Apologies for creating a new thread on a well-worn topic, but I'm hoping for some feedback on my little plan:
We have a small cedar log home (panabode) built in 1962 with a gas-fired boiler as the primary heating system. Last year, I installed a Drolet Escape 1800 in the living room as a secondary heat source for very cold days, of which we have many here in the Canadian Rockies. The stove is more than capable of heating the whole house, but with vaulted ceilings and poor insulation from the cedar log walls, the rooms furthest from the stove tend to get pretty cool. I have tried running fans blowing cool air from those rooms toward the stove, and that does help somewhat, but I am still interested in finding a way to move some of the hot air that gets trapped in near the vaulted ceiling in the living room to the cool bedrooms on the other side of the house.
Lucky for us, there is a hallway running between the living room and the bedrooms that has a crawlspace above it (grey shaded area in diagram). This seems like a perfect place to hide some ductwork and blow hot air from the top of the living room into the bedrooms, which also have vaulted ceilings. My idea is to create a vent near the top of the living room wall, run a short section of insulated duct tube to an 6" inline fan, which would suck warm air out of the living room and push it through a Y-split and two sections of insulated duct tube to the coldest two bedrooms (Bdrm 1 and Bdrm 3 in the diagram). These two bedrooms have more exterior walls and therefore get colder than bedroom 2. I also feel the fan will be more effective pushing air through two duct lines than three.
I understand that moving cold air is more efficient than moving warm air, but the goal here is to get some of the warm air trapped near the ceiling to other parts of the house, namely the coldest bedrooms.
Is this a waste of time and money? Are there tweaks to this plan than could make it more effective? Any suggestions of good inline fans or alternative equipment?
I'm all ears! Thanks!
We have a small cedar log home (panabode) built in 1962 with a gas-fired boiler as the primary heating system. Last year, I installed a Drolet Escape 1800 in the living room as a secondary heat source for very cold days, of which we have many here in the Canadian Rockies. The stove is more than capable of heating the whole house, but with vaulted ceilings and poor insulation from the cedar log walls, the rooms furthest from the stove tend to get pretty cool. I have tried running fans blowing cool air from those rooms toward the stove, and that does help somewhat, but I am still interested in finding a way to move some of the hot air that gets trapped in near the vaulted ceiling in the living room to the cool bedrooms on the other side of the house.
Lucky for us, there is a hallway running between the living room and the bedrooms that has a crawlspace above it (grey shaded area in diagram). This seems like a perfect place to hide some ductwork and blow hot air from the top of the living room into the bedrooms, which also have vaulted ceilings. My idea is to create a vent near the top of the living room wall, run a short section of insulated duct tube to an 6" inline fan, which would suck warm air out of the living room and push it through a Y-split and two sections of insulated duct tube to the coldest two bedrooms (Bdrm 1 and Bdrm 3 in the diagram). These two bedrooms have more exterior walls and therefore get colder than bedroom 2. I also feel the fan will be more effective pushing air through two duct lines than three.
I understand that moving cold air is more efficient than moving warm air, but the goal here is to get some of the warm air trapped near the ceiling to other parts of the house, namely the coldest bedrooms.
Is this a waste of time and money? Are there tweaks to this plan than could make it more effective? Any suggestions of good inline fans or alternative equipment?
I'm all ears! Thanks!
