Floor fan

[Heartwood]

Anyone have experience installing a floor fan near a woodstove to capture a little radiant heat and send it downward? I have no illusions about capturing much heat from BELOW my stove, but just a little dry air circulating into my basement may help me eliminate some moisture problems (not to mention give me a better temp to age the wine I got working down there). HVAC columnist James Dully offered the following suggestion to someone with a similar scenario, and I'm like to try the application. But before I start cutting holes in my wife's hardwood, I'd like to hear from someone who's tried this. I was really surporised that I could find no past posts on the topic.

From Dully -
Heat energy
from a hot stove radiates in
all directions equally, but
hot air rises as you have
found. Put a return vent through
the floor in one corner of the
room that is seldom used.
Somewhere near the
stove, install a floor fan
to blow the warm air
down into the cellar.
This will force cold air
up the corner vent. By
the time the cold air
reaches people, it will
have mixed with the
warmer air and be comfortable.

 

[nshif]

Ive never seen cutting holes in floors recomended on this forum. It is really unsafe any fire that would start in the basment would travel right through the hole into your living space possably robing you of precious moments to escape. Besides that it just doesnt work very well. Search around some more, there have been a few other threads on the subject and on ways to warm up a basement when the stove is upstairs.

 

[Todd]

Welcome heartwood,
I have gotten heat out of basements this way, but have never been able to do the reverse. Maybe it would work maybe not. If you do cut holes in your floor look for a vent that has a safety link closing device. What about installing a small stove in the basement?

 

[titan]

Heartwood, I think that could work,as long as your expectations for heating that basement are reasonable.Like Todd mentioned,be sure to install a proper fire damper in any floor or wall perforations.Good luck.

 

[BrotherBart]

This raises a question that crosses my mind every time this subject comes up. Where the heck do you find registers with fusible links? I have looked and can't find them anywhere.

 

[titan]

BB I see these fire dampers in ductwork and any wallloor penetrations for ventilation purposes.I also have yet to see them as you describe....I guess you'd have to frame in the appropriate size fire damper then install your choice of register or grille over that?Then again ....maybe we're just beatin' a dead horse.

 

[Todd]

This raises a question that crosses my mind every time this subject comes up. Where the heck do you find registers with fusible links? I have looked and can't find them anywhere.

Corie posted this site awhile back. Click on the fire saftey link. www.atlantasupply.com

 

[BrotherBart]

Thanks Todd. Pretty cheap too. Now I can put that sucker in and feel a lot safer. Well, at least as safe as I can feel with that big ass basement door open at the top of the stairs four feet from the damper. :coolsmirk:

Better that the insurance company finds the damper in the ashes but the logic of some things just escape me.

 

[Todd]

Thanks Todd. Pretty cheap too. Now I can put that sucker in and feel a lot safer. Well, at least as safe as I can feel with that big ass basement door open at the top of the stairs four feet from the damper. :coolsmirk:

Better that the insurance company finds the damper in the ashes but the logic of some things just escape me.

I know what you mean. At least you have a basement door! My stairwell is wide open no place for a door. You can lean over the rail and feel the gush of heat coming up from the basement when the stove is burnin.

What gives me a safe feeling is plenty of smoke and co2 detectors with fresh batteries.

 

[Gooserider]

Theory says that it often works better to try and move the cold air towards the stove, so that the hot air will flow into the vacated space, but I don't know if that would work when trying to get the hot air to flow downstairs.

Gooserider

 

[Heartwood]

A lot of useful comments. Thanks. I’ve been lurking around this forum a while, and now am really pleased by how helpful folks are.

I assumed that after I determined a floor fan was the way to go that I’d find a 110 v fan mounted against a register of some sort, made for the purpose I mentioned, and having some sort of automatic damper. Sounds like my search won’t be so easy, though. If anyone knows of a source, please pass the word As for my return, it’ll be the 1” gap around my basement door, which is well positioned away from the stove at the bottom of the split level stairs, so I don’t have to worry about a damper on that end. (That’s how I’m planing to follow Gooserider’s idea of moving the cold air towards the stove, so that the hot air will better flow into the basement from the floor fan that’s be somewhere near my stove.

You’ve all made me think of something that I hope I don’t have to be concerened about. When I bought this house over winter I tore out a forced air system. When I took all the steel ductwork out of the basement ceiling, I just insulated over the ducts leading up to the registers, which I left there. I’d like to assume that 6” of fiberglass under the registers is as good as a flimsy piece of galvanized steel, then again I’m using that assume word.

And by the way, what’s a fusible link? Another word for a damper?

 

[Gooserider]

A lot of useful comments. Thanks. I’ve been lurking around this forum a while, and now am really pleased by how helpful folks are.

I assumed that after I determined a floor fan was the way to go that I’d find a 110 v fan mounted against a register of some sort, made for the purpose I mentioned, and having some sort of automatic damper. Sounds like my search won’t be so easy, though. If anyone knows of a source, please pass the word As for my return, it’ll be the 1” gap around my basement door, which is well positioned away from the stove at the bottom of the split level stairs, so I don’t have to worry about a damper on that end. (That’s how I’m planing to follow Gooserider’s idea of moving the cold air towards the stove, so that the hot air will better flow into the basement from the floor fan that’s be somewhere near my stove.

You’ve all made me think of something that I hope I don’t have to be concerened about. When I bought this house over winter I tore out a forced air system. When I took all the steel ductwork out of the basement ceiling, I just insulated over the ducts leading up to the registers, which I left there. I’d like to assume that 6” of fiberglass under the registers is as good as a flimsy piece of galvanized steel, then again I’m using that assume word.

And by the way, what’s a fusible link? Another word for a damper?

I don't know what code would require in a case like you are describing, where you've removed the ducts, but I would tend to assume that fiberglass is a poor fire and / or draft barrier. I would probably feel much better if I had plugged the openings with some sort of solid non-combustible. You probably still could do something about it w/o to much trouble, just go down from above - remove the register and slip a peice of sheet metal or a hunk of cement board into the hole and then put the register back in.

As to fusible link - it is actually just a tiny part of a fire safety damper. In essence it is two strips of metal that have been fastened together with a very low melting point metal like substance. The link holds a plate in the damper open, usually against a spring, sometimes gravity. The theory is that if there is a fire, the link will get hot, the material holding it together will soften allowing the metal strips to separate. The damper then closes and prevents the passage of smoke and flaims through the hole.

You will see them sometimes as props holding up the lids on parts washer tanks, or as the link that controls a fire sprinkler, etc.

Gooserider