In wall fan

[Winged Pig]

First, let me explain my situation. I have a split foyer with a Hearthstone Heritage in the lower level. Love this stove and this will be our sixth season with it. It is to the left as you come down the lower staircase, against the end wall. As you enter the lower level (from a closed in staircase) to the right is a door to the back basement. To the left next to the doorway is a closet (under the upper staircase) and past this against the end wall is the stove. To the left of the stove is a small area with a modest bar and no other openings other than a window. Also, there is framed ductwork over the stove running the length of this room to the furnace in the back basement, so the air at the ceiling over the bar has an obstruction and I think gets trapped even more in that area.

The overall size of this room from the front of the house to the back is just under 500 sq. feet as the result of an addition to the rear of our house. Our family room is always toasty, but the bar area can get pretty hot. The upstairs is warmer after the stove has been run for a while, but I would like to get some of the heat from the bar area upstairs to make both more comfortable.

I have been thinking of putting an in-wall fan in the upper corner of the bar area that would exit in the foyer next to the front door and move that air upstairs. I have been looking at the Broan 511 with a variable speed fan and two paintable grates.

Has anyone done anything like this? Good idea, or bad?

Thanks.

 

[begreen]

Listen to the fan before you buy. Most bath fans are too noisy for me. There is a Tjerlund system that is quieter and made for this purpose. What ever you setup remember that it is more efficient to blow cold air toward the heat. (This is also much more code compliant.) Blow the upstairs cooler air into the bar area. The effect will be to cool down the bar area and that warm air will get pulled upstairs to replace the air being blown downstairs.

http://www.tjernlund.com/retail/aireshare.htm

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Same situation here. Living room would hover around 85f with rolling fire while outside was around 20f. Kitchen would get up to about 65f which is literally right by the living room. I have an A frame so a lot of the heat was getting eaten by the tall celing. There is an addition off the side of the house where the bedroom (14x12 or so), bathroom and laundry closet was built. It is single level with a mildly pitched roof and 8' ceilings. The bedroom would hover around 55f-60f at best when freezing cold outside....

I added one of these http://www.amazon.com/Room---Room-Fan-Circulate-Cold/dp/B0015RZW0K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1385320754&sr=8-3&keywords=suncourt thruwall fan

and one of these http://www.amazon.com/Lux-Heating-Cooling-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B000E7NYY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385320951&sr=8-1&keywords=lux outlet thermostat

I use the fan to pull air from the hot room currently and have the tstat in the bedroom set to about 70f (we like it really warm lol). Between that and the ceiling fan the overall temp in the house isn't too difficult to keep at around 70f, warmer in the living room where the stove is obviously but even that room is cooler now and a bit more comfortable. This is of course with the bedroom and bathroom doors wide open. It's just two of us here so we don't sleep with the bedroom door shut.

I couldn't decide between pulling cold air into the stove room or sucking the hot air out. I may switch it at some point to see if it works better but I like it the way it's set up now. My fan only has 2 speeds, on high it is a wee bit noisy but nothing I can't sleep through. It's more of a white noise and is almost soothing. On low it's pretty quiet when it comes down to it. Nice to not have a cold toilet seat in the morning!

 

[Winged Pig]

Thanks for the great information!

I agree with the noise thing, which was why I was going with the 511 fan since it is variable speed and I could slow it down, but still have the high capacity if I need it. I like both suggestions and think either of them would be less intrusive in the foyer than the one I was looking at. I think I have enough room in the wall to duct the discharge up higher, but I'll have to check.

I like the idea of the thermostat and will have to think about that one. It would make it much better at night, but since we usually close off that end of the house at night, it might be a moot point.

I'll have to do some more research as I've never heard of the Tjernlund company, but that looks like what I might want. The pictures and specs on the web site seem to be a bit lacking.

Thanks again.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

The thermostat can also be used in the colder part of the house to turn the fan off when the fire dies down as it is a heating/cooling stat. It can come in handy in a few ways in this scenario.

 

[Bones]

Same situation here. Living room would hover around 85f with rolling fire while outside was around 20f. Kitchen would get up to about 65f which is literally right by the living room. I have an A frame so a lot of the heat was getting eaten by the tall celing. There is an addition off the side of the house where the bedroom (14x12 or so), bathroom and laundry closet was built. It is single level with a mildly pitched roof and 8' ceilings. The bedroom would hover around 55f-60f at best when freezing cold outside....

I added one of these http://www.amazon.com/Room---Room-Fan-Circulate-Cold/dp/B0015RZW0K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1385320754&sr=8-3&keywords=suncourt thruwall fan

and one of these http://www.amazon.com/Lux-Heating-Cooling-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B000E7NYY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385320951&sr=8-1&keywords=lux outlet thermostat

I use the fan to pull air from the hot room currently and have the tstat in the bedroom set to about 70f (we like it really warm lol). Between that and the ceiling fan the overall temp in the house isn't too difficult to keep at around 70f, warmer in the living room where the stove is obviously but even that room is cooler now and a bit more comfortable. This is of course with the bedroom and bathroom doors wide open. It's just two of us here so we don't sleep with the bedroom door shut.

I couldn't decide between pulling cold air into the stove room or sucking the hot air out. I may switch it at some point to see if it works better but I like it the way it's set up now. My fan only has 2 speeds, on high it is a wee bit noisy but nothing I can't sleep through. It's more of a white noise and is almost soothing. On low it's pretty quiet when it comes down to it. Nice to not have a cold toilet seat in the morning!

I installed one of those Room-to-Room fans years ago. Even on low speed was a tad loud in the bedroom, so I put in a fan speed control to slow it down a tad more....

 

[Winged Pig]

I take it you had good results with it?

 

[Bones]

I take it you had good results with it?

I ordered it from Home Depot and it's 7 years old and still going....same as this one (http://www.amazon.com/Room---Room-F...5320754&sr=8-3&keywords=suncourt+thruwall+fan). Pulling warm air from one end of the house down the hall to the master bedroom on the opposite end.....I installed it over the door up high. Easy install....
It does raise the temps up a couple of degrees.

 

[Sprinter]

I think I'm going to get one and install it low on a wall that separates a bath/bedroom from the living room where the stove is. The fan would pull cool air out from the bath in back into the LR and force warm air into the bedroom through the door and back into the bath for a complete circuit.

However, I may get this version: http://www.amazon.com/Thru-Wall-Room-to-Fan/dp/B000JGSMUK/ref=pd_sim_hg_5 mostly for the variable speed. The rest of it looks to be the same unit.

 

[Bones]

I think I'm going to get one and install it low on a wall that separates a bath/bedroom from the living room where the stove is. The fan would pull cool air out from the bath in back into the LR and force warm air into the bedroom through the door and back into the bath for a complete circuit.

However, I may get this version: http://www.amazon.com/Thru-Wall-Room-to-Fan/dp/B000JGSMUK/ref=pd_sim_hg_5 mostly for the variable speed. The rest of it looks to be the same unit.

I would like to get creative and run an 8" insulated duct form one end of the house to the LR with an in-duct blower under the house....

 

[Sprinter]

I would like to get creative and run an 8" insulated duct form one end of the house to the LR with an in-duct blower under the house....

If you have good access to the crawl space or whatever, and if the duct is insulated, something like that could work well if the ends are well placed to provide a useful circulation pattern. And well insulated. Be aware of pressure losses due to duct length. You'll lose some cfm.

I hope this aside is helping the OP. We don't want to hijack.

 

[Winged Pig]

No problem with the discussion going this way. It's giving me lots of alternative ideas!

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

If you are going to go for a long run I'd suggest getting a STRONG fan. My thruwall will raise the parts of the house that don't get heat about 8F overall (doesn't sound like much but my bathroom is SOOOO nice now). If you were to do something crazy like a 4'-15' run I'd suggest one of these (broken link removed to http://www.thelashop.com/inline-vent-duct-exhaust-fan-blower-8-inch-720-cfm.html) especially if it is buried in an attic or a crawlspace as they are noisy. If you hang them with bungey cords they are much quieter. Use insulated ducting for sure if you do that long of a run.

Also don't forget, that for every foot that heat has to travel you lose a little bit of it as it dissipates and soaks into the ducting. Food for thought. A lot can be done with fans but at some point it becomes a moot point.

 

[Tjernlund Products]

Thanks for the great information!

I agree with the noise thing, which was why I was going with the 511 fan since it is variable speed and I could slow it down, but still have the high capacity if I need it. I like both suggestions and think either of them would be less intrusive in the foyer than the one I was looking at. I think I have enough room in the wall to duct the discharge up higher, but I'll have to check.

I like the idea of the thermostat and will have to think about that one. It would make it much better at night, but since we usually close off that end of the house at night, it might be a moot point.

I'll have to do some more research as I've never heard of the Tjernlund company, but that looks like what I might want. The pictures and specs on the web site seem to be a bit lacking.

Thanks again.

Let me know if you have any questions wtjernlund AT Tjfans.com

- William Tjernlund