Heat Shifters?

[lizr]

HI
We have a slow combustion heater in our loungeroom that we use to heat the whole house. Unfortunately it does not heat the bedrooms efficiently. Does anyone know anything about Heat Shifters (ducted fan forced) and where they are available from?

[Barry_White]

Hi Lizr

Bradford Insulation used to make one. Not sure if they still make them, you could try Bunnings.

If not you could go to an Air Conditioning firm and they would be able to make one up. You just need a fan, a housing for the fan, some heating duct and some registers for the ceiling.

Added Comment: I see you are in Armidale. You could try Richardsons Hardware. They used to be agents for Bradford.

[lizr]

Thank you Barry - sounds quite simple. Will get hubby onto it before winter!!!

[bitingmidge]

I don't live in a climate that really requires heaters, but on the three nights a year we put the fire on, we stick the ceiling fans on the bedroom in "winter" (reverse) mode, and that draws enough warm air through the house for our purposes.

It may not be good enough for a cold climate, but in a temperate one, it's worth remembering.

cheers,

P:D

[Glenn_M]

Hi Lize,
Faced the same problem as you.
Bitingmidge is correct, the ceiling fans switched to reverse and run slow are great for moving heat around if you have them.

Unfortunately we didn't and the design of the house wasn't great for air flow. I got a heat shifter kit from a local air conditioning mob. Came with the registers, inline fan, ducting etc. Easy to install.

Also got another type which was a register to fit in the wall between the room with the heater and the room next to it. This also had a small, low speed fan in it. Placed near the ceiling this was very effective in moving heat.

Cheers,
Glenn

[black1]

Hi Lizr


If not you could go to an Air Conditioning firm and they would be able to make one up. You just need a fan, a housing for the fan, some heating duct and some registers for the ceiling.

we put one in an old cockie house in vic mallee region twenty odd years ago and was the same as this with a fan switch to adjust fan speed :cool: :cool:

[Greolt]

See this similar thread
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=30923

Believe me these setups can work really well without a fan.
And a fan can be added very easily later if not.
Really cheap just buy the ducting and registers.
Easy to put in if you have the relevant roof construction.

I used to (years ago) manufacture and install my own brand of slow combustion heater
and installed this same setup for people on numerous occasions.
They do work. The only proviso is that some people think a slow combustion heater should work like a light
or computer, Just throw the switch and instant heat.:)

They work far better left burning 24 hrs shut right back (slow combustion):rolleyes:

Greolt

[scooter]

Greolt, how do they move heat from one room to another without being fan forced?

Does it equalise somehow?

Not doubting, wondering :)


Cheers............Sean

[Dan_574]

hi Lizr, I have been researching exactly what you have described and obtained prices from $885 for a fantech system down to $386 from a place down here called dynamic heating, I want to use it from one room to three. do a search for ducted heat transfer system.

[Greolt]

What happens is hot air which rises in the living area, naturaly travels down the ductwork and ends up in the bedrooms.
The cooler air in the bedrooms moves along the floor or low anyway and a cycle is set up that is driven by the heat.
It is quite gentle, you won't feel a breeze but you will notice the difference in the bedrooms.

If you want to keep all your doors shut and airtight, that maybe a problem.
Maybe ceiling fans will disrupt this enough to stop it also. (they are only relevant for moving heated air with high or vaulted ceilings)

Believe me it can work quite well.

Then as I say if you decide you need a fan in the system (I doubt you will) they are
available that you cut into the ductwork just like a plain joiner.

This is cheap to do. If you buy the duct and registers at the right place
it will only be about $100 or so.

Then after reading this use your own common sence and make up your own mind.
The advise is good but every situation and usage pattern is different.:p

Greolt

[scooter]

Cool, Gre.

[GraemeCook]

Hi Lizr

We have used ceiling duct to move heat around the house and also in-wall extractor fans to move heat into an adjacent room. Both work well.

Very cheap heat transfer kits are available from hardware stores (Bunnings, Miter 10, et al) but may I suggest you buy the ducting, ceiling registers and fan from an air-conditioning supplier as their ducting is insulated. You want to move heat to another room, not heat the roof void, and you can also put in branches and move heat to more than one room. We used Bradford stuff, but I have been told Bradford no longer sell retail.

However, first you should record the temperature at different places and at different heights in your home so you can see the effect of what you are doing. Temperature often varies by several degrees within a room and one degree per foot of height is not unusual. This heat layering is inefficient heating - you do not sit near the ceiling - and any thing that gets the air moving may be beneficial. A fan on the heater, ceiling duct fan and/or ceiling fan are all candidates. We used a digital thermometer (Dick Smith, $18) that measures temperature at both the gadget and at the end of a two metre wire.

My grandmother has a georgian house where rooms open off rooms and there are no corridors. By judiciously openning doors we are able to get a circular airflow which warms her entire house. (You can observe airflow using a candle and watching how the smoke rises.) One back bedroom escaped this circular flow and remained cold. We put in a ceiling heat transfer duct and the bedroom was warmed providing we left the door open. When we switched the fan on it was also warmed with the door closed. The big surprise was that when the fan was on and the door was open the comfort in the family room inceased. Our candle and thermometer told us that the enhanced airflow had reduced the temperature layering in the family room.

Sorry for such a long post but this is an area where you can get good benefits from a little effort and a lot of thought.

Cheers

Graeme

PS: Do not forget the duct filters which will stop the transfer of that fine white dust that all heaters seem to emit.

[cbennie]

I have recently installed a heat transfer system in our 1920's weatherboard cottage (high ceilings). We have a large 9x6 extenstion on the back with a slow combustion heater installed. It heats the room perfectly.

The heat transfer system has a inline fan installed, insulated duct and transfers into 3 rooms. The furthest room is 8 metres - duct intake to duct out-take.

There is a discernible flow of air exiting from the out-takes in all three rooms but to be honest - you wouldn't describe the air as being warm and the rooms are still 'cool' - not freezing (yet - true winter has yet to hit us) and I still find the need to use another heater in our sons room at night.

We have ceiling fans installed and the slow combustion has been running for 24 hours at least.

Could the air just be 'cooling' too much by the time it reaches this room? This doesn't seem to fit what others have written in this thread over time.

I am realistic - I kow it takes time to heat, I know it won't be as warm as the room where the heater is - but I expected more warmth than this......especially for $450......

Any suggestions? And ideas where else I could post this on the net if needed?

Thanks

Chris

[OBBob]

OK here's the geeks answer. Could you get hold of a digital thermometer and check the temperature in or on a duct near the heater and then check at the outlet? Then you would at least know if you weren't getting suffcient heat from the fire or if the air was cooling in the ducts.

I guess one large difference is that with a ducted heat the air you are warming in the bedroom is drawn back through the recirculation system and heated further. Whereas in your case you are just pumping the heat in one dirtection? ... maybe?

[Barry_White]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the forum.

Just as a thought does the extension room have a skillion roof and if so is the heater on the low side of the ceiling.

If this is the case most of your heat would be going to the high side of the ceiling.

The other thing is if the ceiling fan is running in the room with the heater you would be driving the heat down and distributing it evenly in the room thus reducing the temperature at the ceiling. The reason for running ceiling fans is to stop the room from becoming stuffy.

With the heat transfer system in place this should stop the stuffiness in the room without the ceiling fan and would help the air circulate back into the heated room provided you leave the doors open and keep your windows shut.

I would also do as OBBob say and check the temperature at the inlet register and compare it to the outlet register.

[cbennie]

Hi folks and thanks for the warm welcome.

In reference to Barry's post:

The extension is not skillion - it's a pitched roof. In fact there is a '3 step' down to the extension. Hence the duct 'rises up' into the original part of the house. It is just past this rise (slightly more than 3 metres as per installation instructions) that the in-line fan sits. I thought this rise and positioning of the fan would be ideal - and as mentioned in my original post - there is definately plenty of air being pushed through to the rooms.

When you stand at the outlet (ie - on a ladder) you can feel the heat at the top of the ceiling. Maybe I'll have to try the more 'geeky' test for temp.

What would everyone's thoughts be on the ceiling fans? We have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms AND the room where the heater is. At the moment we run all the fans. Should I not have the fan on where the heater is as it may be pushing the hot air down and therefore decreasing the amount of hot air going into the duct? Should I leave the fans off in the bedrooms?

Chris

[Barry_White]

Hi folks and thanks for the warm welcome.

In reference to Barry's post:


What would everyone's thoughts be on the ceiling fans? We have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms AND the room where the heater is. At the moment we run all the fans. Should I not have the fan on where the heater is as it may be pushing the hot air down and therefore decreasing the amount of hot air going into the duct? Should I leave the fans off in the bedrooms?

Chris

I would leave the fan in the room where the heater is OFF. In the bedrooms they would help to push the heat lower down in the room but the fans need a winter/summer switch on them as the air needs to be pushed up to force the air at the ceiling down.