Reverse convection air flow through wood ZC fireplace

[os armeyer28]

Hello first post so go easy please I live in Northwest Ohio and I recently installed a Quadra fire pioneer 3 zero clearance wood burning insert. I'm looking to reverse the aire flow through the fireplace. So it has a fan at the back that draws air from the side which can be ducted to draw air from somewhere else in the house . I would like to put a fan in my basement rated for the higher temperatures on this duct that is made for drawing in air to the fan inside the fireplace. The fan inside the fire place would be switched off. The fan in the basement would be sucking from around the fire box and pumping the warm air into the basement. I know they make a WD-C some heating kit. I know it wouldn't be recommended by the manufacturer and probably void any warranty. Im more worried about if y'all would think it could cause damage or degrade the fireplace at all. Let me know what everyone thinks.

If people think this is a bad idea my other thought was run the air duct to the basement floor so it would draw cool air up and around the firebox. Then I would buy the WD-C heat kit and duct the hot air to the basement.

 

[stoveliker]

You don't want to be sucking air away from around the firebox. If a draft reversal occurs, you might end up nicely spreading deadly CO all around your home.

 

[os armeyer28]

I guess what's the difference of me running the fan and blowing the air into my living room? I think we are talking about 2 different things maybe. The fresh air supply is coming from outside. I'm talking about the squirrel cage fan that's in the back of the fireplace. It draws air in from inside the house and blows it out the top of the air grates on the stove. I want to instead of blowing air out into my living room which makes it very hot in there. I want to draw the air out of my living room and blow that warm air into my basement.

 

[stoveliker]

(If I understood you correctly), the difference is the relative pressure you create surrounding the firebox. I know you're not talking about fresh air.

Pushing (colder) air in there that then comes out warmed up is fine. Sucking (warmer) air out there is not.
One should *never* suck air away from a stove. Hence also code dictating that HVAC returns should be at least 10 ft away from a stove.

 

[os armeyer28]

I'm not trying to argue Im just trying to understand better. What's the difference in the WD-C kit then? That has you mount a fan on the wall in a separate room. Then cut the insulation out of the fireplace and insert a pipe which runs to the fan. The Fan on the wall will then suck heat from the wood stove and blow it into the room. I don't know enough about the inner working of this fireplace insert. So I'm not sure how the air moves out on the kits vs how the air moves from the internal fan. Thanks for the help!

 

[begreen]

I think you can put up to 2 WD-C kits on this fireplace. This must be done correctly with B-vent pipe. With the remote fan(s) running, you can reduce the speed of the fireplace's built-in blower or turn it off. Is that what is intended?

Do you have complete access still around the fireplace to do the takeoffs and run the ducting? Is there room?

 

[KC2004]

Hello first post so go easy please I live in Northwest Ohio and I recently installed a Quadra fire pioneer 3 zero clearance wood burning insert. I'm looking to reverse the aire flow through the fireplace. So it has a fan at the back that draws air from the side which can be ducted to draw air from somewhere else in the house . I would like to put a fan in my basement rated for the higher temperatures on this duct that is made for drawing in air to the fan inside the fireplace. The fan inside the fire place would be switched off. The fan in the basement would be sucking from around the fire box and pumping the warm air into the basement. I know they make a WD-C some heating kit. I know it wouldn't be recommended by the manufacturer and probably void any warranty. Im more worried about if y'all would think it could cause damage or degrade the fireplace at all. Let me know what everyone thinks.

If people think this is a bad idea my other thought was run the air duct to the basement floor so it would draw cool air up and around the firebox. Then I would buy the WD-C heat kit and duct the hot air to the basement.

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www.hearth.com

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[os armeyer28]

Yes you can put 2 kits on it. I really only have room for 1 kit though. It's still open so I can change whatever I need. I guess what I'm trying to accomplish is not running the fan in the fireplace if possible. Which according to the manufacturer you don't have to run it. This would be very inefficient so I'm trying to move that heat somewhere else by not having any fans on in the room of the fireplace. I like to hear a little crackle and not listen to a fan when I read a book by the fireplace. I'm ok with getting the heat kit and putting the fan in the basement if needed. If I go that route I was thinking of running the duct for the internal blower to the basement ground (finished basement) and installing a inline duct fan to suck air from the basement and blow it into suction of the internal fireplace fan (witch would be off). I would run the signal wires that would turn the internal fan on to a relay that would turn the duct fan on. Then when the fireplace was off it would shut the duct fan off.

 

[begreen]

Tapping into the cabinet for a supply from the basement to the internal fan would definitely void the warranty and may be unnecessary. Are there any adjacent rooms alongside of or behind the fireplace that could also use a shot of heat?

 

[os armeyer28]

Tapping into the cabinet for a supply from the basement to the internal fan would definitely void the warranty and may be unnecessary. Are there any adjacent rooms alongside of or behind the fireplace that could also use a shot of heat?

I'm not really tapping into it I'm just not using the supplied fan to move the air. Unless your talking about what KC posted. I like that setup they have but I'm to afraid to run something like that since the kits require type B vent. So I know it gets quite hot. I wouldn't feel comfortable running that through just a regular duct.

 

[begreen]

If I go that route I was thinking of running the duct for the internal blower to the basement ground (finished basement) and installing a inline duct fan to suck air from the basement and blow it into suction of the internal fireplace fan (witch would be off).

This is what threw me off. This sounds like it would require a fireplace modification in order to feed air from the basement to the fireplace. Doing the opposite with the WD-C fan pulling air from the top of the fireplace is ok.