Warm air transfer between rooms

[segelvergnuegen]

Hi All,

This is my first post. Last year we installed a Harman Accentra insert and heated our 2600 sqft ranch fairly well. Most of the bedrooms were chilly, but my wife and I were okay with it. This year, the house has a few more occupants and so we are looking to distribute the heat a little more evenly to the bedrooms. I have some some extensive searching on this and I'm struggling to find accounts of DIY projects which have accomplished this.

Some time ago, on or more of the forum users mentioned this solution:
(broken link removed to http://www.dualheating.com.au/air-transfer-kits.htm)

This is exactly the type of thing that I'm hoping to do, but I was concerned as to how well it might work out. This particular device is made and/or sold in Australia, a place that doesn't get very cold. I don't want to go through the process of cobbling this together myself only to discover that it was a bad idea. Even if this were able to be purchase in the US, I would opt to put it together myself as the supplied ductwork is only R-0.75. If someone out there has had good success doing something like this, then I'd love to hear it about it. Likewise, if you know for sure that this is a bad idea, I'd like to know that as well.

I'm open to other solutions as well, provided that in the end, I end up with a nice looking, permanent, finished solution. I can assure you that simply hanging a fan from ceiling or a door jamb will not fly in my house. I'm guessing that even a transom vent would be vetoed from an aesthetic point of view...

Cheers!
-Jason

 

[begreen]

There are several posts, particularly in the main hearth forum on moving the heat. Some folks do have a ducted system but unlike the link provided the best results will be done via floor registers and not the ceiling. The Aussie system would tend to pool hot air up high. Instead push the cooler air toward the heat source. Cold air is heavier and easier to push. The displaced cold air will be replaced with warmer air from the stove room. This is also safer.

The best way to accomplish this depends on the house layout. If there is a basement then it may be pretty easy to run some insulated flex duct with an inline fan. Panasonic remote bath fans work well for this application. Usually a 150cfm fan is sufficient blowing in 6" round duct, but it depends on the house style + floorplan and distance for the ducting.

 

[DougA]

Sometimes the easiest and cheapest is to buy a 120v. electric heater if you just want to warm one bedroom. The type that looks like an old heating radiator that is oil filled get warm but not hot and is the least dangerous IMHO. If it's for a kid's room, you want to be safe and some of the small space heaters I do not consider safe enough.

 

[charger1966]

Hello, I had the same issue in my small 1200sq.ft. home. I resolved it by buying triangle fans that will fit in the upper part of the doorways between the pellet stove room and the rest of the house. These fans are 120v and come with mounting screws and have a good long lead core with a switch attatched. They are quiet and worked well for three years running 24/7 through the heating season. I got these at Home Depot.

 

[begreen]

I can assure you that simply hanging a fan from ceiling or a door jamb will not fly in my house.

 

[charger1966]

Well it was an idea. Good luck.

 

[segelvergnuegen]

Instead push the cooler air toward the heat source. Cold air is heavier and easier to push. The displaced cold air will be replaced with warmer air from the stove room. This is also safer.

Thanks. I did read about moving the cold air toward the heat source, but it seemed counter-intuitive to me (until your explanation about the density of cold air) that I disregarded it. Our house is pretty well divided up, but the stove is in a central location and we do have a basement which is unfinished. Is it necessary to return the cold air back to the stove? Or can I simply evacuate it to the basement? I'm probably thinking about this too simplistically.

 

[segelvergnuegen]

Sometimes the easiest and cheapest is to buy a 120v. electric heater if you just want to warm one bedroom. The type that looks like an old heating radiator that is oil filled get warm but not hot and is the least dangerous IMHO. If it's for a kid's room, you want to be safe and some of the small space heaters I do not consider safe enough.

I do have electric baseboard heaters in each of the bedrooms, but I was trying to avoid using them because they're expensive to run. I have a space heater or two as well and could resort to those if needed -- was just trying to improve the warm air movement first before resorting to alternatives

 

[scelder]

I've been looking at various options to circulate air in my own house, and have to agree with the cheap electric heater -- most other solutions are just not worth it when you look at a cost/benefit analysis. If you love to tinker, then go for it, but with a low purchase price and moderate usage, you'd be hard-pressed to find something cheaper than an electric heater over a 10 year period.

 

[segelvergnuegen]

Well it was an idea. Good luck.

It's not necessarily my objection...with a little lobbying, I might be able to convince the powers that be that this is a viable option...

 

[begreen]

Thanks. I did read about moving the cold air toward the heat source, but it seemed counter-intuitive to me (until your explanation about the density of cold air) that I disregarded it. Our house is pretty well divided up, but the stove is in a central location and we do have a basement which is unfinished. Is it necessary to return the cold air back to the stove? Or can I simply evacuate it to the basement? I'm probably thinking about this too simplistically.

Pulling air from the cold basement won't work. You want to set up a circulation loop in the heated envelope of the house.

Electric rates vary a lot depending on where you live. In our area with a mild climate and low rates electric space heaters make sense. But in a cold climate with high rates, not so much so.

What style house is this and what is the floorplan like? If you can post a sketch, all the better.

 

[segelvergnuegen]

Pulling air from the cold basement won't work. You want to set up a circulation loop in the heated envelope of the house.

I meant removing the cold air from the bedrooms to the basement -- my stove and all finished areas of the house are on the same level, but your point is understood.

 

[cman]

Depending on the floor plan and stove location, I've seen these types of fans installed, and owner feedback seemed positive.

(broken link removed to http://www.hvacsolutionsdirect.com/products/Wood-Stove-Products/Room-to-Room-Heat-Transfer-fans/Suncourt-TW208P-THRUWALL-ROOM-TO-ROOM-Air-Transfer-Fan-SKU43.html)

 

[Papelletman]

These work well for me mounted above doorways

 

[bags]

will not fly in my house. I'm guessing that even a transom vent would be vetoed from an aesthetic point of view...

It might be time to pull rank on the boss. That or have the other cold people submit their complaints to the proper authority. Good Luck with that one. let me know how that works out for ya...............

 

[CleanFire]

As an experiment you can try getting the main living area up to temp w/ the stove, say running an hour or more, and place a fan at floor level at the furthest point you want to heat - even a 20" box fan will do, and blow cold air back towards the main living area / stove, that may be enough to promote heat transfer.. But you need to get the main living area up to temp. first. If the bedrooms / rooms you want to heat are off of a narrow hallway, those doorway corner (triangle) fans at each room door would also help, but try one or two rooms first, if that is an option you are considering.

 

[Pellet-King]

Remember electric heat is 100% efficient

 

[AccentraRRT]

Depending on the floor plan and stove location, I've seen these types of fans installed, and owner feedback seemed positive.

(broken link removed to http://www.hvacsolutionsdirect.com/products/Wood-Stove-Products/Room-to-Room-Heat-Transfer-fans/Suncourt-TW208P-THRUWALL-ROOM-TO-ROOM-Air-Transfer-Fan-SKU43.html)

This is great.. I wish I could find something similar for ceiling/floor application

 

[AccentraRRT]

Actually just found something! I know this has been a subject on the site before.
http://www.hvacquick.com/products/r...Tjernlund-AireShare-Level-to-Level-Ventilator

 

[redbill]

Actually just found something! I know this has been a subject on the site before.
http://www.hvacquick.com/products/r...Tjernlund-AireShare-Level-to-Level-Ventilator

I'm looking at something like that too. I was hoping to find one that was bi-directional though. I want to experiment with sucking the hot air up, but also blowing the cold-air down onto the stove from upstairs.

 

[Jack Morrissey]

Thanks. I did read about moving the cold air toward the heat source, but it seemed counter-intuitive to me (until your explanation about the density of cold air) that I disregarded it. Our house is pretty well divided up, but the stove is in a central location and we do have a basement which is unfinished. Is it necessary to return the cold air back to the stove? Or can I simply evacuate it to the basement? I'm probably thinking about this too simplistically.

This works!! (blowing the colder air near floor towards the stove) for me anyways.