Timeline for Will this DIY system to extract hot air from behind a fireplace work and be safe?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
20 events
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| Mar 5, 2022 at 13:52 | vote | accept | kaloianm | ||
| Mar 5, 2022 at 9:29 | comment | added | kaloianm | @jay613: The problem is not the entry air, it is the outbound air. There is a really thick stone wall just above the fireplace and these two pipes are the only thing that penetrates it. If I had to open a larger opening above the fireplace for a regular fireplace blower to come out, I would have to excavate through probably 0.5m/2ft of stone. Putting blower through the two pipes would be a much cheaper solution albeit a bit more engineering effort :) | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 20:40 | comment | added | jay613 | If you already have an air pathway that enters under the sealed fire chamber and exits through these pipes, you might want to consider buying a "fire place blower kit" rather than cobbling together something yourself. The kits contain everything you need and are cheap. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 20:28 | answer | added | Ecnerwal | timeline score: 3 | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 20:02 | comment | added | Ed Beal | I have had heatalators in multiple homes one even built into the brick work without fans they might produce a touch of warm air but turn the fan on and it heated large rooms. I agree with George | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 18:23 | comment | added | kaloianm | @brhans: There are two openings below the fire place which face the room, so the return air will enter from there. The fireplace itself takes air through a pipe that goes to the outside for its own burning. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 16:31 | comment | added | brhans | If you blow air out through both pipes, where will the cool air come in to that space to get heated? Maybe you should consider using one pipe as the inlet and the other as the outlet ... ? | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 15:52 | comment | added | George Anderson | This is just a comment, since I'm no expert on this, but in two houses I lived in had fans, one was a fireplace insert, the other was a "heat form" (formally called a Heatalator) which is basically a metal fire box built into a brick fireplace. Neither would provide much heat unless the fan(s) were running. So I have to politely disagree with @crip659. While product recommendations are OT here, I will say Fantech would be a good place to start your research. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 15:25 | history | edited | FreeMan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:46 | comment | added | FreeMan | Good, nope, and not a clue. Sorry. I'm sure someone will be by shortly with some advice for you. Just hang tight and take the tour while you're waiting so you can learn how to make the most of the site. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:44 | comment | added | kaloianm | @FreeMan: Thank you, I updated the content with that information. Do you have any suggestion about electrical cables and motors which might be able to withstand high temperature? In general - do you have any idea how high the temperature might be reaching behind the insert? | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:43 | history | edited | kaloianm | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:34 | comment | added | FreeMan | You may want to edit your question to include this info to make it more obvious for others. Not everyone gets to the comments. That still leaves the concern of having exposed wiring, etc. in the hot space behind the fireplace. I'm sure mitigation can be done, but it might be significantly more expensive. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:31 | comment | added | kaloianm | @FreeMan: I should have clarified better - this is a fireplace insert with a sealed pipe attached to it, so the entire exhaust goes straight into the chimney. The back of the fireplace, which is behind that wall is a solid metal body which from what I read produces about 60% of the capacity of the fireplace. In other words, the fan will be sucking hot air from behind the fireplace, not CO gases. The access is not very difficult - an entire person can easily enter behind the fireplace. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:29 | comment | added | kaloianm | @crip659: There is some hot air coming out of them, but it is very very minimal (the diameter of these pipes is 8cm or about ~3.14in). That's why I want to have an extractor fan so that more hot air is sucked into the room. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:16 | comment | added | FreeMan | It might be easier to put a fan at the outlet points instead of behind the fireplace. If it's behind the fireplace, A) access is difficult, and, more importantly, B) all electrical work is exposed to much higher temps than at the pipe exits. Also, be aware that you may end up pulling carbon monoxide from the burning wood into your house instead of letting it go up the chimney. That's been shown to be less than ideal for the health of humans. | |
| Mar 3, 2022 at 13:14 | history | edited | FreeMan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2022 at 12:47 | comment | added | crip659 | Hot air rises, so if those pipes are useful, you should feel hot/warm air coming from them without a fan. If not feeling warm air from them, then much more work needed than just adding a fan. | |
| S Mar 3, 2022 at 12:36 | review | First questions | |||
| Mar 3, 2022 at 21:35 | |||||
| S Mar 3, 2022 at 12:36 | history | asked | kaloianm | CC BY-SA 4.0 |