Moving Air to opposite side of the house

[griam01]

I was looking for some advice on how to get the air flow moving to move the hot air from the family room to the other end of the house. I am attaching my floor plan which is not to scale. The family room is cathedral ceiling but has 2 ceiling fans in it that are running on the reverse setting. I also currently have a box fan on low (smallest fan I currently have) near the left side of the kitchen island on the floor blowing air into the family room where the fireplace is. Unfortunately, I can get the family room to 74-76 degrees, but the end of the hall where the thermostat is is at 65-66. Any suggestion? I am also attaching a picture that shows the half wall in the family room into the kitchen so you see what I mean. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

kitchen and sun room

• griam01
• Jan 22, 2016

 

[NickDL]

What about putting your fan by the bedroom? Have you tried that?

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[begreen]

Cathedral ceilings can be heat traps. As a test, try running only one ceiling fan in reverse and the other one blowing down. That may mix the room air better.

 

[griam01]

What about putting your fan by the bedroom? Have you tried that?

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I have not tried that yet. I will do that now. I wasn't sure since it wasn't a direct path if it would make a difference. It is close, but there is some furniture partially blocking the direct path.

 

[griam01]

Cathedral ceilings can be heat traps. As a test, try running only one ceiling fan in reverse and the other one blowing down. That may mix the room air better.

Which one should be reverse and which one on regular? one is closer to the opening than the other, so I was wondering which one you suggested to switch?

 

[begreen]

not sure, experiment and try it out.

 

[NickDL]

I have not tried that yet. I will do that now. I wasn't sure since it wasn't a direct path if it would make a difference. It is close, but there is some furniture partially blocking the direct path.

We have a center hall colonial which is a horrible layout for a fireplace, IMHO. I have this box fan by the living room, pointed towards the dining room. The fireplace is in the family room, which is opposite wall of the living room. That fan really does help move the colder air throughout the first floor.
So don't discount the power of the fan, even with objects in the way.



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[Northern NH Mike]

I use a small fan on the floor of a doorway to the next area of the house from our stove. It blows the cooler air at floor level toward the stove and as a result warmer air flows into the next room. The fan is on low and the temp in the next room goes up ten degree pretty quickly.

 

[Dix]

Tough layout, but probably not undoable.

A fan blowing the cold air to the stove room, would help. Might have to play with it.

 

[cookin2night]

Any chance you can install a stove in the opposite side? Perhaps the office? Do you have a blower on your fire box?

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[griam01]

No we can't do another stove. We do have a blower. And I keep it on low. I have 2 fans running now that seems to be working. Although I was also baking today too. So not sure if that contributed to the warmer temps or not in the house. I have a fan at the left edge of the kitchen island and then another fan by the bedroom. Both blowing in the direction of the room with the insert.


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[Raeburn]

Which one should be reverse and which one on regular? one is closer to the opening than the other, so I was wondering which one you suggested to switch?

I would assume that you would want to have the fan closest to the fireplace in reverse since the heat naturally rises there. This will help push the heat across the ceiling. Put the fan near the opening on regular to help push the heat to the opening.

 

[Niko]

first off you gotta get yourself some cheap gauges. http://www.harborfreight.com/non-contact-infrared-thermometer-with-laser-targeting-61894.html
so you can see where the hot and cold air is.

second at least in my house less fans the better to much air movement will cool things down and will just make a huge wash I think. Pic the coldest part of the house and take a small fan on low on on the ground and blow the air towards the hot room. if you need multiple small fans then make a path the is the straightest to the hot room. so the cold air follows from one fan to another like a stream of water. Since you are moving air and it will get cooled as it is moving it will take some time to see some temp changes, maybe 2 hours maybe 8 hrs. keep the fan on a low setting it does not take much to move cold air, but it does take a lot to to move hot air.

as far as tall ceiling I'm not sure as I only have 9 foot ceilings in my house. Maybe you can install larger fan blades on the fans on the taller part?

 

[highanddryinco]

Agree with those suggesting to move the cold out rather than blow the heat in.
Anything that you can do to create a negative pressure in that back bedroom and office would be your best bet.

 

[Sprinter]

This is a tough layout. It depends on your expectations to a large degree. As suggested by others, it's going to be a matter of experimentation with fans and such. I'm a little concerned that by the time you get the warm air near the upstairs, you may lose a lot there, although that may be okay depending on what you want. I think the back bedrooms will be the most trouble. You may need to resort to some electric heaters in the bedrooms if necessary. My space is easier than yours, and I use space heaters sometimes.

Otherwise, the idea of a small fan blowing out at the floor seems to work best for a bedroom. It does help.

 

[griam01]

We have made some progress. I have the ceiling fans still in reverse. But I moved one fan to the doorway of the spare bedroom and one to the edge of the kitchen blowing into the family room. I was able to get the kitchen to 69 degrees and the bedroom up to 66 degrees which is better than the 62 it was at after about an hour. I only have 2 box size fans and both are on low. I assume this would work with smaller fans but unfortunately this is the only size I have. Thanks for the advice because I didn't think I would get any heat in that back bedroom and this will work.


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