We had a Heatilator Constitution C40-C wood burning fireplace with (2) auxilary ducts with fans professionally installed last year and are getting very little heat out of the auxillary ducts. The ducts extend 6' and the other 10' into the basement. The factory fans are installed at the end of the runs with covers for decent appearance. The ducts are class B with 270 degrees of bend and are well under the max length of 40' runs of duct work for reference. We can put an IR thermometer on the fire box glass and get a reading of 600 degrees, 450 degrees out of the fan above the unit that blows into the room it is installed, but only 78 degrees out of each basement duct work. The company who sold and did the install are of no help at all and Heatilator will not reply to me either. I dont' know if they goofed the install by not taking out the duct shield prior to hooking up the duct work or not. Hopefullythis isn't the case as the entire unit is surrounded by masonry block and I do not know if this area is accessible from inside the unit. Any ideas? TIA
Little heat from aux. ductwork Heatilator Constitution wood burner
- Thread starter Fenceguy
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It's hard to heat a basement from above. The 270º turns are restrictive. It may take stronger blowers. Has it been confirmed that the factory fans are getting energized and working?
Yes, the fan are working.
I was pondering removing some of the duct work elbows to eliminate 90 degrees on both and trying that to see if it helps. Thanks!
I was pondering removing some of the duct work elbows to eliminate 90 degrees on both and trying that to see if it helps. Thanks!
Some folks have been inserting a duct fan with higher CFM to boost output from their ducted fireplaces. The AC Infinity S6 duct fan was used in one thread. If considering this, always check the thermal rating.
It's supposed to be ducted with B-Vent which is double-walled. However, if the contractor forgot to cut out the hole in the insulation board, which is below the knockout, then very little heat will be convected.
Yes I read that but double walled is not the same as insulated (as we all know from flue liners).
Temps here are of course not as high but losses matter nonetheless.
Temps here are of course not as high but losses matter nonetheless.
There would be some heat loss, but it doesn't sound like this is the issue. It's more like almost no heat is coming out.
The ducts are B vent and in response to Stoveliker, we also thought the knockout was forgotten. We were FINALLY contacted by a Heatilator rep yesterday and he said the knockout had to be off to even attach the ducts to the unit. He also said the UL rating on the aux. duct work was rated for 140 degrees and said he thinks getting 80 degrees was great. I asked if he was kidding and he said no 
.
With the installation being screwed up from the start, (that is a whole other story) I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do it. We are going to remove the duct work this weekend and rent a camera to look up and into the ducts to be reassured. I'll let you know what we find out.
. With the installation being screwed up from the start, (that is a whole other story) I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do it. We are going to remove the duct work this weekend and rent a camera to look up and into the ducts to be reassured. I'll let you know what we find out.
Good plan. I was thinking about this last night and the thought of a boroscope camera came to mind. Keep us posted.
8º above ambient room temperature is great??!! Sounds like a used car salesman.
8º above ambient room temperature is great??!! Sounds like a used car salesman.
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