Hot Air
When I built the house here on the mountain in 1999, I put a wood stove in the basement and an extra set of heating ducts between the basement ceiling and main room floor. The idea was to open the extra set of ducts when the wood stove was being fired and let the heat rise through the floor and ducts. Two problems have made that idea less than optimal. First, the ceiling of the basement is heavily insulated and not much heat gets through. Second, while hot air rises, the atmospheric pressure in the basement and living area are same, resulting in little air circulation between the two. And, everything I have read said circulation is the key to success.
So, off I go to a certain junk yard which has zillions of old refrigerators, each with a fan for blowing air over the compressor. The fans were 7 inches in diameter, exactly the same as the ducts. So, using a couple of plastic flower pots I found in the trash can as shrouds, the fans were mounted to blow air upwards in one duct and downwards in another. This produces a nice cross ventilation both in the basement and the living area with a net zero pressure drop in both.
Hot air near the basement ceiling is blown into the living area above ...
... and the cooler air is returned below on the opposite side of the house, producing a cross circulation above and below.
Next was the matter of temperature control. It would be counterproductive to blow air from the basement that is colder than the air in the living area. Well, I just happened to have an extra digital thermostat that would operate a Radio Shack relay for controlling the fans, turning them on when the basement air is warm enough. Oddly, the whole thing operates on the AC side of the thermostat because the basement air is, in effect, being cooled by the colder air being returned from the living area. So, as long as the temperature of the basement air is greater than the set temperature, the air circulates.
So there you have it, Dave's Hot Air for Cold Weather Heating System. Rube Goldberg would have been proud! And, if it doesn't work out as expected, there's the four-zone central heating system, fireplace, kerosene heater and a couple dozen of my grandmother's hand-made quilts.
Let them chilly winds blow.
So, off I go to a certain junk yard which has zillions of old refrigerators, each with a fan for blowing air over the compressor. The fans were 7 inches in diameter, exactly the same as the ducts. So, using a couple of plastic flower pots I found in the trash can as shrouds, the fans were mounted to blow air upwards in one duct and downwards in another. This produces a nice cross ventilation both in the basement and the living area with a net zero pressure drop in both.
Hot air near the basement ceiling is blown into the living area above ...
... and the cooler air is returned below on the opposite side of the house, producing a cross circulation above and below.
Next was the matter of temperature control. It would be counterproductive to blow air from the basement that is colder than the air in the living area. Well, I just happened to have an extra digital thermostat that would operate a Radio Shack relay for controlling the fans, turning them on when the basement air is warm enough. Oddly, the whole thing operates on the AC side of the thermostat because the basement air is, in effect, being cooled by the colder air being returned from the living area. So, as long as the temperature of the basement air is greater than the set temperature, the air circulates.
So there you have it, Dave's Hot Air for Cold Weather Heating System. Rube Goldberg would have been proud! And, if it doesn't work out as expected, there's the four-zone central heating system, fireplace, kerosene heater and a couple dozen of my grandmother's hand-made quilts.
Let them chilly winds blow.
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