Cold air return - Pros & Cons? . . . active or passive?

[RKS130]

Like everyone who is new to pellets this year I am still on the upward slope of the learning curve - and pretty low on that slope to boot. But, with the help of the many folks on this forum who are so generous with the time and expertise, so far so good.

Last night was the coldest so far, coming in at 21º and we were pretty snug inside, at 71º downstairs and 69º upstairs. The one cooler room is my daughter's bedroom. It is, not surprisingly, farthest from the stove - which is located opposite the bottom of the stairs. Her room is also above an unheated garage and, after reading some of the topics on here, I have begun wondering if a cold air return into the garage might induce more heat to flow through her room. On the other hand, would I just be creating a new source of cold air and a bigger problem for the stove to handle? If a cold air return is the way to go is a mere floor register over a short duct sufficient or should it have the assist of a fan?

Any thoughts and insight will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wachusett]

That is the last thing you want to do. A cold air return, is just that a return back to the heat source.
Just dumping a return open ended into the the garage will allow huge amounts of cold air back into
the room and vehicle exhaust/fumes. This is also a fire and health hazard, also a violation of many codes.
If want to run the return through the garage space back to the conditioned living space this is possible.
However you do need to be careful. Make sure everything is air tight and fire protected.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

are the joists(floor) above the garage space insulated adequately? would be just like a floor with unheated crawlspace below it.seems to me if we can isolate this garage space better or add additional insulation barrier under that room you would get a better return "btu for the buck" ive run into his myself at a friends house, and insulation was only way we could find to fix it rather than heating the garage space which is much more expensive in the case i was looking at

 

[DexterDay]

Is the return dumping into the garage? Or are you running the duct through the garage and back into the living space where the stove is located? If its the latter of the two, you would probably need a fan assist along with insulating the duct. Thats if it would work?

 

[RKS130]

Thanks for the input/feedback. A bit more information. First, there is no issue of exhaust fumes as we use the space for storage/laundry/junk. The house is stone and brick, circa 1910, and has no insulation anywhere, let alone on the garage ceiling. There is, of course, a door from the garage space to the house, which we keep closed but which, if open, might return the cold air to the heated living space - although it seems likely too much extra cold air would come along with it. I could, however, run a duct easily into the living space.

Of course my wife just wants to clean up the garage and put a small stove in it next year, perhaps with a properly fire protected duct to the rooms above.

 

[Wachusett]

no insulation anywhere, let alone on the garage ceiling. :bug:

Start there for a huge return on your investment. HUGE !

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Like everyone who is new to pellets this year I am still on the upward slope of the learning curve - and pretty low on that slope to boot. But, with the help of the many folks on this forum who are so generous with the time and expertise, so far so good.

Last night was the coldest so far, coming in at 21º and we were pretty snug inside, at 71º downstairs and 69º upstairs. The one cooler room is my daughter's bedroom. It is, not surprisingly, farthest from the stove - which is located opposite the bottom of the stairs. Her room is also above an unheated garage and, after reading some of the topics on here, I have begun wondering if a cold air return into the garage might induce more heat to flow through her room. On the other hand, would I just be creating a new source of cold air and a bigger problem for the stove to handle? If a cold air return is the way to go is a mere floor register over a short duct sufficient or should it have the assist of a fan?

Any thoughts and insight will be greatly appreciated.

Do NOT poke a hole into a garage from the living space, you are asking for trouble, that trouble is CO, it kills.

 

[Countryboymo]

You would be better off using a hole saw and drilling holes in the garage ceiling every 10 feet or so and blowing in insulation between her room and the garage. IF you ever try to sell later the chances of being forced to remove and repair the 'return' are high and the idea is 'iffy'. It might help but it might not. Insulate and fix the holes and the room will be much more comfortable and quieter also. If you increase the area that needs heated the room adjacent might warm up slightly but the rest of the house will be cooler or you will have to use more energy to make up the difference. The math on this one is simple.

 

[RKS130]

OK . . . OK . . . the Sawzall is back in its case! Thanks for all the information. That is what I love about this site - good information without being made to feel like an idiot and an obvious fealty to the notion that there is no such thing as a dumb question!

Thanks again, except it looks like this round goes to Madame Defarge!