I agree with what you did. I too can feel the cold air pouring down my stairs. I am curious as to what that looks like. Having such a prominent grate is such a public area. Most grates tend to be along walls or in the corners. Out of the way. Generally stairs are right there in view when people enter. I think that is the most effective place for it. But the wife might not like it.JohnnyV wrote:I just put a cold air return at the bottom of the first floor steps yesterday. Last night I noticed for the first time that the cold draft I have been feeling disappeared. I used a 2" X 12" inch return. Try and use as large of a grate that will fit between the joists for the hot air to go up. Depending on your layout and how many floors you want to heat you may need to put one in the floor/ceiling of the upstairs to get the air to go up and circulate. Don't go overboard though. Heat naturally rises, but you will notice a difference.
Vin.