Floor Registers...do you use them.

[tcassavaugh]

Hey guys,
I've burned wood now for 15 years in this house and a number of years in others. My stove is in a finished basement at the other end of where the stairs are. I've got no squirrel cage connecting it to my back-up oil furnace so the heat moves by convection and currents generated by door coorner fans, stove blower and such. While keeping my 52 X 25 single floor ranch at a comfortable temperature upstairs, the downstairs has a tendency to get a little warm. This year I was thinking about putting in at least one floor register (cast iron) about 12 x 12 in the hallway, which is about in the middle of the house, to assist with heat transfer. I was wondering what some of you might use to help pass the air between the basement and 1st floor or 1st to second floor. I remember both of my aunts who burned woodstoves in upstate N.Y. (Lewis, Essex county) had registers in the cealing of the first floor to allow passage of the warm air upstairs to the bedrooms. I've looked for some but can't seem to find them around here, and don't sem to see anything really similar on line. Most are dealing with forced air registers. I think theirs had the channel/tin already in them. I saw some a few years back at the local hardware store that would expand to various thickness between floors and kick myself now for not jumping on them.

Anyone here use though the floor/cealing registers? Where did you find them. Or, if you have alternative measures please share.

Thanks

tcass

 

[SKIN052]

I am looking at doing the same. From what research I have done it is best to find a suitable register at your local hardware store and then look for some ducting that will fit the register (HVAC Duct). Hope that makes sense. Also the general rule of thumb is that the registers, unless directly above the stove, will tend to pull the cold air from the hallway down, forcing more warm air up into it's place. So don't be surprised if the warm air does not flow up through the grate, the area will still warm up but not in the way you may think. Let me know how you make out.

 

[BURNER21]

What I have done at my house which is a two story with my wood burner in my finished basement as well. I put a cold air return over the wood burner and when the basement starts to get to warm I turn the fan on the furnance to circulate the air through out the house works nice. Second floor is a lot warmer now. Good luck

 

[PitPat]

I have a 12" x 12" steel register with a fusible-link damper installed in the floor above the room with the stove in it.
I got them both from http://www.atlantasupply.com
I wanted to go with a cast iron register, but all the ones I could find of decent size cost way more than I was looking to spend.
I've made several orders from Atlanta supply and have always had good luck.

 

[tcassavaugh]

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. I thought about a cold air return, or just turning on the fan. it works ok, but not like i would like it to. I'll do a little more checking. appreciate the link.

tcass

 

[begreen]

Check local fire code. Some jurisdictions require that these penetrations have fusible link dampers.

 

[pyromanica]

A 10 ' separation distance is required to the heating appliance and no you Hvac system is not designed to do that job. iI is works for some inexplicable reason,
then you have real issues with the entire systems design. Why would one risk an expressway to disaster? All the research points to safety being in the form of containment
a fusable link is a step in the right direction, but what about the silent deadly killer carbon monoxide. Your cellar floors and ceilings are natural containment areas.

One final thought, when you insurance company investigates a disaster, tell me how you are going to fare ,when your actions led to the destruction or loss of lives?

 

[tcassavaugh]

i was just going to put a hole in the floor, 20 ft away from the stove, not redesign a whole new system, but I certainly will keep safety in mind AND check the fire codes.


tcass

 

[KB007]

I've used registers from our basement to our main floor (1800 sqft bungalow) and they work fine. I just used the std 4X10 floor vent cover upstairs and since my basement ceiling is unfinished it is fine per building code here. Now, it is a little trickier with a finished ceiling, code here requires a fll metal duct with a fusible link, but with that in place, I'm sure it would still work fine to pass/cycle air. Check your local building codes (actually read them if you can rather than rely on "olg Bob" at the local HW store . We have 2 registers, 1 near the stove to work as a hot air supply, 1 near the o/s wall/windows to act as a cold air return to the basement. I also bought a 4X10 vent fan booster that sits on top of the register, and when the stove is going in the basement, this think kicks a good amount of hot air upstairs. Definitely need 2 tho, the cold air needs to get back downstairs.

Funny thing about CO - I'm pretty sure more CO will travel through my open basement door than a 4X10 floor register. I do have CO detector very close to the register tho (just because...)

 

[North of 60]

A 10 ' separation distance is required to the heating appliance and no you Hvac system is not designed to do that job. iI is works for some inexplicable reason,
then you have real issues with the entire systems design. Why would one risk an expressway to disaster? All the research points to safety being in the form of containment
a fusible link is a step in the right direction, but what about the silent deadly killer carbon monoxide. Your cellar floors and ceilings are natural containment areas.

One final thought, when you insurance company investigates a disaster, tell me how you are going to fare ,when your actions led to the destruction or loss of lives?

Sooo open stair cases are illegal where you live?

To the original OP tcass, go with fusibles, but you may notice the opposite of what you think will happen BUT with good results.
If you are open to 1st and 2nd floor with a stairway as I am, I found the cold air lying on the floor dropping down my fusible link registers as it being denser and more warm air travelling up the stairwell travelling to the areas with the registers. If that makes sense.

 

[nate379]

At my folks all the piping the oil furnance uses is the same that the wood stove uses. Around the firebox is a sheetmetal surround. Squirel blower sits at the bottom, pulls cold air in from cold air returns and pushes it around the firebox and through the coulple pipes that run to the HVAC main trunks. Don't know if that is to code, no code enforcement where they live. I know it's been working fine for close to 30 years though.

 

[semipro]

I have a 12" x 12" steel register with a fusible-link damper installed in the floor above the room with the stove in it.
I got them both from http://www.atlantasupply.com
I wanted to go with a cast iron register, but all the ones I could find of decent size cost way more than I was looking to spend.
I've made several orders from Atlanta supply and have always had good luck.

Thanks for the feedback on atlantasupply. I've been looking for a good source of fire dampers.

 

[SlyFerret]

The topic of floor vents has come up in the past, and the discussion has become quite heated (heh, pun intneded). I agree that you should check with your local fire code before doing anything. If not for safety, to keep you from having issues if you ever have to have a building inspector in the house, or have to have the house inspected in order to sell it.

The biggest concern has been creating a pathway for fire and smoke between floors, or, worse yet, directly into bedrooms. The fusible link suggestion is a good idea because it will close the register if heated to the point where fire would be spreading through it.

The other guys have already hit on something I've noticed when it comes to moving the warm air around the house. I've found that it works best to try to move the more dense cold air around the house in a way that displaces the lighter warmer air to where you want it.

I still haven't figured out a good way to get the warm air from my living room down the 6 steps to the lower level family room in our split-level home. If anyone figures out a good way to get hot air to go down... keep me posted!

-SF