Alderlea T6 and HVAC questions

[tylerinthetub]

Hello everyone, its nice to be here. I have some questions I would like to discuss with some experienced wood burners and this forum looks like the place to do it! First I'd like to give a little background on the house.

The house is based off this floorplan

http://www.houseplans.com/plan/2970...-southern-colonial-house-plans-3-garage-36817

with a some modifications. The square "house part" is actually sitting on a nine foot basement, the main floor has 9' ceilings, and the garage and breezway will sit on a slab when I get around to building that portion. The house has hot water heat(gas) on each floor, one thermostat per floor. Each room is supplied with 4" round ducting connected to an air exchanger. The Alderlea will sit by the breakfast area on the main floor. We just moved in and I will probably install the stove later this summer.

My question is about heat in the bedrooms. My goal here is that when the wood stove is in use, I would like the heat to be distributed enough that I will not need to run my upper floor heat loops.

So here's my plan.

I would like to add some 6" ductwork on seperate fan that will pull warm air from behind the stove and exhaust it into the bedrooms. This will serve the dual purpose of blowing cool air off the basement floor in the summer time with the addition of louvre. The ducting from the 3 bedrooms will tie into a seperate header witch will tie into the air exchanger and the fan. I attached a quick sketch.

The air exchanger and the circulation fan will be electrically interlocked so only one can run at a time. The air exchanger I have does not have a circulation feature, but the programmable controller does, so I will install the control relays off of that so they will play nice together.

So after all that, my question is....

Is this going to work or am I wasting my time?

At this point the ducts are just stubbed into the basement and the air exchanger is sitting at the suppliers waiting for me to pick it up, its not a lot of extra work to do the ductwork this way instead of a traditional system but is added time and money.

Does anyone have a similiar set up and how does it work for you? Thanks

edit: Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum, not sure if it should be here or maybe the DIY

 

[madison]

If the entire ducting system and air handler is within the insulated envelope of the home it could be considered. If not, forget the idea. The heat loss to the uninsulated area (even with insulated ducting) is greater than you think. plus all the connections are never 100% sealed.

If we ever purchase another home, I would avoid at all cost air handlers and ducting in the uninsulated attic. We have huge passive heat loss in our A/C air handler and attic ducting. Each fall and spring, I install and remove insulation in the ducts behind the registers to limit the passive heat loss to the system.

The other potential issue could be with building codes. And carbon monoxide distribution if venting from the stove area to the bedrooms.

Others will weigh in, but venting FROM the perimeter areas to the stove area maybe more desirable.

 

[tylerinthetub]

The ductwork is all inside the house, runs are probably 25' each or so. I never really gave the carbon monoxide issue much thought. The combustion air for the stove will be directly piped from outside, but i'm not not sure if that matters.

 

[begreen]

Simplify this to one insulated run from the bedroom area to the stove room. Pull air from the br area and push it to the stove room. Warm air will replace the displaced cool air.

 

[jeff_t]

I'm not sure that you'll have much trouble keeping the upstairs warm, with the open stairwell. Like begreen said, figure out a way to get cold air downstairs, and it will be replaced by warm air. That might not even be an issue. My sister's house has a similar layout, though the stove is closer to the stairs, and my nephews keep their bedroom doors closed because they get too warm. The master bath may need a space heater.

There may very well be some code issues with what you are thinking about, especially since you have hot water heat. I'd try it as is.

 

[tylerinthetub]

Simplify this to one insulated run from the bedroom area to the stove room. Pull air from the br area and push it to the stove room. Warm air will replace the displaced cool air.

The main floor and upstairs is already finished, so no access for more ductwork on the top story.

 

[tylerinthetub]

I'm not sure that you'll have much trouble keeping the upstairs warm, with the open stairwell. Like begreen said, figure out a way to get cold air downstairs, and it will be replaced by warm air. That might not even be an issue. My sister's house has a similar layout, though the stove is closer to the stairs, and my nephews keep their bedroom doors closed because they get too warm. The master bath may need a space heater.

There may very well be some code issues with what you are thinking about, especially since you have hot water heat. I'd try it as is.

The portion of the house with the master bath I haven't built yet, so it will be seperate loops anyway.

Reversing the air direction would not be a huge deal I think, could actually save me from having to install the ductwork behind the stove, as I could tie into the kitchen and dump the cold air there.

Great suggestions so far.

 

[madison]

If technically possible, radiant heat in a master bath is really nice.