Installing in wall fan, what about electrical wires in the wall?

[nlittle]

Hi
To get some convection going in my house when running the wood stove I'm installing the suncourt in wall fan. I have determined where to put it based on stud location etc. It is near a corner of an outside and inside wall.
There is an outlet near this corner on both walls. Do you think the electrical wire goes literally between them?
I don't want to cut into the wall twice, but will have to if I have a wire right in the middle of where I need to be.
Thoughts on if this wire is even there or how to figure it out before cutting the wall?
Should I just go above the outlet level?
Thanks!

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Are they on the same circuit? Presume so, otherwise you wouldn't be asking. How are you going to power the fan anyway?

 

[nlittle]

Hi, Yes they are in the same room/ on the same circuit. The fan has a plug on one side that I will be plugging into an outlet. I did not feel comfortable getting the direct connect fan. I'm ok with cutting a hole in the wall, not so much with connections. I have done it before and found the lack of slack to make it more difficult than I liked.

 

[nlittle]

By the way it is this fan: http://www.iaqsource.com/product.php?p=suncourt_tw108&product=111135&category=885

Also, I am putting it low to draw cold air into the stove room from the foyer in a colonial.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Yep, to do it safely there's no way you're cutting into the line and not adding more wire somewhere. Is the basement floor below? You could reroute the wire from one outlet down into the basement, then back up. You could add an outlet, then a box with a blank plate on the other side - could look clunky though. If the far outlet is the end of the run and you don't need it, you could cut the power to it, cover with blanking plate, or remove the box altogether.

 

[nlittle]

Well there are 2 outlets very close to where I am putting the fan so I don't need to add another one. I guess I was looking for an opinion on if the existing cord will be right in my way and maybe I should put the fan higher than I initially would have. but I guess there is no way to be sure how/ where the wire runs unless I cut in and take a look......

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Who know how good a job the electrician did? I'd cut an initial hole in the center of where you want the fan. If you find the wire you can then make this hole the top or bottom of the hole - you'll only be shifting the fan +- 5".

 

[begreen]

Your concern is reasonable. It is hard to say how they ran the wiring. Do a clean 4 x4" exploratory hole first using a utility knife. That should allow you to shine a flashlight against a hand mirror in the stud space to investigate how the wires run in the wall. If the wire is exactly where the hole was cut, use the piece to patch the wall up and the relocate the fan hole based on observation and location of the wire.

 

[nlittle]

Who know how good a job the electrician did? I'd cut an initial hole in the center of where you want the fan. If you find the wire you can then make this hole the top or bottom of the hole - you'll only be shifting the fan +- 5".

Yeah, I think that is what I will have to do... I can always fix the drywall, I know how do that at least!
I will try to do some installation pics and post a thread on the affects of the fan. Hopefully positive!

Thanks for the sounding board!

 

[kenny chaos]

If it's a newer house, the line is probably about knee high.
Cut a peek hole where you want the center
and adjust from there.

 

[nlittle]

If it's a newer house, the line is probably about knee high.
Cut a peek hole where you want the center
and adjust from there.

Oh thanks! The house is only 12 years so hopefully this is the case.
Off to one meeting and then will cut my peek hole....LOL

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

Excellent advice on the "peek hole". I like my thruwall. I needed to move hot air so mines mounted high, & I utilize a 6" fan on the floor of a 23' long hall to return cold floor air.

 

[nlittle]

Good news, no wire. I am almost done cutting the holes. Just have to get the second one lined up perfect so the sleeves fit. (Read pain in butt)
Then I will clean up and mount the 2 halves.
It did end up a little farther over then I wanted but I forgot the foyer corner is not the same as the living room. No biggie it will fit! Everything I do is like that....it get's done but there is always something I forget! lol

 

[nlittle]

Ok all installed and ready for a fire! The second side to cut was soooo close to some trim/ step but it just made it.
Thanks for all your help. A review of the air handling to follow.

 

[kenny chaos]

Good for you.
We'll be waiting on that report, with pictures.

 

[tclapes1]

i did something like this last weekend. i seems to work. could you inform us how yours work when you burn ? id like to know just in case i have to make some tunning
thanks

 

[CarbonNeutral]

It did end up a little farther over then I wanted but I forgot the foyer corner is not the same as the living room. No biggie it will fit! Everything I do is like that....it get's done but there is always something I forget! lol

I fed a cable TV line through from our dining room - no problem feeding it through - holes aligned fine. I went into the office and for the life of me couldn't find the cable - just couldn't work out where it had gone. I had forgotten that the dining room is 2' shorter - the wire exited behind me in the office, right in the middle of the wall.....

 

[ROBERT F]

future reference for people reading this thread. they make stud finders that also indicate electrical and water lines in addition to studs.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

future reference for people reading this thread. they make stud finders that also indicate electrical and water lines in addition to studs.

Maybe my one's too cheap (like me), but I've never got any dependable results outside of just finding studs.

 

[kenny chaos]

future reference for people reading this thread. they make stud finders that also indicate electrical and water lines in addition to studs.

Sure, throw money at it and still risk getting it wrong. :roll:

 

[nlittle]

I fed a cable TV line through from our dining room - no problem feeding it through - holes aligned fine. I went into the office and for the life of me couldn't find the cable - just couldn't work out where it had gone. I had forgotten that the dining room is 2' shorter - the wire exited behind me in the office, right in the middle of the wall.....

LOL, I don't feel so bad!

 

[Max Headroom]

I installed the same unit a couple of weeks ago. It was real easy to install, and so far seems to be working great. I'll know for sure when it gets colder.

 

[04RevX]

I would like more opinion/details/pictures (sorry I'm needy )of those that have installed this in-wall fan. I want to put it high on the wall to pull the hot air out of the room that the stove is in...for those of you that have a similar setup, how does it work for you? Are you able to control the temperature in the room that your stove is in any better?

I have no problem with getting the whole house warm, but it requires the stove room which is where we watch tv to get pretty hot (about 80*) while the rest of the house is at 72-75*.

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

Mine is high in the stove alcove (Photos above) to move heat as you mention. On its own, set to low, it raises the heat in the rest house to within 4 degrees of the stove room. That's basically what I do during this time of year. As the season progresses I'll place a 6" fan on the floor of the hall (20+ feet) leading to the stove room and temps in the rest of the house will be within 2 degrees of the stove room. At times when we're in the low twenties or teens I turn the thruwall on high and still maintain the 2 degree diferential. Without the "Return air" fan on the hall floor the thruwall helps, but it really shines when I actively return cool floor air to the stove room.

As to noise, I made certain I securely mounted the thruwall to reduce vibrations to a bare minimum. On low, I really don't notice it in the stove room which is 26X26 and where the TV is so it's where we spend the most time. There are several pieces of soft furniture in this space which helps absorb ambient sound. On high, yes I notice the fan noise in the room. It certainly isn't unbearable, but borders on the annoying.

My stove room is accessed only by the 20' hallway, so moving floor air alone simply wasn't acceptable (I tried). The thruwall mounted high was the obvious solution for me. It works wonderfully & when this one wears out, I'll install another immediately.

 

[nlittle]

Hi
I installed mine to move cold air into the stove room, so the warm air moves to replace it. Last night I burned a pretty hot fire and I was very warm (74+) in there and it stayed comfortably warm in the rest of the downstairs (69+). I read here that it is easier and move effective to move the cold air than the hot air.

Below I have a diagram of how I am moving the air, the fan itself and the stove room to get some point of reference.