Air circulation

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steve k

New Member
Apr 23, 2013
3
PA
Hello. First post for me. I have been reading for a few months now. I bought a harman accentra a month ago. I have a split level. About 1800 sf on each level. The insert is along the wall in the middle of the basement. The stairs are open to the upstairs. I have oil boiler with baseboard heaters with 4 zones. No air ducts.

When it was cold I could easily get the basement to 76 near the stove and that would get the living room/kitchen/dining room to 70. The room the stove is in is about 30 x 20 with the bedrooms directly above.

I first thought just a few vents in the floor but my sister said with her house the vent didn't do much. Then I thought a few vents with a couple of the vent covers withs fans built in. They are to booster central air systems but could push a lot of air up than just a vent.

Then I thought I would be good to put a vent at the end of the hall with the booster fan in the ceiling in the basement to return cold air


Then I thought that maybe a ceiling exhaust fan in the basement to push air up rather than the booster vent fan. I have all summer to think it over but looking for some thought other than from my head



Should I have any concerns about blowing the air into the bedrooms.


Thanks
 
what you are thinking about doing is against code pretty much anywhere that has building codes . not saying that i wouldn't do it , but .... where do you live ?
 
I read on this site that the vents can be sealed with drywall and other joint protection to give proper fire rating. Knowing me I will do all the safety preventions I tried fans at the steps and in the hall but that is not a good long term solution. Too much of a tripping hazard
 
I read on this site that the vents can be sealed with drywall and other joint protection to give proper fire rating. Knowing me I will do all the safety preventions I tried fans at the steps and in the hall but that is not a good long term solution. Too much of a tripping hazard

I read on this site that the vents can be sealed with drywall and other joint protection to give proper fire rating. Knowing me I will do all the safety preventions I tried fans at the steps and in the hall but that is not a good long term solution. Too much of a tripping hazard

What good are sealed vents going to be in getting air moved around or are you talking about something else being sealed?

You need something along the line of temperature fused self closing vents, they exist but even they may not be allowed by code where you are and you may have to do other things as well. Best thing to do is talk to both the building inspection folks and the fire department.

And yes we hear you on but the doors are open anyway arguments. Only thing that counts is what the code folks say.
 
Welcome to the forum. If you are heating 1800 sf on (each level), with the insert in the lower level, I don't think your going to get the upper level warm enough with any fans/vents. 3600 sf is a lot to heat with a pellet stove!!
 
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I am not heating about1200 of the basement. So it's closer to a total of 2600. I know it's a stretch but I like to get the most out of what I got. I am sure the oil will have to help some

Thanks for the input. Lots of good info on this site
 
Yup, cutting in vents is against code just about everywhere these days. check with your town hall before you dig out the saw at the very least.

the best thing you can do would be to move the stove into the living room and ignore heating the basement. If that's not feasible, you're going to run out of other options that actually do anything pretty quick. Pellet stoves are space heaters. They need to be in the space you intend to heat.
 
Not against code around me, in fact fire department asked to come out and look at it if I used a fused link so they could recommend something to others if they liked it.

I ended up not cutting any holes in my ceiling I wasn't convinced it would help that much.
 
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