan to draw more air through a floor vent to be cut into the hallway toward one end of the house. I am looking at a 6" duct fan to help do the job. Any thoughts?

I have my stove installed in the basement. I cut in two floor vents (registers for you old folks) between the joists in the main living area and hung 2 cheapo 9" bracket fans under the vents in the basement. I used small bungies to hang the fans below the vents. These fans blow warm air upstairs at +/_ 750 CFM each. On the other end of the house I hung a 20" bracket fan in the stairwell leading to the basement to return the cooler air back to the basement. This works just fine for my situation, yours may be different. The added benefit is that the extra circulation keeps the basement much drier than it was before.

 

[gyingling]

I belong to a toyota owners forum and used to post on a vw forum, but they don't hold a candle to this one. All the information that I have looked for and asked about has been answered here. Thanks for the replies and pics. I can't wait until my stove is in and firing heat.