Transferring heat

Property & Home
1

We have a wood burner in our front room (Godin Regence 6.5kW) and it generates a lot of heat and it would be good if some of this heat could be transferred to another room. The radiators in the front room are not operational as it is not necessary because of the wood burner. Ideally we would like the excess heat to be ‘transferred’ to the hall which does have a radiator (the centre heat pump system is timed to come on at certain hours and when the temperature reaches a certain low point).

We were initially thinking of putting a fan in the wall between the front room and the hall to make this transfer of heat happen.

Are there any other methods for transferring this excess heat that anyone of the forum has actually done and would recommend.

2

The fireplace is on/in the wall adjacent to the door into the hallway
we leave the door open and the heat wafts of its own accord

sometimes we use the ceiling fan at the opposite end of the room and this helps move the excess heat more swiftly… :wink:

3

Thanks @Stella - under normal circumstances we would do exactly what you do but …

Our cats (3) live in the front room and we don’t really want them to wander to another part of the house. They could easily get out of the front or back door if anyone came or went or they could meet Ruby, our griffon dog who Bobby, Charlee and Tabatha are frightened of.

We were thinking more of a fan in the wall above the door into the hall (and then maybe into the bedroom at a later date) where there would be no need to keep the door open.

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4

I can’t see why that wouldn’t work except that you’d be delivering the heat high up in the room and heat rises anyway :thinking:

When we were doing a bit of renovation in our living room, we found a hole (roughly filled in) at the back of the fireplace and going into the next room. We are planning on putting a fan in there to see if it works - not too much lost if it doesn’t!

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5

That’s what I have done, but then I read your next post. :grinning:

6

in your situation, it sounds a good idea to me… you’ll be removing the hottest air… albeit it will cool and drop once it’s entered to hallway… but that’s fair enough…

Any specialist will ensure that you have sufficient freshair coming into the room… for your logburner etc… so what warm air you send off and away will not put you at risk of CO2 poisoning…

However, if you’re doing it yourself… perhaps just a vent to the hallway rather than a fan…

7

You need to be very careful doing this sort of thing. You need to ensure that a sufficient volume of air, equal to or greater than what you suck out is allowed to freely enter the room at all times. If this doesn’t happen, then the air pressure in the room will dip and the air will be replaced by air coming down the chimney. People have died from CO poisoning due to this sort of thing. Of course with a stove, you should notice the smell of smoke in the room, but with gas central heating it can be a killer.

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8

very true… sadly there are deaths each year due to improper ventilation.

9

Perhaps it may be worth editing your earlier advice. :slightly_smiling_face:

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10

Carbon monoxide detectors are readily available and inexpensive. We have one in the room with a woodburner.

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11

We’ve had recent experience of the problem explained by hairbear. When we first came we had some guests sitting in the living room. I went into the kitchen to start the dinner and switched on the extractor fan which is very powerful. Almost immediately the living room was covered in smoke. Not being very quick witted I eventually realized it was the extractor fan. So maybe you could just make an opening above the door to let the hot air out?

12

First, do you have sufficient ventilation? Does the fire have a dedicated ventilation source direct to outside or a cave? Refer to DTU 24.1 and DTU 24.2.
Have you have a CO alarm installed.
Regarding transfer of hot air, fans may be used to push air into adjacent rooms and vents direct to upstairs rooms from the heat source room.

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13

Thanks to all of you for your input - it is much appreciated.

We do have a CO alarm fitted and are thinking of using a vent rather than a fan.

Stuart says it’s a matter of pressure - doesn’t mean anything to me but to some of you, you will understand his way of thinking.

14

Most important principle to consider is hot air rises, so making a hole in the ceiling/floor is the most efficient means of getting the heat to the above rooms. You do, however, then get issues of sound transfer.

15

Also a very effective way to lose heat from the lower room.

16

Then close the vent?
You can get more sophisticated methods such as forced air ducting system or using heat exchangers, but then you are then into a much greater expense.

The vent is only a small hole and will allow some heat flow and I suggest it is not a significant proportion compared to leaving the door open.
A poêle heats by radiation but mostly by convection. If you do not have good air circulation you are in effect just heating the upper part of the room and particularly the ceiling.

17

Yes, when we built our ensuite which is above our wood durner we created a hole, we very quickly filled it back in for that reason!

18

Yes that is the problem. It is like having a mezzanine bedroom.

19

We bought a ceiling fan specifically to move the warm air from the insert around. Works brilliantly and not expensive. You reverse the fan in summer for cooling. We also have those little black fans you position above a log burner, or with our insert my husband placed it inside the chimney where it vents into the room thro a vent grid. I think lots of people have these - again not expensive

20

Has anyone tried routing a flu internally (upstairs above the stove?) to get radiated heat off it? Maybe it’s not possible or it’s dangerous to take too much heat out of th exhaust gases.