Hello all, posting from Alaska during an especially cold snap. We have an 1980's Arrow woodstove that we've known probably needs an outside air intake (it's quite drafty in our small home with this large woodstove). We're in an A-frame on sonotubes about 18-24" above the ground. Running an intake through the floor seems like the best option (our model is a pedestal unit) but before I go blasting holes in the floor I wanted to ask around if anyone had experience in adding a floor intake on a home like this (no crawl space/basement, open air under floor joists). Will the increased air flow under the house create colder floors in the home? The previous owner insulated the OSB floor with spray foam (anyone's guess what R rating that comes out to) and the floors are already chilly. My concern is putting an air intake on the floor will reduce our draftiness but make our floors even more ice cold. Any advice/experience is appreciated, thank you!
Outside Air intake through floor - cause colder temps below house?
- Thread starter leddyleds
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There’s enough air volume and wind freely moving under your home that it won’t cool you down any more. Restricting some of that wind could help keep the floors warmer.
My house sits on posts. The biggest thing we did to help keep the floors warm is put up a skirt around the house. Even after insulating the floors the skirt made a big difference.
I ran my outside air kit through the wall instead of through the floor. Functionally I don’t think it matters either way as long as you insulate where the air duct penetrates the wall/floor. I used spray foam.
One reason I ran my air kit through the wall is snow accumulation. It’s about 4’ off the ground with how it’s run right now. If I ran it through the floor there would be a chance of it being blocked off by snow. Sometimes we get feet of snow piled against the house. It’s something I don’t want to have to worry about in a blizzard
I ran my outside air kit through the wall instead of through the floor. Functionally I don’t think it matters either way as long as you insulate where the air duct penetrates the wall/floor. I used spray foam.
One reason I ran my air kit through the wall is snow accumulation. It’s about 4’ off the ground with how it’s run right now. If I ran it through the floor there would be a chance of it being blocked off by snow. Sometimes we get feet of snow piled against the house. It’s something I don’t want to have to worry about in a blizzard
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