Floor Registers

 
Vinmaker
Member
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri. Nov. 25, 2011 9:17 am
Location: Central MA

Post by Vinmaker » Mon. Dec. 19, 2011 8:46 pm

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.
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.

Vin.


 
User avatar
2001Sierra
Member
Posts: 2211
Joined: Wed. May. 20, 2009 8:09 am
Location: Wynantskill NY, 10 miles from Albany
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90 Chimney vent
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Other Heating: Buderus Oil Boiler 3115-34

Post by 2001Sierra » Mon. Dec. 19, 2011 10:07 pm

Take your time :!: We all can cut holes only to find cold air is heavier than warm air. Years ago 25 or more ago I too was experimenting. Luckily I took it slow unlike my neighbor. Another way to move heat from downstairs to upstairs is to pressurize the downstairs to help the warm air to rise. This can be done with small fans or in my case an inline energy effecient Panasonic fan. It worked well but the bedrooms got a little cool but other rooms where way warmer. The fan has since been reconfigured to pressurize the upstairs bedrooms, just trying to keep the women in the house happy. It was always in the latter configuration but a heating friend of mine suggested it. I thought it worked better but was out voted :x

 
musikfan6
Member
Posts: 222
Joined: Fri. Oct. 21, 2011 11:45 pm
Location: Lititz, PA

Post by musikfan6 » Mon. Dec. 19, 2011 10:46 pm

Poconoeagle wrote:i have 3 in all.. first and largest is from late 1800's cast iron and ornate...yard sale 20 bucks!

other was early 1900's and flea market also 20 bucks... come to find out 1st one worth 800!! second 140!

third is home depot black "looks old" type...

made huge difference in upstairs... used incense to watch air flow... :idea:
ESJ eye phone 045.jpg
ESJ eye phone 046.jpg
ESJ eye phone 047.jpg
ESJ eye phone 048.jpg
Tuttle & Bailey N.Y. Pat. 1872
ESJ eye phone 049.jpg
bottom of 16x18
ESJ eye phone 050.jpg
Love those registers!! They are beautiful.

Yes, I've heard that some of them bring some pretty nice prices. I priced older ones when I was living in one of my former homes, and I found some of them to be quite pricey.

 
musikfan6
Member
Posts: 222
Joined: Fri. Oct. 21, 2011 11:45 pm
Location: Lititz, PA

Post by musikfan6 » Mon. Dec. 19, 2011 10:52 pm

This thread is intriguing to me, folks.

I used to live in an older two story home (early 1900's). There were two vents cut into the floors of the first floor. I had a Vermont Castings Vigilant wood stove set up in my basement at the time, but I had a horrible time getting any kind of heat up into the first floor. I had the basement door open, but never was able to get any heat up to the first floor. The cold air in the first floor was actually going DOWN those two vents instead of up where I wanted it. By the sounds of the comments posted in these threads, am I correct that you have to have the vents located in strategic spots?? I guess mine weren't in the right places. I even had those little duct fans suspended in the basement ceiling right under the ducts to pull the air up into the first floor. They did very little. I was so frustrated that I eventually gave up because I was hardly saving any money in my electric heating bills. I did have a very nice and hot basement family room, though - probably around 80 degrees if not more! Im wondering if it was because I had a dropped tile ceiling in the basement......

 
CapeCoaler
Member
Posts: 6515
Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2008 3:48 pm
Location: Cape Cod, MA
Stoker Coal Boiler: want AA130
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine BS#4, Harman MKII, Hitzer 503,...
Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Tue. Dec. 20, 2011 12:22 am

The circle is required for circulation...
Cold air will push down the hot in a single shaft vent...
Add a second or third vent to the floor and watch the air move...
Bigger is better for natural convection...

 
User avatar
VigIIPeaBurner
Member
Posts: 2579
Joined: Fri. Jan. 11, 2008 10:49 am
Location: Pequest River Valley, Warren Co NJ
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker Koker(down)
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vermont Casting Vigilant II 2310
Other Heating: #2 Oil Furnace

Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Tue. Dec. 20, 2011 7:08 am

CapeCoaler wrote:The circle is required for circulation...
Cold air will push down the hot in a single shaft vent...
Add a second or third vent to the floor and watch the air move...
Bigger is better for natural convection...
CC is on the mark. How did that old quote go ... "It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!"
  • Cold air is simply more dense. It weighs more than an equal volume of warm air, therefore undisturbed it seeks the lowest level. Let it or help it do its natural thing (get to the lowest level) and the warm air will fill the void where the cold air was. That's the circle CC spoke of.

 
JohnnyV
Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Wed. Dec. 08, 2010 8:41 pm
Location: Houtzdale, PA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: hitzer 254
Coal Size/Type: Nut
Other Heating: Pellet stove far end of house

Post by JohnnyV » Tue. Dec. 20, 2011 8:19 am

Vinmaker wrote: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.

Vin.
I could have gone with a much larger grate in that area, but that is why I went with a 2" X 12" grate. It is narrow and long so it is not very noticable at all with where it is located. With the different styles and colors available (or you can paint your own), you can make it fit in with any floor or decor.


 
musikfan6
Member
Posts: 222
Joined: Fri. Oct. 21, 2011 11:45 pm
Location: Lititz, PA

Post by musikfan6 » Tue. Dec. 20, 2011 11:34 am

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:
CapeCoaler wrote:The circle is required for circulation...
Cold air will push down the hot in a single shaft vent...
Add a second or third vent to the floor and watch the air move...
Bigger is better for natural convection...
CC is on the mark. How did that old quote go ... "It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature!"
  • Cold air is simply more dense. It weighs more than an equal volume of warm air, therefore undisturbed it seeks the lowest level. That's the circle CC spoke of.
Let it or help it do its natural thing (get to the lowest level) and the warm air will fill the void where the cold air was. [/u

Something tells me that I must not have had enough vents in my floor, and I probably should have waited longer for the air to warm up. Good information folks!

 
kozel
Member
Posts: 146
Joined: Mon. Aug. 25, 2008 10:43 am
Location: Long Island NY

Post by kozel » Tue. Dec. 20, 2011 3:15 pm

We've ordered from these people and liked what we got.

http://www.reggioregister.com/

 
CapeCoaler
Member
Posts: 6515
Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2008 3:48 pm
Location: Cape Cod, MA
Stoker Coal Boiler: want AA130
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine BS#4, Harman MKII, Hitzer 503,...
Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Tue. Dec. 20, 2011 9:42 pm

The floor vents I use are the old gas floor furnace covers...
24"x36"...

 
User avatar
echos67
Member
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue. Feb. 22, 2011 7:26 am
Location: Maryland and Wanting Out !!

Post by echos67 » Sat. Dec. 24, 2011 9:03 pm

Vinmaker wrote:
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.
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.

Vin.
What if a person were to use the riser of the last step instead of the floor at the bottom of the steps ? This would hide the register more but would the cold air make the turn naturlly is what I am wondering ?

 
CapeCoaler
Member
Posts: 6515
Joined: Sun. Feb. 10, 2008 3:48 pm
Location: Cape Cod, MA
Stoker Coal Boiler: want AA130
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine BS#4, Harman MKII, Hitzer 503,...
Coal Size/Type: Pea/Nut/Stove

Post by CapeCoaler » Sat. Dec. 24, 2011 9:42 pm

Cold air is like water...
If water will do it, so will the cold air...

 
User avatar
Chuck_Steak
Member
Posts: 386
Joined: Wed. Jan. 06, 2010 9:03 pm
Location: New Hampster
Coal Size/Type: mostly nut, sometimes stove, Santa brand

Post by Chuck_Steak » Sun. Dec. 25, 2011 6:52 pm

CapeCoaler wrote:Cold air is like water...
If water will do it, so will the cold air...
So with that in mind... if you have 2' of water in your kitchen, and you opened
your basement door, most of the water would probably
miss most of the top step. It would rush out so fast very little would hit the
riser/vent.. it would just rush down the stairs.

Air and water both share one common thing.
They don't like to work hard, so they take the easiest way out!

Dan

 
User avatar
echos67
Member
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue. Feb. 22, 2011 7:26 am
Location: Maryland and Wanting Out !!

Post by echos67 » Sun. Dec. 25, 2011 9:47 pm

Chuck_Steak wrote:
CapeCoaler wrote:Cold air is like water...
If water will do it, so will the cold air...
So with that in mind... if you have 2' of water in your kitchen, and you opened
your basement door, most of the water would probably
miss most of the top step. It would rush out so fast very little would hit the
riser/vent.. it would just rush down the stairs.

Air and water both share one common thing.
They don't like to work hard, so they take the easiest way out!

Dan
Sounds like the riser would not be the best option, thanks for the analogy.

 
User avatar
echos67
Member
Posts: 625
Joined: Tue. Feb. 22, 2011 7:26 am
Location: Maryland and Wanting Out !!

Post by echos67 » Sun. Dec. 25, 2011 9:53 pm

CapeCoaler wrote:The floor vents I use are the old gas floor furnace covers...
24"x36"...
That is a large register, I would know where to find my dog if I had hot air comming from one of those !

Have any pictures of your set up CapeCoaler ?


Post Reply

Return to “Coal Bins, Chimneys, CO Detectors & Thermostats”