Duct Work to Move Stove Heat

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CoalGuyPVL
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Post by CoalGuyPVL » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 2:07 pm

Happy Fall everyone!

I'm fresh off my first winter with an overhauled Keystoker 90 (sold the VC Vigilant and never looked back!) and identified some opportunities for improvement. Background: I live in an 1800 sq ft bi-level, with stove on bottom level far end, garage on the other side, and bedrooms above the garage. In order to get more heat to the bedrooms, I've been thinking about installing dedicated round flex duct work + inline duct fan. It seems the set up is fairly prime- I can have the "return" grille near the ceiling of the lower level, pass through into the garage, then divide into three branches that feed each room. The garage usually stays around 50 in the winter (passively heated from the rest of the house), so there shouldn't be too much loss through the ducts there. Also, the longest run to the furthest bedroom would be around 20 feet. The lower level stayed around 86 deg F last winter, which kept a comfortable temperature in the living room above it.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Are there any rules of thumb regarding duct size, register sizes, etc that I should know about before I go willy-nilly picking sizes? :oops:

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 2:20 pm

Everytime a discussion comes up on this issue there are members who have tried this method that will say that the best way is to move cold air. Move the cold air from the cold rooms to the hot room & the warm air will replace the cold air that was removed.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 2:28 pm

Not sure about power outages where you live, but the first rule of stove placement around here is,.... what happens during a power outage in bitter cold weather of winter ? Or if the fan motor burns out ? Dead fans in ductwork tend to impede convection air flow, not help it.

Can you work larger cross section ducts into the plan and let natural convection do the work ? I've got a 4000 sf of Victorian that was heated for a few decades by one of those basement "octopus" coal furnaces, all by convection through 8 inch diameter ducts, to floor and low wall registers that are about 12-14 inch square. The returns were made by putting floor registers into the boxed-in joist spaces in the floors to a box duct down to a brick lined, slate topped chaise in the basement dirt floor leading in under the furnace. Simple and works non-stop without need of any electricity. That octopus is gone :( but I'm setting up my coal stoves to do the same heating throughout by convection.

Paul


 
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2001Sierra
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Post by 2001Sierra » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 2:32 pm

Here is what I did, before I installed the duct ring in the stove.

Moving Heat up Stairs

 
CoalGuyPVL
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Post by CoalGuyPVL » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 2:52 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:Everytime a discussion comes up on this issue there are members who have tried this method that will say that the best way is to move cold air. Move the cold air from the cold rooms to the hot room & the warm air will replace the cold air that was removed.
I have read a few posts to that effect. My problem is that two of the bedroom doors are usually closed due to children, which isn't great as far as air flow.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 2:54 pm

windyhill4.2 wrote:Everytime a discussion comes up on this issue there are members who have tried this method that will say that the best way is to move cold air. Move the cold air from the cold rooms to the hot room & the warm air will replace the cold air that was removed.
Exactly! It worked for me after many years of trying to move hot air. Then I found this forum and reversed it and Im warm everywhere I want to be.


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 3:05 pm

CoalGuyPVL wrote:
windyhill4.2 wrote:Everytime a discussion comes up on this issue there are members who have tried this method that will say that the best way is to move cold air. Move the cold air from the cold rooms to the hot room & the warm air will replace the cold air that was removed.
I have read a few posts to that effect. My problem is that two of the bedroom doors are usually closed due to children, which isn't great as far as air flow.
That's what return ducts are for.

But, hallways and stairways can be very affective as return ducts. Then putting through-wall registers low on a bedroom wall, or door into the hallway lets the cold air leave the bedrooms and travel down the stairway, back to the stove area to be reheated.

And, your return air is likely going to be warmer than the garage's 50 degree air. Using the garage as a cold air return is going to rob a lot of heat and bring very cold air into the living space downstairs. Unless you use well insulated duct work through the garage.

Plus, it's likely to bring garage smells into the house, too. Then you really have to be careful never to run over any dead skunk bits, or "road apples" ! :D

Paul

 
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Post by McGiever » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 3:08 pm

warminmn wrote:
windyhill4.2 wrote:Everytime a discussion comes up on this issue there are members who have tried this method that will say that the best way is to move cold air. Move the cold air from the cold rooms to the hot room & the warm air will replace the cold air that was removed.
Exactly! It worked for me after many years of trying to move hot air. Then I found this forum and reversed it and Im warm everywhere I want to be.
And that folks is a matter of fact!!! 8-)

 
CoalGuyPVL
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Other Heating: Ultimate oil boiler

Post by CoalGuyPVL » Wed. Nov. 16, 2016 3:56 pm

That's what return ducts are for.

But, hallways and stairways can be very affective as return ducts. Then putting through-wall registers low on a bedroom wall, or door into the hallway lets the cold air leave the bedrooms and travel down the stairway, back to the stove area to be reheated.

And, your return air is likely going to be warmer than the garage's 50 degree air. Using the garage as a cold air return is going to rob a lot of heat and bring very cold air into the living space downstairs. Unless you use well insulated duct work through the garage.

Plus, it's likely to bring garage smells into the house, too. Then you really have to be careful never to run over any dead skunk bits, or "road apples" ! :D

Paul[/quote]

I'm not sure if I'd be able to augment/facilitate return air via hallway+stairway (e.g. register in door/wall = noise entry points, no good for sleeping kids!). So looking at adding a return system... the garage is really the ideal space to run the duct work. Is it foolish to think you couldn't seal it well enough to not pick up garage smells? Also, should I be considering a supply and return duct system (2 different duct works)?

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